Tag Archives: islam

A Muslima’s civil courage

Posted on by

The world’s only voluntary muslima is at it again. Not understanding anything about reality (dead give-away: she likes wearing, and defending, the Burqa), in an open letter posted on a swiss salafist web site, Nora Illi praises the act of two European teenage girls (aged 15 and 16) who have gone to Syria to become Jihadists as ‘an act of civil courage’.

Yet even Illi admits that the only way these women can join the jihad is by marrying a fighter. The west may deride this as ‘sex jihad’, but the fact is that the epithet fits: these women aren’t welcome as fighters, only as sex toys. That’s how Illi views female empowerment. Pathetic.

It gets worse. Let’s say you are a woman, and you are both courageous and stupid enough to give up your freedom, integrity and everything you are to become a freedom fighter’s entertainment. Illi states that these women are doing it as a testament to their faith. Bull. In Syria, both sides are Muslims, and have therefore equal right to claim that God is on their side.

There is nothing courageous nor morally sound in this tragic affair. These girls went to a different country to wage war. Ethically this is always wrong. Becoming a mercenary has no moral defense. That’s why they try to dress it up it as ‘Jihad’.

So why did these girls go? Because they are frigging stupid, and very young. Having no idea what they are getting themselves into, they probably have read too much of female teen drama ‘Divergent‘, hoping to find a green-eyed rebel leader with whom they save the world before supper.

Unfortunately, the truth is that they have wasted their lives. Should they be lucky enough to survive, they’ll return as property (wives) of someone they don’t know. And if they return, they will be immediately seized and dragged before a court. They did break international law, after all, and stupidity never has been a good defense. The reason Illi doesn’t know this is because she never stood before a judge.

Civil courage my ass.

Saudi Korea

Posted on by

If there is one hypocrisy greater than religion, it is the western ‘friendship’ with Saudi Arabia. Not only has the Saudi King gone on record in front of the UN assembly that human rights are alien to him – which the UN recognized by appointing Saudi Arabia a seat at the UN Human Rights Council – it’s a matter of public record that in Saudi Arabia women are subjugated and homosexuals are persecuted.

Doing no-one – especially not moderate muslims – a favor, the King, taking a page from the Spanish Inquisition, now has redefined terrorism as

calling for atheist thought in any form, or calling into question the fundamentals of the Islamic religion on which this country is based

You read that right. In Saudi Arabia it is now considered an act of terror if you call into question a superstition – while traditional tell-tales or terror, like for example, using violence to induce fear in the populace, are absent from that definition. Somehow fitting for a state religion that has a lamentable reputation of doing just that.

What bothers me most: the moral mendacity of governments that make a distinction between Saudi Arabia and North Korea.

Sharia-conform blood diamonds

Posted on by

Ah, unreason. The other name for faith, bigotry and hate. Consider this:

There is no doubt that the word ‘sharia’ carries huge challenges in relation to public relations. If you talk about anything [related to] ‘sharia’, the first vision people get is chopping off of people’s hands, having four wives and all sorts of unusual practices which, in today’s world, are not compatible with the values which we live by.

So far, everyone would agree. The problem: thus begins a staunch defense for Sharia law. How is that possible? There’s a reason we associate Sharia with chopped-off hands, misogyny and homophobia: because Sharia law is exactly that. This isn’t even a matter of contention – it’s documented in the Quran, Sunnah and Hadith, and actively fought by major Human Rights Organizations. Just like Christian or any other religious law, Sharia law is highly immoral. A pig’s a pig, no matter how much lipstick you put on it. It boggles the mind how grown, educated people manage to add One plus One, and arrive at Lalateen.

It’s fitting, then, that the person who uttered above quote is UK’s Minister of Unreason, Baroness Warsi. She attacks the problem of Sharia’s bad reputation from the wrong direction. Instead of trying to correct what’s wrong, she wants to make Sharia law more acceptable in the UK by tapping into Sharia-conform finance.
This comes from the same woman who is on the record as bemoaning that Islamophobia had “passed the dinner-table test” and become socially acceptable in the UK. Yet she sees no problem when expressedly barbaric, misogynic and homophobic Sharia law does pass the same test.

To be blunt: Sharia-conform financing is the ethical equivalent of purchasing blood diamonds. It’s advancing morally corrupt and unacceptable behavior. It’s unfathomable how Warsi can’t see it.

Now, Warsi admittedly isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer. But is it really that much to ask of a member of a country’s government that they perform some gross error checking before speaking up? She’s starting to make american ex-governess Sarah Palin look good.

Atheist are Bigots

Posted on by

In a public interview for Al Jazeera TV, Mehdi Hasan, political director of The Huffington Post UK, talked with Professor Richard Dawkins about religion and non-belief.

A segment of the interview produced some controversy. Dawkins was surprised and visibly baffled by Hasan’s admission that he believed that Mohammed flew to Heaven on a winged Horse. Literally, not as a metaphor. To Dawkins, who treasures hard truth over pleasant fiction, this is incongruous with the idea of being a rational journalist. He voiced that opinion, and on a related incident a few month later, even tweeted it. That kicked off the controversy

For example, The Guardian’s Andrew Brown took issue with Dawkin’s tweet, calling him an ill accomplished clown and bigot.

But why do so many people react harshly to Dawkin’s comment?

Because he is spot-on.

Many people feel caught in their own intellectual dishonesty, and are afraid that they, too, might become exposed to ridicule. Brown, for example, makes money writing religious books. He has a lot to lose if he admitted that he wasn’t believing stupid things.

Dawkins wrote,

A believes in fairies. B believes in winged horses. Criticize A and you’re rational. Criticize B and you’re a bigoted racist Islamophobe.

Indeed. If your personal brand of insanity has the majority, it’s safe to label the sane minority ‘bigots’.

Too close for comfort…

Posted on by

An article in Pakistan Today reports that

The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) concluded their 192nd meeting on Thursday with the ruling that women are un-Islamic and that their mere existence contradicted Sharia and the will of Allah. As the meeting concluded CII Chairman Maulana Muhammad Khan Shirani noted that women by existing defied the laws of nature, and to protect Islam and the Sharia women should be forced to stop existing as soon as possible.

Luckily this is satire – unfortunately only few people clued in to that fact. The problem is not that too few people understand satire. The real problem is that too many people know that Islamists really think that way. The article hits too close to truth for comfort.

Dark Horse

Posted on by

US pop star Katy Perry has produced a video for her song ‘Dark Horse’. In it, she portraits a Pharao or queen with magical powers who, among other antics, turns people bearing gifts into sand – and keeps the gifts. Simple imagery, simple melody, everyone gets it.

Except, it would seem, for some stuck-in-the-mud hardline Islamists. UK citizen Shazad Iqbal has started an on-line petition asking YouTube to withdraw the video. Why? Blasphemy of course. From the petition:

The video is considered as highly controversial to its viewers as a result of its portrayal of blasphemy.

At 01:15 into the video Dark Horse; a man is shown being burned, whilst wearing a pendant (also burned) forming the word ‘Allah’, which is the arabic word for God.

Such goes to show, that blasphemy is clearly conveyed in the video, since Katy Perry […] engulfs the believer and the word God in flames.

A couple of things:

  • what’s with the self-righteous passive wording? If you think the video is controversial, Iqbal, just say so. And ‘highly’? I think not. 50 thousand signatures vs. 50 million views – that’s not even a minority. That’s a rounding error.
  • have you watched the video? The actor at 1:15 is turned to sand, not burned. Not that it should matter.
  • you obviously do not object to other people being ‘burned’ – yet burning an inanimate pendant that spells ‘God’ is too much for you to watch? You definitely have your priorities wrong. 

More than 50’000 like-minded have signed the petition within three days. What is wrong with these people? Just don’t download the video if you don’t like it. Religious freedom means that Katy Perry does not have to bow to your beliefs. Just because you feel offended does not make you right. I feel offended by people wearing white socks. Does anyone care? And where’s the moratorium on people not using deodorant?

This whole thing is as absurd as if someone starts a petition to force YouTube to withdraw the video because they don’t like the song.  

Well, except that I would probably sign that one.

Morans pray for Earthquake

Posted on by

As Reuters reports, a group of extremist Islamists has called upon all muslims to pray for an earthquake in Sochi to kill everyone and ruin the ‘games of the atheists and pagans’.

A couple of things. First, to quote Ambrose Bierce:

PRAY, v. To ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a single petitioner, confessedly unworthy

Praying never accomplished anything, and won’t help here. Then again, I much prefer an extremist wasting his time on prayer than spend his time wasting people, so maybe in this case, praying does accomplish something.

But is praying for a calamity to befall, and kill, scores of people just harmless idiocy? After all we know that praying won’t change a thing. No, it’s not harmless. Unfortunately, intent does matter. And for all intent and purposes, these Islamists believe they have their hands on a weapon of mass distruction: Allah. And they want to use it.

If Allah did create an earthquake that hit Sochi, it would end the lives of hundreds, if not thousands people, many of them innocent. This callous disregard of human life permeates the belief of whoever prays for earthquakes. A belief, we should remind ourselves, that their practitioners call the ‘religion of peace’.

If you are religious, pray thanks to your god that these extremists are really, really stupid.

… you moran!

Moran3

(Image credit: St. Louis Indymedia Center)

 

Meena

Posted on by

Meena sits in a chair.

“My brother used to tell me that the place for a woman is either at home or in the grave”, she says. “My brother told me to carry out a suicide attack.”

“They attached a bomb to my [9 years old] sister Nahida.” A single tear runs down her face. “She told my brother the bomb was heavy and she could not walk. He said she would be comfortable once she was sitting down in the car. I heard my sister saying: ‘Where is Meena? I want to see her.’ But I didn’t have the strength. My heart couldn’t take it. My mother fainted when they put her in the car.”

Meena is 13.

Her brother, a Taliban.

Ill Humors

Posted on by

Humor can be a difficult topic. First of all, few things are truly funny. Fewer things are worse than someone who tries to be funny, but isn’t. Moreover, what I regard as funny https://phonefindservice.info , other people may find vulgar, silly, or – worst – not humorous. British subjects know of the worst comment the Queen can make towards you: ‘We are not amused’.

French comedian Dieudonné M’bala M’bala has tried being a joke all his life. Dark-skinned, of French/Cameroon descent, he courted french white supremacist Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the neonazi Front National party. Recently, he’s become more and more anti-semitic, and more racist. One of his more controversial inventions is the Quenelle, a gesture deliberately reminiscent of the Nazi salute. His comedy routine usually revolves around making fun of Jews in general, and the Holocaust in particular.
Many of Dieudonné’s fans are also racist. Many more are, surprisingly, Islamists. Now, white supremacists and Islamists make strange bedfellows, and I would have thought that mixing them should result in immediate, and violent, combustion. It doesn’t, and that doesn’t bode well for the rest of us.

But is is kind of funny when the same Islamists that are quick to call you a racist when you dare to criticize their belief, cheer on a racist – a racist, by the way, who glorifies a system that would have him, and many of his followers, quickly executed in the same gas chambers Dieudonné denies ever existed.

I’m not amused.

The non-equality of religions

Posted on by

Eight years ago, some journalists mused upon their growing impression that somehow newspapers censored themselves whenever they reported on Islam. While no one held back slamming the christian, jewish, or hindu belief, criticizing Islam was always done in the most timid of voices, anxious not to offend.

Believing that this was wrong, and hoping that this was just a misinterpretation of facts, they published an article. Fleming Rose, culture editor wrote:

Modern, secular society is rejected by some Muslims. They demand a special position, insisting on special consideration of their own religious feelings. It is incompatible with contemporary democracy and freedom of speech, where one must be ready to put up with insults, mockery and ridicule. It is certainly not always attractive and nice to look at, and it does not mean that religious feelings should be made fun of at any price, but that is of minor importance in the present context. […] we are on our way to a slippery slope where no-one can tell how the self-censorship will end.

The article was accompanied by 12 hand-drawn cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed as subject of mild irony. In the aftermath, reportedly more than 200 people died violently.

Later, the Onion published a hand-drawn cartoon depicting Moses, Jesus, Ganesha and Buddha engaging in extremely graphic group sex [WARNING: somewhat tasteless cartoon here].

No one died.

Fleming proved his point beyond his wildest nightmares. Today, Islam is still treated differently from all other religions. Not out of respect – but because of fear. Recent events at the London School of Economics and UKU underline just how erratic people have become in their efforts not to ‘offend’ Islam.

Is this really a good thing? More importantly: why are we letting this happen? Is fear really a good counselor?