“Freedom From Islam”

Something that is not mentioned as often as it should:

Eleanor Roosevelt with UDHR written in Spanish. Image via Wikipedia

As noted in a 2008 report by a Christian human-rights organization, “Apostates from Islam to another religion suffer a host of serious abuses from their families, communities and nations.” These renegade Muslims may well face the death penalty in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Sudan, and other forms of oppression in many other Muslim societies.

The reason for this systemic violation of religious freedom is, unfortunately, religious. Most classical schools of sharia law consider apostasy from Islam a crime punishable by death. A hadith attributed to the Prophet Muhammad is quite clear on this: “If somebody [among Muslims] discards his religion, kill him.” The implication is that Islam is a religion with free entry but no free exit.

Pakistan: Christian assaulted for condemning both Koran burning and Church assaults

Image via Wikipedia

From Asia News:

Pakistan’s Christian community continues to be the object of intimidation and threats as well as abuse and harassment on the workplace. The latest victim is Waris Masih, a male nurse in Multan, a city in Punjab who was assaulted at work for slamming both the burning of a copy of the Qur‘an in Florida (United States) and attacks against churches in Pakistan. Since 20 March, at least seven acts of violence have been perpetrated against Christians and their places of worship, in a country where extremists are riding a wave of interfaith hatred.

Just in case someone has not considered the implications. He has condemned BOTH acts, but he has been assaulted nevertheless. And no one can be inside a Qur’an but, as a building, inside a church there could be christians.

 Oh, by the way, Qur’ans were burned during a demonstration to protest Qur’an burning. Logic thought is non-existent among these guys…

Saudi Arabia: rape victim could be sentenced to 100 lashes

Image via Wikipedia

AsiaNews.it:

A woman jailed after being raped could be lashed 100 times. Camille, an invented name, is a 35- year-old immigrant from the Philippines who has been in a Saudi jail since September 2009. As a result of her rape, she became pregnant, but miscarried because of harsh prison life.

Under Saudi Arabia’s rigid application of Sharia or Islamic law, sexual relations outside of wedlock are strictly forbidden, irrespective of whether the woman is consenting or not. In fact, rape is punished in accordance with rules laid down in the Qur‘an.

The woman’s mother told her story in an interview with GMANews.Tv. Last spring, Camille went to Saudi Arabia to work in a dental clinic to support her 5-, 14- and 15-year-old children. In August, a co-worker from Bangladesh raped her.

Knowing that extra-marital relations are punishable under Saudi law, she did not go to the police to file charges, and tried instead to leave the country and return to the Philippines.

During a routine medical examination that expatriates must undergo before leaving, doctors found that she was pregnant. An arrest warrant was issued against her and on 11 September 2009, she was locked up in Hafer al Baten Central Jail.

Before:

• Bangladesh: rape victim receives 101 lashes for becoming pregnant.
• Saudi Arabia: gang-raped (and pregnant as a result) woman, sentenced to jail and to receive 100 lashes.
• Somalia: raped 13-year-old girl stoned to death for being an adulterer.

Hamas Minister: "Jews are Bacteria, May He Anhilate This Filthy People"

MEMRI has the whole speech.

“[The Jews] suffer from a mental disorder, because they are thieves and aggressors. A thief or an aggressor, who took property or land, develops a psychological disorder and pangs of conscience, because he took something that wasn’t his.
“They want to present themselves to the world as if they have rights, but, in fact, they are foreign bacteria – a microbe unparalleled in the world. It’s not me who says this. The Koran itself says that they have no parallel: ‘You shall find the strongest men in enmity to the believers to be the Jews.’
“May He annihilate this filthy people who have neither religion nor conscience. I condemn whoever believes in normalizing relations with them, whoever supports sitting down with them, and whoever believes that they are human beings. They are not human beings. They are not people. They have no religion, no conscience, and no moral values.”

Abdallah Jarbu, Hamas Deputy Minister of Religious Endowments.

He is really meaning all the Jews, not the Zionists only. Not because Zionists should be anihilated but because Western press is normally blaming everything on the Zionists, as if the latter were the guys responsible of the present situation. As everyone can see, this guy is referring himself to all the Jews.

Thanks to No A Todo for the tip.

UK: Another death fatwa for Sebastian Faulks?

The way that happened with Rushdie after Satanic Verses:

Best-selling novelist Sebastian (…) Faulks, who turned to the Koran while researching his latest novel, said: ‘It’s a depressing book. It really is. It’s just the rantings of a schizophrenic. It’s very one-dimensional, and people talk about the beauty of the Arabic and so on, but the English translation I read was, from a literary point of view, very disappointing.

‘There is also the barrenness of the message,’ he told The Sunday Times. ‘I mean, there are some bits about diet, you know, the equivalent of the Old Testament, which is also crazy.

‘But the great thing about the Old Testament is that it does have these incredible stories. Of the 100 greatest stories ever told, 99 are probably in the Old Testament and the other is in Homer.

‘With the Koran there are no stories. And it has no ethical dimension like the New Testament, no new plan for life. It says ‘the Jews and the Christians were along the right tracks, but actually, they were wrong and I’m right, and if you don’t believe me, tough — you’ll burn for ever’. That’s basically the message of the book.’

Author Sebastian Faulks risks Muslim fury describing the Koran as the ‘depressing rantings of a schizophrenic’ | Mail Online.

In Spanish: Falks: “El Corán son las vociferaciones de un esquizofrénico”.

Whatever your personal ideas on the subject, he really has a point.

Pakistan: Christians killed in Muslim riots

An update on this story: The Associated Press: 6 Pakistani Christians die in riots with Muslims

Days of rioting between Christians and Muslims in eastern Pakistan following allegations that a Quran was defiled escalated Saturday, leaving six Christians dead, including a child, authorities said.

Members of a banned Muslim organization began torching Christian homes in the Punjabi city of Gorja on Thursday after accusing them of desecrating pages from Islam’s holy book, Federal Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti said.

“There is no truth in the allegation,” he told The Associated Press, adding that he had himself visited Gojra on Friday and asked police to provide protection to Christians who were facing threats.

He accused the police of ignoring his instructions and said hundreds of radical Muslims on Saturday burned more Christians homes and killed six, including four women and a child.

Television footage from the scene showed houses burning and streets strewn with debris and blackened furniture as mobs ran at each other. Local media also reported gunfights had broken out between Christian and Muslim communities and that rioters had blocked the local railway line.

Compass Direct reports that the toll of killed Christians has risen to 16.

Tags Technorati: Pakistan, religious persecution, blasphemy laws, Christianity, Christian persecution, Quran, Christian minority in Pakistan

UK: the new columnist at the “New Statesman” considers all atheists, unbelievers as “cattle”

His name is Mehdi Hassan and these are his ideas on religion:

“The kaffar, the disbelievers, the atheists who remain deaf and stubborn to the teachings of Islam, the rational message of the Quran; they are described in the Quran as, quote, “a people of no intelligence”, Allah describes them as; not of no morality, not as people of no belief – people of “no intelligence” – because they’re incapable of the intellectual effort it requires to shake off those blind prejudices, to shake off those easy assumptions about this world, about the existence of God. In this respect, the Quran describes the atheists as “cattle”, as cattle of those who grow the crops and do not stop and wonder about this world.”

The best thing is his double standard (once again… double standard…): this is what he wrote for the Guardian:

“I grow tired of having to also endure a barrage of lazy stereotypes, inflammatory headlines, disparaging generalisations and often inaccurate and baseless stories.

Doesn’t this guy thinks that people like him, who are caught saying this kind of baseless quotes (why Galileo, Saint Thomas of Aquinas or Pope Benedict are “cattle” and of “no intelligence” and Al-Qaeda’s goats killers are genius escapes my intelligence, oh, please, I have none), are really fuelling stereotypes?

via Poste de Veille.

Magdi Allam Tells the Pope That Islam is a Religion of war

Allam told Pope Benedict he specifically objected to Cardinal Tauran telling a conference in August that Islam itself promotes peace but that “‘some believers’ have ‘betrayed their faith,’” using it as a pretext for violence.

“The objective reality, I tell you with all sincerity and animated by a constructive intent, is exactly the opposite of what Cardinal Tauran imagines,” Allam told the pope. “Islamic extremism and terrorism are the mature fruit” of following “the sayings of the Quran and the thought and action of Mohammed.”

via Islam In Action: Ex-Muslim Tells the Pope That Islam is a Religion of war

This is something really dangerous and interesting. If someone as peaceful, as rational and as cultivated as this man, considers that Islam is a Religion of War, we should think about it for a minute… carefully.

Jordan arrests poet accused of insulting Islam

Jordanian police arrested a local writer Tuesday for incorporating verses of the Quran, the Muslim holy book, into his love poetry, a judicial official said.

The poet, Islam Samhan, published his collection of poems, “Grace like a Shadow,” without the approval of the Jordanian government, and authorities say it insults the holy book, the official said.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Samhan was charged with harming the Islamic faith and violating the press and publication law for combining the sacred words of the Quran with sexual themes.

If convicted, the poet could face up to three years in jail.

via Jordan arrests poet accused of insulting Islam – Yahoo! News

Related posts:

• “LittleBigPlanet” get derailed by Quran References.
• Mark Steyn and MacLean, acquitted.
• Defamation of religion document, rejected by UN.

"LittleBigPlanet" Game Derailed by Quran References

In a somewhat similar issue to that over Wikipedia and pictures of the prophet Muhammad, Sony has delayed the hotly-anticipated PS3 game LittleBigPlanet due to the discovery of background music tracks containing two expressions found in the Quran.

(…) British game developer Media Molecule made the following statement:

We learnt yesterday that there is a lyric in one of the licensed tracks which some people may find offensive, and which slipped through the usual screening processes. Obviously MM and Sony together took this very seriously. LBP should be enjoyable by all.

Sony said the following:

During the review process prior to the release of LittleBigPlanet, it has been brought to our attention that one of the background music tracks licensed from a record label for use in the game contains two expressions that can be found in the Qur’an. We have taken immediate action to rectify this and we sincerely apologize for any offense that this may have caused.

via Tech-Ex: “LittleBigPlanet” Game Derailed by Quran References

Oh, Lord. We begin again… !!!