Beggars belief...

Hot on the heels of Cranmer's post, "Tis Pity She's a Whore - the Virgin Mary", I watched a video report in the Independent which gives details of  "a controversial book to be published on Good Friday [which] has caused outrage for its portrayal of Jesus as a bisexual drug addict." Christians are expected to tolerate such religious 'stone-throwing', turning the other cheek rather than going on the rampage killing innocent people in fits of righteous indignation with no regard for the rights of individuals in their own land.

On Monday (11 April) the BBC's 'Panorama' broadcast "Living with the Ayatollah" highlighted human rights abuses in Iran. Ironically Iran's Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad Hosseini has beenurging European countries to avoid encouraging 'Islamophobia'. The Guardian has taken up a similarcry with "Islamophobia on the rise as austerity bites".

What utter tosh. The maxim 'attack is the best method of defence' cannot hide the fact that claims of "Islamophobiadanquot; are used simply as devices to deflect well earned concern and criticism of double standards.

Postscript

The University of Exeter's European Muslim Research Centre was forced to issue an apology for serious errors of fact in their academic report Islamophobia and Anti-Muslim Hate Crime: UK Case Studies referred to here which "may lead a reader to misconstrue the conduct, actions and the intentions of Councillors". Conservative MP Robert Halfon  has demanded an explanation from Exeter University over a donation from the Middle East broadcaster Al-Jazeera. I know universities are short of funds but whatnext?

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Oppression or oppression: The Christian dilemma in Islamic states

It was reported in the New York Times yesterday that 'Fearing Change, Many Christians in Syria Back Assad'. It is a sad irony for Christians there that even Iran has called for an end to the Syrian crackdown despiteoppression being the norm in that country.

While the Anglican church herecontents itself with becoming a social club for non-dissenters, fellow Christians elsewhere are prepared to die for their faith subjecting themselves to endlessharassment. [Caution: the harassment link shows distressing images.]

The unintendedconsequences of the Arab Spring have provided a stark reminder that Christians in Iraq werebetter off under Saddam Hussein leaving Christians in Syria impaled on the horns of a dilemma.

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Burning issues

Watching books burn is an unpleasant experience for those old enough to recall newsreel footage of Nazi excesses. With e-books and Library deposits the notion of denying or limiting knowledge to others is a thing of the past in the free world. Now the act is more a gesture of principle or defiance as dangerously demonstrated by the obscure US pastor who caused worldwide uproar by threatening to burn copies of the Koran and encouraging others to do likewise.

Just the suggestion had Islamic people on the streets waving placards and threatening violence particularly against against US troops. There is an odd contradiction here. The pastor had the freedom to exercise free will in a free country but was shackled by public opinion and political pressure. Islamists on the other hand have no qualms about desecrating non-Islamic religious symbols or even killing people just for being Christians.

As we celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain we remember those who fought and died in the war against tyranny. Today we face a different tyranny, the threat to freedom of expression. Islamic fundamentalists are succeeding in muzzling everyone but themselves. The slightest hint of criticism is regarded as abuse yet Islamic abuse is rife, particularly in Iran. If as claimed, Islam is a religion of peace, protestors could demonstrate that forcibly by taking up the cause of Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, sentenced to death by stoning, or is a book, however sacred, more precious than a life?

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By The Book!

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani is back in the news.

Following widespread reports of her imminent execution (apparently Wednesday is a good day for executions in Iran) later reports suggest that "Iranian legal authorities had not yet reached a final verdict in the case of Sakineh Ashtiani and that the information regarding her execution did not correspond to reality".

The authorities must take great comfort from the knowledge that this poor woman's suffering is by the book - as they see it.

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Wars of the world

Battle of Vienna on 12 September 1683

From the Guardian: The terrifying rise of Isis: $2bn in loot, online killings and an army on the run

They're too extreme for al-Qaida, they boast of their brutality and they have forced the Iraqi government on to the defensive. How did the insurgent group rise to such terrifying power?

Talking with IranVienna 2014

At last governments seem to have woken up to the threat posed by Islamists, even to Islamist governments by other Islamists who want their own merk of Islam imposed on the world. So grave is the threat that talks with Iran, ironically in Vienna, may be used to work out a strategy to counter the threat. It is as though planet Earth were under attack by Martians in the War of the Worlds.

While the threat by ISIS dominates the headlines other Islamist atrocities continue around the world. "At least 48 people have died after al-Qaeda-linked militants attacked hotels and a police station in a Kenyan coastal town" (here). "Gunmen killed at least 22 people at a village market in remote northeast Nigeria, a security official said on Monday, in what was likely the latest attack by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram" (here). Looking at 'Wars in the World' (here) the results are chilling. Not all conflict is Islamist based but 'religious' fanaticism is a real problem.

A list of some of the major Islamic terrorist attacks from 1990 to Sept 2013 can be found here. The response of the British government has been to dismiss the Islamist threat as the work of fanatics who do not represent the majority of Muslims. Perhaps not but they all have in common a religious ideology in which ALL should be subject to Sharia laws which permit death by stoning, amputations and public floggings. Whether achieved by armed jihad or cultural jihad the result is the same.

Will the nettle be grasped at last ?

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