Morocco: Freedom of conscience won't exist in the "new" Constitution

The new constitution “supports the human rights in all aspects, including a fair trial, no torture, no detention, no disappearance, and we need to guarantee the freedom of expression,” he said. The new constitution will also guarantee “freedom of religious worship.”

Yeah, but no freedom of conscience, because as, Benkirane, the leader of the main opposition party (Islamist "Justice and Development Party") says:

“Morocco is a Muslim country whose state religion is Islam, and do not touch these fundamental principles. In Morocco, the freedom of worship is now guaranteed to Christians, Jews …, but not the freedom of conscience. A Muslim can not change his religion or even leave his practice in public, as happened last year when a handful of young men wanted to break the fast in a park in Mohammedia".

So, basically, in this respect, nothing would change.

Iran: Muslim Convert to Christianity condemned to hanging on apostasy charges

A detained pastor of a major network of Christian house churches in Iran will be executed by hanging for “apostasy”, or abandoning Islam, according to translated court documents seen by Worthy News Wednesday, November 24. The 11th Chamber of The Assize Court of the province of Gilan said Iranian pastor Yousef Nadarkhani had proved his “apostasy” by “organizing evangelistic meetings and inviting others to Christianity, establishing a house church, baptizing people, expressing his faith to others and, denying Islamic values".

More here.

U.N.: Vote on 'Religious Defamation' Resolution to be held in December

For the sixth year in a row, the U.N. General Assembly will vote in December on a resolution presented by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) that calls on governments to act against “religious defamation.”

Similar resolutions have been passed every year since 1999 by the U.N.’s main human rights body. However, in both the UNGA and the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, the resolutions have drawn declining support in recent years.
Last December’s UNGA vote passed by 80-61, with 42 countries abstaining. The 19 vote margin was the smallest number yet; margins in the four previous years’ votes had ranged from 33 to 57.
Over the past five years, only seven countries have changed their position to “no.” The rest of the difference has been the result of non-Muslim developing countries shifting from supporting the measure, to abstaining.
Those who oppose the resolution, including religious freedom, freedom of expression, legal and humanist advocacy groups, believe that this trend will continue until the OIC measure fails altogether.
But the OIC is hoping that incidents over the past year, especially the Quran-burning and “Ground Zero mosque” episodes in the U.S. and the Swiss ban on the building of minarets, will help to rally supporters.
Although the OIC resolutions profess to cover all religions, only Islam and Muslims are cited by name. Last year’s text expressed concern that “Islam is frequently and wrongly associated with human rights violations and terrorism” and referred also to the “ethnic and religious profiling of Muslim minorities.”
While the resolutions themselves are non-binding, they open the door for the OIC's attempts to amend the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which is legally binding.
Christian ministries working among persecuted religious minorities are ramping up their lobbying of governments that have voted for the resolution or abstained in the past, and are calling for public support.

via Christian Web News - cwnewz.com - U.N. to Vote on 'Religious Defamation' Resolution.

Open Doors USA has launched an advocacy campaign against this UN Resolution, on the basis that it's against freedom of religion.

Cross-posted from T&P.

What If the Message Was "Death to Infidels"?

Probably the First and only time you'll see me link to a sportswriter -- I'm kind of an "indoor girl" -- but I think he makes some excellent points. The swat at Islam is a bonus.

Tim Tebow: A case of ad nauseam
God, it's about time athletes understand it's a multifaith society
January 29, 2010
BY RICK TELANDER Sun-Times Columnist

You gotta say this about Tim Tebow: The dude doesn't mind being scrutinized. You'd think that if there were more to learn about the former star Florida quarterback -- from his NFL-suspect arm to his proselytizing charm -- than what we have learned in the last four years, it would need to come from the CIA.

But apparently we're getting a Super Bowl TV ad that takes us all the way back to -- cherubim and seraphim here! -- the start of the two-time BCS championship quarterback's life!

Like, literally.

Not sure if a manger is involved, or sonograms, but Tebow and his mother Pam are reportedly going to speak in the commerical -- made by the conservative Christian group, Focus on Family -- about how doctors had recommended that Pam, who was ill during part of her pregnancy with her fifth child, have an abortion. Had she done that, well, we'd have a different 2007 Heisman Trophy winner, for one thing.

Numerous women's rights groups have protested CBS' apparent decision to run the 30-second ad -- we're talking a $2.5 million to $2.8million price tag for the half-minute -- because of its religion-based, anti-abortion, thus-political message.

[...]

But in a techno world that gives us Viagra ads, rotting CSI cadavers and Jersey Shore morons around the clock, it seems we could survive this reportedly (by Tebow himself, anyway) tame, if impassioned nonsecular statement about a real-world issue most of us would rather keep private. First Amendment considerations alone tell me that flipping the dial would be better for upset citizens than censorship.

Yet there do need to be rules in this world, ones of enlightenment and compassion and reason and respect for others, even if they're rules that are not written in stone and enforced by government agencies. And I would start with this one: religion should not be part of sport.

Period.

I won't even begin with the ceaseless statements by athletes that God (a) wanted them to win; (b) decided they should lose; (c) healed their injuries; (d) told them it was OK to knock the snot out of the enemy ball carrier; (e) left them just before they got in that drunken bar brawl.

[...]

Studies have shown that we transform our God, whatever religion we espouse, into a deity with philosophical and moral teachings much like the ones we already hold. God's like me, in other words. And the general assumption in the United States is that God is part of our realm and some kind of Christian, likely a rather conservative Christian. We do have the command ''In God We Trust'' on our money, which, one supposes, is better than Ben Bernanke.

But what if Tebow's procession of biblical verse numbers on his eye patches -- guaranteed instant and massive Google hits, by the way -- were verses from the Koran instead?

What if they said, ''Believe in Morman''? ''Scientology Saves''? ''There Is No God''?

Or think of this: ''Death to Infidels.''

That is certainly not what people who love Tebow's endless God-praising had in mind. Yet this is an open and multifaith society, and if one religion is allowed, others will be, must always be.

How did Tebow's college slogans get out there anyway? The NCAA rule book states that nothing but ''a player's number; a player's name; NCAA Football logo; memorial recognition; the American flag; or institution, conference or game identification ... are permitted on a player's person or tape.'' Is it possible Tebow was cut some slack because people like him and nobody wanted to offend the Christian right? Or that the ''powers that be'' agreed with him?

A quarter of the world's population is Muslim, and if our global terrorism battle against zealots is seen solely as Christians vs. Islam, we would do well to remember that there are Jews, atheists, Buddhists, Hindus and yes, Muslims in the American armed forces, and that as All-American a town as Dearborn, Mich., has 10 mosques, and its public schools close for Muslim holidays.

Somehow we've gotten to the point where big-time sport is overwhelmed by Baseball Chapel, Athletes in Action, Christian ministries, God squads and Bible-thumpers everywhere.

I wonder if that bothers Tebow at all. No, of course it doesn't.

But I wonder how he'd feel if he scored a touchdown before a huge crowd, under the beckoning arms of ''Touchdown Muhammad''?

Think of that when you watch his ad.

Indiana: Public School Wanted 2nd Graders to Sing "Allah is God"

From Fox:

A battle over religion is brewing in central Indiana after a public school wanted second graders to sing a song declaring, “Allah is God.” The phrase was removed just before the performance after a national conservative group launched a protest.

The principal of Lantern Road Elementary School in Fishers, IN, said they were trying to teach inclusiveness through their holiday production. It included references to Christmas, Hanukkah, Ramadan, Las Posadas and Kwanzaa. However, no other deity, other than Allah, was referenced in the show.

Here’s what the children were assigned to sing:

“Allah is God, we recall at dawn,
Praying ‘til night during Ramadan
At this joyful time we pray happiness for you,
Allah be with you all your life through.”

But when it came time to perform the “Christian” part of Christmas, children were assigned to say:

“I didn’t know there was a little boy at the manger. What child is this?
I’m not sure if there was a little boy or not.
Then why did you paint one on your nativity window?
I just thought if there was a little boy, I’d like to know exactly what he (sic) say.

In email correspondence the school initially defended the reference as a way to be inclusive of all religions. However, once complaints starting rolling in, school leaders decided to eliminate the Allah reference.

That drew the ire of the Muslim Alliance of Indiana. “It’s unfortunate if that was removed from the program just because of Islamophobic feelings,”Shariq Siddiqui told the Indianapolis Star. “Schools are a place where we should learn more about each other rather than exclude each other based on stereotypes and misconceptions.”

So, Patients' Rights Don't Apply to Dhimmis?

Why should there even be a question about this if it is not a religion-affiliated hospital? This woman is a doctor, not a chaplain. She has a responsibility to her patients to not make them uncomfortable by foisting her religious views on them. But obviously she thinks her comfort, to say nothing of the advancement of the cultural jihad, is more important. She demands to wear her hijab while working as a doctor when a doctor in Saudi Arabia would be able to tear a cross or any non-muslim symbol off a patient? Hah.


Clinic Forbids Muslim Doctor to Wear Hijab
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Associated Press

DALLAS — A Muslim doctor interviewing for a job at a suburban Dallas medical
clinic says officials there told her she couldn't wear her headscarf while working.

Dr. Hena Zaki of Plano said Friday that she was shocked when CareNow officials told her in person and later by e-mail that a no-hat policy extended to her hijab.

Zaki had been on a tour of an Allen CareNow clinic two weeks ago when she said the regional medical director told her he didn't want her to be surprised about the policy during orientation.

"He interrupted the interview and said he didn't want me to take this the wrong
way," Zaki said. "Like an FYI."

Zaki wants an apology and a change in CareNow's policies to accommodate expressions of religious belief — "whether it be a turban or facial hair."

However, CareNow President Tim Miller said he doesn't see anything wrong with the policy.

Neither do I. (Fine with me if this bitch wants to grow a beard, however.) I know the "anti-discrimination" laws hamstring most employers, but there must be something in most hospital patients' bill of rights about medical staff not being allowed to impose their religious beliefs on patients.

Read the rest. Guess who wrote CareNow a letter.

Let's See Them Try This in Cairo

Yesterday morning the oldest Mormon church in Massachusetts, located in Cambridge, burned to the ground during services.

Firefighters were able to save many books and paintings. The congregation formed a relay line to relocate the items...

... to the Quaker meetinghouse across the street.

The Mormon congregation will be holding services in a nearby Episcopal church for the time being.

Let's see the "peaceful, tolerant" religion of Islam match that. Anywhere.

"Islam is the final religion"

This is what Zaid Al-Hussein, vice president of the state-affiliated Saudi Human Rights Commission, said some days ago when answering to Western countries diplomats who wanted Saudi Arabia to stop executions, amputations or floggings in the kingdom. He said that "though some things could be improved, it would be difficult for non-Muslims to have houses of worship here as Islam is the final religion".
So as Islam is the final religion, some days ago, Saudi blogger Hamoud Bin Saleh was arrested because he announced his conversion to Christianity in his blog Saudi Christian, which was also blocked:

Based on information obtained by ANHRI, the Saudi authorities jailed the young blogger at the infamous Eleisha political prison in Riyadh; a prison which in 2004 witnessed the arrest of the reformists Matrouk el Falih, Ali el Domini and Eissa al Hamed.

Hmm, are they really sure that only some things could be improved?

The Worst Islamic Country in the World

And we thought the Soviet Union was repressive! The following are excerpts from an article by Forum 18, the organization in Norway that works to help people gain the right to believe and worship as they wish. The Maldives is the most extreme example of religious repression I have ever read about.

The Maldives is one of the few states — such as Saudi Arabia — that allows only one faith to be practiced publicly, and even insists that all citizens must be Muslims.

The Republic of the Maldives is a collection of 1,190 coral reef islands in the Indian Ocean, south west of Sri Lanka. Only 200 islands are inhabited, with 44 used exclusively as holiday resort islands. The Maldives has a population of about 300,000 citizens.

In the Maldives, citizens cannot practice any other religion than Islam, and they have to practice it in the way the government says.

Due to internal and external pressure to give their citizens freedom of religion, the Maldivian government instituted a reform. But here's how they reformed it: Okay, you can practice any religion you want, but if it's not Islam, you are no longer a citizen.

Maldivian non-Muslims and other Maldivians who do not want to practice their faith in the state approved way cannot practice their own faith. They cannot even pray the way they want. Kneeling down, folding hands or using religious symbols like crosses, candles, pictures or statues can lead to government action. Performing movements in the Namaadu (namaz or Islamic ritual prayer) differently to the state-approved way can also lead to arrest by the police.

Maldivians are not allowed to possess religious material — whether holy books, audio and video tapes, CDs and DVDs, pictures or artifacts — that is not approved by the government. Sometimes private houses and mosques are raided by police in their search for non state-approved religious material. When found, all such material is confiscated. Electronic media, radio broadcasts, the internet, and printed material are all censored by the government.

The luggage of Maldivians returning to the country is searched and all unauthorised religious material is confiscated. Foreign citizens arriving in the Maldives — whether as migrant workers or tourists — also have their luggage searched for "un-Islamic" materials. Small quantities of non-Muslim literature for personal use are generally permitted to foreign tourists.

Maldivians are also not allowed to discuss their faith with anyone. No-one is allowed to discuss religion without the explicit permission of the government. They do not even dare to discuss their beliefs with their spouses and children. The political intimidation of the public and the official denigration of religiously non-conformist people have led to widespread mistrust and fear. Children of people who are suspected of holding alternative religious convictions are sometimes interrogated by their teachers about their parents' opinions and convictions.

Constant intimidation and oppression leads people to act contrary to their own convictions and beliefs. Some people feel forced to perform Muslim ritual prayers (in the state-approved way) to avoid any possible suspicion. They also feel forced to teach their children according to the government's will instead of their own conviction. They are forced to observe the fast during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. After the first week of this year's Ramadan, which began in early September 2008, a Maldivian radio station announced that the police had already arrested 76 people for not fasting.

Maldivians are — justifiably — fearful that they will face severe consequences if they publicly and identifiably defend everyone's right to freedom of thought, conscience and belief. Because of this fear, Maldivians hope the international community will support their struggle. One step to do this is for states and human rights organizations to urge the Maldivian government to implement the recommendations of the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Asma Jahangir, in her report (A/HRC/4/21/Add.3).

When I read this last paragraph, I thought, "This is one of those situations where someone is going to have to fight and die for freedom." Probably it will be Maldivians. They have more at stake in the matter than anyone else.

We've seen many times that "international pressure" on Muslims has about as much impact as sticking our tongues out at them. What they need is not international pressure, but guns and walkie-talkies.

If the Light Goes Out Stateside, the Light Goes Out for Us All!

There is no doubt that the USA is going through tough times; indeed, its very foundations are being rocked – financial and economic. Indeed, it could be argued that capitalism, the US’s raison d’être is being challenged profoundly. The current president, George W Bush, has only added to America’s problems. He has been a disaster for America. It is time for him to retire. And retire he will – shortly.

The recent débâcle with the USA’s most prestigious financial institutions either going to the wall, or having to be all but nationalized has only added to America’s woes.

It is a national disgrace that this profligate president has brought the once proud nation almost to its knees. America’s national debt is at an all time high: more than three trillion dollars, and still counting. Since 2001, a spurious war on terrorism has been fought, mostly in vain, since terrorism is not the ailment; rather it is a symptom of a far greater malady, namely Islam itself. It is rather like a medical consultant trying to treat the symptoms of cancer without excising the underlying cause: the tumour itself!

The US economy, totally deregulated as it has been since the era of Reagan, has succumbed to the worst of man’s faults and weaknesses: Greed. The people working on Wall Street, as in the City of London, have been paying themselves bonuses in Monopoly figures: Millions here, and tens of millions there. The result is there for all to see: The economic system has all but collapsed; and the American taxpayer is now being asked to pick up the tab.

It’s a disgrace. Nothing short of a national disgrace. There is simply no reason why the American taxpayer should bail out the bankers and financiers of Wall Street, with all their greediness and excesses. They certainly should not be expected to pay for the bonuses of these greedy and unprincipled people. They should be allowed to perish, as should the institutions they worked for.

The bail-out is flawed to its very core. When people in America are going hungry, and when more than forty million people there cannot afford healthcare, there is something very flawed in a bail-out plan which cossets the very people who have caused the near collapse of the capitalist system.

Yet, for all the flaws of the capitalist system, we have nothing better with which to replace it. It is an imperfect system to be sure; but it’s the very best system man has ever been able to come up with. We must nurture it; and we must certainly be careful that we do not lose it.

America is no paradise on earth; America’s sidewalks are not paved with gold. America is as flawed as anywhere else on earth. Yet America has given the world something which the rest of the world has been unable to give people. It has given them hope and freedom – the hope to aspire to a better life; and the freedom to live without fear. How many other countries can say the same?

America has been a beacon of freedom for a couple of centuries. People have for centuries flocked there in their droves, in search of a better life. As a result, America has become a hub of creativity, for nothing fosters creativity more than freedom of thought and freedom of expression.

Yet, we are living through very difficult times. So many, worldwide, are gloating in the difficulties that America is now experiencing. When the US was attacked on September 11, 2001, few could have imagined the success that OBL would have had by flying planes into the Twin Towers in New York. Indeed, OBL couldn’t have dreamed of a better outcome from this attack. He wanted to bring the USA to its knees; and to its knees it has just about brought it.

But if anyone out there is happy about this, then his happiness is totally misplaced; and for one simple reason: If America is no longer to be the world’s superpower, then the world will fall into darkness.

Why? Because the US has guaranteed freedom not only for itself, but also for much of the rest of the world. Which other country in the world could do this? Russia certainly couldn’t. In Russia, one goes against the political system at one’s own peril. Ask the once richest man of Russia, Mikhail Khodorkovsky! He’ll tell you the price he has had to pay for perceived criticism of the system, and for political activity in a country which understands neither democracy nor freedom.

In a silly article asking who else would be up to replacing America’s hegemony, SpiegelOnline International posed the question who could take over from America’s pole position. The answer is no-one! Which other country could guarantee us all such freedoms? Which other country would be so generous with its resources? Which other country would come to aid all in time of need?

Where would Germany be today without the aid of America after the Second World War? And where would Britain be today without America’s help in that very same war? Indeed, how free would Europe be today without the the help of the generous, oh so generous Americans?

America, and the rest of the West, is under threat from the Islamic world; indeed, our great Judeo-Christian civilization could go under because of the threat of Islam. Islam is not only knocking at our door, it is already within, and is out to destroy everything we in the West stand for: Freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, or the freedom to choose none, freedom of sexual expression, and freedom in so may other ways, too. Yet only the few are listening! Only the few are taking these threats to our liberties seriously.

For most people, these threats are but abstract, distant possibilities; yet they are not. They are anything but. They are very real. Muslims are here in the West; and many of them – though certainly not all – are out to destroy everything Western. They must NEVER be allowed to achieve their goals. We must this resist attack with every fibre of our beings. We must OVERCOME!

If we do not, the West will be taken into a New Dark Age. The way of life that will ensue will be one which will be quite unlike the way of life we have come to know, understand, appreciate, and love. It will be a repressive way of life – repressive for women, repressive for infidels, repressive for Christians, repressive for Jews, repressive for homosexuals, repressive, indeed, for all except Muslims.

If we are to fight this darkness, it is imperative that the United States be kept strong, and buoyed up. The United States needs to be strong militarily, financially, and economically, for without a strong United States, there is little hope for a free world. Little hope for liberty. If the light goes out Stateside, the light goes out for us all!

©Mark Alexander

All Rights reserved

"Discussing Sharia here is an insult to our religion"

Those were the words pronounced by the representative of Egypt in UN when the representative form IHEU tried to discuss Sharia Law to with Human Rights... in the Human Rights Commission from UN. The reason they gave is that it was a "question out of order".

IHEU has responded to claims that the “Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam” is “not an alternative” to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but “complementary” to it. In a written statement to the UN Human Rights Council, IHEU opposed any resolution that seeks to limit the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration.

On Human Rights Day, 10 December 2007, the Pakistani Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council claimed that the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam, adopted in 1990 by the 56 member states of the Orgainsation of the Islamic Conference “is not an alternative” to the Universal Declaration but “complementary”. Complementary? Yet the Cairo Declaration makes no mention of the Universal Declaration and clearly states that: “All the rights and freedoms stipulated in this Declaration are subject to the Islamic Shari’ah”, and “The Islamic Shari’ah is the only source of reference for the explanation or clarification to any of the articles of this Declaration.”

The video containing the moment of the intervention of IHEU (International Humanist and Ethical Union) and the statement sent to UN by this organization can be found here.