Are We Living in the 21st Century or the 11th? Male Witch to be executed on Thursday

Lebanese father sentenced to death for 'witchcraft' in Saudi Arabia. Execution may take this Thursday.

His crime? Telling television viewers that things might turn out well for them.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/family-pleads-for-return-of-father-sentenced-to-death-for-witchcraft-1835051.html

Political Cartoon: Holy Hypocrisy

Ahmadinejad is one of the biggest hypocrites on the planet...



he should practice what he preaches in his own country first...

Religious News: Nigerian Preacher has 86 Wives

From BBC News: Africa

A Nigerian man with 86 wives, Mohammadu Bello Abubakar, has been arrested by an Islamic court for refusing to divorce all but four of them.

He was picked up in a pre-dawn raid on his house in Bida, Niger state and charged with "insulting religious creed" and "unlawful marriages".

A Sharia court judge denied him bail until another hearing on October 6.

Last week he won a court injunction preventing authorities banishing him if he refused to divorce his wives.

Mr Bello Abubakar, an Islamic preacher, has more than 170 children.

Read the rest of this story here…

Religious Insanity: 3 Pakistani Girls Killed for Wanting True Love

The European Union Monday has expressed outrage over the murders of three young girls in Pakistan's Balochistan province.

The murders were carried out by relatives, who disagreed with the wishes of the women who wanted to marry men of their own choice.

The 27-member European bloc called for a full investigation into the matter and said it was absolutely essential that those responsible for the killings be brought to justice.

A statement by the current French EU Presidency voiced its deep concern over the extreme forms of violence against women reported in Pakistan.

It urged Pakistan to comply with its international human rights obligations, and in particular the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, to which Pakistan is party.

The EU also urged the Pakistani government to take steps to eliminate all forms of violence against women.

Mickey Mouse under threat of Fatwa

Islamic theologian says Mickey Mouse must die

Sunday, 14th September 2008. 7:47pm By: George Conger.

Mickey Mouse must die for the good of Islam, a leading Saudi cleric said last month in a broadcast on al-Majd TV.

On Aug 27 Sheikh Muhammad Al-Munajid told viewers of a religious affairs programme that mice were agents of Satan and that Sharia law called for the extermination of all mice: from the common house mouse (Mus musculus) to cartoon mouse (Mickey Mouse).

A former diplomat attached to the Islamic Affairs Department at the Saudi embassy Washington, al-Munajid appears regularly on Saudi television to discuss religious and ethical topics. On Aug 10 he denounced the Beijing Olympics as the “bikini Olympics,” saying the immodest dress of women athletes was “satanic” and earlier issued a fatwa, or religious edict, against women’s participation in the Olympics as the games were also “satanic”.

Al-Munajid’s aversion to sports is not new. In 2005 he denounced soccer, saying the short pants worn by players “reveal nakedness.” He called for a ban on women’s sports and public exercise as to do so would require them to don “tight fitting, short” tunics that were offensive to Muslim decorum.

Read the rest of this article here....

4 Minute Devotions: Honor Killings

We're hearing more about "honor" killings these days, even in our own nation. Sadly, it's an act of fanaticism that has its roots in the Bible.

Podcast version here

Deuteronomy 13:9 You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people.

They call it “honor killing,” although there’s nothing honorable about it. Young girls in the Middle East who get caught in the wrong company, or young men who convert to another religion, are cast out by family members and sometimes killed. It’s a horrible way of expressing faith and sadly, it’s one that has its roots in the Bible.

People get fanatical about their faith in God and take it to the extreme, so that nothing stands between them and their devotion to their Deity. Their love becomes an irrational zeal and they become obsessed with serving God perfectly, purely, and persistently. If a family member ‘dishonors’ the family faith, they can be tortured, raped, imprisoned, and killed. It’s a horrible aspect of how faith can destroy believers. It’s a wicked way of serving God.

People expect Christians to be holy and perfect, instead of ordinary and sinful. We have no honor, save that of Christ alone. He is the Sacred One who does everything right. He is the Holy Son of God, who serves His Father faithfully, purely, and perfectly. The grace of Jesus allows us to be restored to God through Christ’s good and godly works. There’s nothing that we can do to shield us from God’s wrath. We can only stand behind Jesus and ask Him to make things right for us. His Death completely paid the price of our sins. In our faith, if ever there was an ‘honor killing,’ it took place at Calvary when Jesus went to the Cross on our behalf.

I wish that those other faiths in the world could put an end to these dishonorable killings, but this will only happen if we keep spreading the Gospel through our churches and in our communities. Christ can release them from the burden of their fanaticism. We need to lovingly bring His message of grace and honor to the world.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, there is a lot of injustice and wickedness in the world that is done in the name of religion. Help us, through Your grace, to present a loving witness to the world, so that other people may be attracted to Your words and ways. Grant us opportunities to confront fanaticism with peace, hope, and love. In Your Honorable Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor at Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Only in Saudi Arabia: Young Woman arrested for...driving.

JEDDAH, (Arab News) : Police arrested a woman in her twenties while driving her family’s car in the Aziziah district, a security source said Thursday.

The source said that police took the woman to the police station where she was released after her parents paid bail.

She will have to be brought to the station for further investigations, according to police spokesman Col. Misfar Al-Joaed. “Police stopped the woman after noticing her driving in the Aziziah district and took her for questioning,” he told Al-Madinah newspaper.

4 Minute Devotions: In God's Name

Religious fanaticism needs to be confronted and denounced no matter where it originates or operates. Christ is the Prince of Peace and we, as Christians, have a holy calling and distinct obligation to seek reconciliation and promote His peaceable Kingdom throughout the world.

Podcast version here

Proverbs 20:22 Do not say, "I'll pay you back for this wrong!” Wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you.

Yesterday, I read an article about a Muslim cleric in Britain who is calling for Sharia laws to be upheld by British courts. He preaches vehemently and insists that thieves, male or female, should have their hands cut off, and that unmarried couples who have sex should be publicly flogged.

Meanwhile, over here in Oklahoma, a Baptist Church is giving away a semi-automatic assault rifle as a door prize at a YOUTH Conference.

What on earth is going on? And why isn’t God doing something about these fanatics?

We live in troubled times. I know that I can be ornery and stubborn when it comes to faith matters, but I would never dream of calling for punishing amputations or giving teenagers a machine gun. These people, pastors, and clerics are crazy and no matter how zealous they are for Allah or the Second Amendment, this is not faith as Jesus would have described it; this is religious fanaticism at its worst and we should all denounce it as an evil under the sun.

No wonder so many people get turned off by religion these days. If worshipping God turns us into limb-hacking, gun-toting devotees, then we should avoid it at all costs. Human history is littered with enough corpses attributed to religious fanaticism. We don’t need another Holy War, genocidal jihad, or holocaustic crusade to glorify God. I’m sure He’s just as sick as we are with those who use His Name to maim or murder infidels and sinners. After all, the world painfully tortured and unjustly killed His Son on a cross – no more blood needs to be shed to reconcile, redeem, and restore humanity to God’s holiness.

The challenge for us today is to stand up to these belligerent bullies and misguided maniacs by promoting the peace of Christ in our lives. After all, if the world does not see the Jesus within us through our outward acts of mercy and grace, then fanaticism will contaminate our communities and put this planet in peril for generations to come.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us to find the high ground and empower us to effectively confront religious fanaticism without ourselves becoming vitriolic vigilantes or malicious messengers. Keep us on Your path to peace and reconciliation, without becoming appeasers or enablers to those who would forcefully oppress us with their fanaticisms. In Your Holy Name, we earnestly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Muslim Cleric Says Christian Women Should Wear Veils.

Outspoken Muslim cleric Taj al-Din al-Hilali has claimed that the Bible "mandates" the wearing of the veil by Christian women. Writing in a new book, Sheik Hilali, who lost his job as mufti of Australia after comparing scantily clad women to uncovered meat, argues that the Bible and the Koran make similar demands of a woman's modesty.

Hilali, who remains the head of Australia's largest mosque in the south western Sydney suburb of Lakemba, says the purpose of the book is to show the commonalities of Islam with the Jewish and Christian faiths when it comes to women's modesty and clothing.

In the soon to be published The Legitimacy of the Veil for Women of the Scripture - Evidence of the Veil in the Bible, he points to references in the Old and New Testaments to women wearing a veil. "

Through this, I hope to raise awareness and understanding and eliminate apprehensions and misunderstandings about the veil," news.com.au quotes him, as saying.

Read rest of the story here…

A Muslim Swimsuit for Miss Indonesia

Sonya Chaterina loved swimming as a child, but the fun stopped when she reached puberty.'Then we to had to cover our arms, legs and our hair,' said the Indonesian Muslim. 'A bathing suit was from then on no longer an option. I was very disappointed.'

For millions of Muslim women like Chaterina swimming is more complicated than just jumping into the water.

Though most Indonesians practise a tolerant form of the religion, which sometimes incorporates Hindu and animist beliefs, women are still obliged as Muslims to cover their bodies, leaving only their face and palms of their hands exposed.

A regular swimsuit is too skimpy and is considered a violation to Islamic teaching.

Chaterina, 29, a housewife and mother of two, was frustrated at becoming her husband's deposit counter, caring for his glasses and wallet, while he swam with their kids at one of Indonesia's many water parks.Then she met Ait Djajaleksana, a young mother with the same dilemma of not being able to join her daughters in the swimming pool. Djajaleksana, frustrated that she couldn't find a conservative swimsuit in the stores designed a 'from head to ankle' spandex Islamic bathing suit.

'When my wife and I started making this swimsuit, it was merely for personal purposes,' said Anom Djajaleksana, 45, who lives in south Jakarta.'I didn't want to be the one who always has to take our kids to the swimming pool,' Anom said laughing, 'I want my wife to do the chore also.'

Ait's design proved to be a hit, and orders for the suit started to flow in.

Read the rest of the story here…

Britain Becoming An Atheist Society

London • Freedom from religion in Britain is becoming as important as freedom of religion, according to a United Nations investigation into religion in the UK.

In a 23-page report published yesterday, a UN rapporteur claims the 2001 Census findings that nearly 72 per cent of the population is Christian can no longer be regarded as accurate. The report claims that two-thirds of British people now do not admit to any religious adherence.

The report also calls for the disestablishment of the Church of England. The role and privileges of the established Church are challenged because they do not reflect "the religious demography of the country and the rising proportion of other Christian denominations."

The report also warns that measures to combat terrorism in Britain could be undermined because of discrimination against Muslims.

According to the report into the freedom of religion and belief in the UK, there is an "overall respect for human rights and their value." But the report warns that Muslims in particular face screening, searches, interrogation and arrest.

Read the rest of the article here…

Saudi Woman Facing Death Penalty for 'Witchcraft'

AN AMERICAN civil liberties group has written an open letter to the King of Saudi Arabia, urging him to pardon a woman sentenced to death for witchcraft under Sharia law.

Fawza Falih was condemned to death by a court in the town of Quraiyat after confessing under interrogation to having used sorcery to bewitch people. Witchcraft is not a crime under the Saudi penal code, however Sharia, or Muslim religious law, forbids its practice.

“The fact that Saudi judges still conduct trials for unprovable crimes like ‘witchcraft’ underscores their inability to carry out objective criminal investigations,” the Middle East Director of the New York based NGO, Human Rights Watch, Joe Stork said on Feb 14.

“Fawza Falih’s case is an example of how the authorities failed to comply even with existing safeguards in the Saudi justice system.” Human Rights Watch has urged King Abdullah to pardon Falih, arguing that her confession was coerced, the legal proceedings flawed, and the ‘crime’ not one recognized under law.

Saudi Arabia’s religious police, the Muttawa, arrested Falih in 2006, and after 35 days’ detention and interrogation, she signed a statement confessing to having been a witch. However, at trial Falih repudiated her confession, saying it had been extracted under torture. Human Rights Watch also charged the Saudi woman’s trial was flawed, alleging misconduct on the part of the judge and prosecutor.

Read rest of the article here

Valentine's Day nixed in Indonesia

Valentine's Day banned by Indonesian Islamic Council

Indonesia's highest Islamic council has declared Valentine's Day celebrations illegal, while a ban was issued by authorities in West Sumatra province on observing a holiday in hotels and restaurants, local media reports said Thursday.

Ma'ruf Amien, chairman of the Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI), warned the country's Muslims the celebration of Valentine's Day is 'haram,' or prohibited by Islam.

Amien, who is also head of the council's commission of edicts, said the romantic holiday encouraged drunkenness and other types of immorality. Meanwhile, West Sumatra's Bukittinggi municipal administration banned residents from celebrating Valentine's Day on grounds that such celebrations were contrary to local Minangkabau traditions and Islam, The Jakarta Post reported.

'The Valentine's Day celebration is not our culture as it usually relates closely to immoral acts where, during the celebration, young couples tend to hug and even kiss each other. This is an immoral act, right?' the Post quoted Ismet Amzis, Bukittinggi's deputy mayor, as saying.

A ban was imposed by the administration on cafes, restaurants, hotels and other tourist sites planning to hold Valentine's Day celebrations.The city administration also planned to shut down a number of tourist spots, including the city's tourist icon Jam Gadang, which were known to attract visitors on Valentine's Day.

Some 100 public order officers would be deployed to closely monitor cafes, restaurants, hotels and other public places Thursday, and authorised to detain amorous young couples found on the streets or at tourist sites, Amzis said.

Saudis Nix Valentines Picks

Valentine’s gifts, cards, and red roses were banned today by religious police in Saudi Arabia. Store owners and workers were ordered to remove all red items and wrapping paper from their shelves.

Valentine’s Day is considered as being un-Islamic, along with a few other annual celebrations, so the authorities prohibit its commemoration. The religious police also state that Valentine’s Day encourages forbidden relationships between men and women outside of marriage, which is punishable by law.

Some Saudis, however, surreptitiously celebrate the event by ordering flowers and gifts weeks in advance of the ban. The store owners make deliveries in the middle of the night or early morning to avoid suspicion.

Some Islamic mullahs have also written prohibitive statements concerning Valentine’s Day. The following example comes from Pakistan:

Muslims should avoid celebrating this occasion by:

1- Not expressing joy and happiness on this occasion.

2- Not exchanging red roses, which represent the ‘spiritual love’ of the pagans or the ‘love’ of the Christians. Hence it is known to them as the Feast of Lovers.

3- Not sending greeting cards as some of their cards have pictures of “Cupid” (a child with two wings carrying bows and arrows). This was the god of love of the pagan Romans.

4- Not exchanging words of love and desire in the cards or verbally. Some of the cards contain the words ‘be my Valentine’. This is the Christian concept of this festival after they adopted from the pagan Romans.

5- Not attending dance parties with mixed gatherings.

I guess they don’t know how much fun they are missing…

Religious news: Over There...Soon to be Over Here??

London, Feb.4 : Muslim women training in several hospitals in England have objected to removing their arm coverings in theatre and to rolling up their sleeves when washing their hands, because it is regarded as immodest in Islam.

Universities and NHS trusts fear many more will refuse to co-operate with new Department of Health guidance, introduced this month, which stipulates that all doctors must be "bare below the elbow".

According to a report in The Telegraph, the measure has been deemed necessary to stop the spread of infections such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile, which have killed hundreds.

Minutes of a clinical academics' meeting at Liverpool University revealed that female Muslim students at Alder Hey children's hospital had objected to rolling up their sleeves to wear gowns. Similar concerns have been raised at Leicester University. Sheffield University also reported a case of a Muslim medic who refused to "scrub" as this left her forearms exposed.

Documents from Birmingham University reveal that some students would prefer to quit the course rather than expose their arms, and warn that it could leave trusts open to legal action.

Hygiene experts said last night that no exceptions should be made on religious grounds.

"Perhaps these women should not be choosing medicine as a career if they feel unable to abide by the guidelines that everyone else has to follow," they said.

But the Islamic Medical Association insisted that covering all the body in public, except the face and hands, was a basic tenet of Islam.

Dr Majid Katme, the association spokesman, said: "Exposed arms can pick up germs and there is a lot of evidence to suggest skin is safer to the patient if covered. One idea might be to produce long, sterile, disposable gloves which go up to the elbows."

Journalist Sentenced to Death by Taliban Sympathizers

An Afghan journalist has been sentenced to death by a provincial court for distributing "blasphemous" material.

Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh, 23, was arrested in 2007 after downloading material from the internet relating to the role of women in Islamic societies.

A primary court in Balkh province said that Kambakhsh had confessed to blasphemy and had to be punished.

The court also threatened to arrest any reporters who protested against Kambakhsh's sentence.
Kambakhsh, a student at Balkh University and a journalist for Jahan-e Naw (New World), was arrested in October 2007 after material he downloaded was deemed to be offensive to Islam.

Shamsur Rahman, the head of the court, told Reuters news agency: "According to... the Islamic law, Sayed Perwiz is sentenced to death at the first court.

"However, he will go through three more courts to declare his last punishment," he said.

Read rest of the story here…