Sharia Sucks

…Countering the claims of Koran-burning, locals have come forward to say that Farkhunda was brutally murdered after accusing a mullah of encouraging desperately poor women to waste money of charms and amulets at the shrine.

An argument is said to have ensued, during which Farkhunda was accused of not being a proper a proper Muslim and then, most seriously, of burning a copy of the Koran.…

An Egyptian man was convicted and sentenced Tuesday to six years in prison along with a fine of $840 dollars for violating Egypt’s blasphemy laws, which make illegal any criticism of the Islamic religion. … Kerolos’ lawyer said, "Kerolos didn't intend to insult the Islamic religion, only he made a like on the page of Knights of the Cross on Facebook. He doesn't have much experience in the internet plus he suffers from poor eyesight. So there was not any intention for the contempt or blasphemy of Islam.”

CAIR... sent Rep. Allen West (R-FL) a letter asking him to cut off ties with leading anti-Muslim activists like Pamela Geller and Brigitte Gabriel... a one-word response... "NUTS!"

Islam does not require second wives, so Muslims in the West must "follow the laws," Badawi wrote in a May 2005 Islam Online fatwa. Yet he claims that Western prohibition of second wives for Muslims denies "a particular right according to [our] own sharia." Western democracies should "reciprocate" what Badawi considers Islamic tolerance of religious minority worship, teachings, family law, and estate division with equal "autonomy in [Islamic] issues ... , including marriage." They should except their own laws to legalize Muslim sharia, making Islamic polygamy "quiet [sic] legitimate," and superior to Western secular laws allowing homosexual marriage. Often, he claims, no "solution would be better than polygamy" -- for men with barren wives "instinctively aspir[ing] to have children or heirs," for example, or whose "chronically ill" wives they must divorce or forever "suppress ... instinctive sexual needs" and secretly take "one or more illicit sex partners." Forget women's wants or needs. Polygamy is an "optional solution," Badawi claims.

Islamic extremism is indeed a serious global problem today, to a degree unmatched by the radical fringes of other major religions. ... All around the country, right-of-center activists and politicians are trying to use government force to limit the property rights of Muslims and repel the alleged menace of Shariah law. Islamophobia has crossed the line from fringe rhetorical hysteria to active discrimination against U.S. citizens of the Islamic faith.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday she's hopeful that a religious tolerance agreement between the West and Islamic countries will end efforts to criminalize blasphemy that threaten freedom of expression. At an interfaith conference in Turkey, Clinton said an initiative by the U.S., the European Union and the Organization of the Islamic Conference will promote religious freedom without compromising free speech. [Yes, because, as was pointed out by someone on the web, Islam, which means "submit" and FREEDOM are so compatible!]

Although Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has championed women's rights from Azerbaijan to Zambia, it took her weeks to respond to an appeal to publicly support a campaign by Saudi women to be permitted to drive. Even then, her comments on Tuesday came not of her own initiative, but in response to a question at a press availability — and after Saudi women activists and journalists had questioned her public silence on the subject.

If all religions are equally capable of inspiring violence and all religious texts can be easily misinterpreted, we shouldn't have to look very far to find the daily acts of violence and mass deaths caused by Christians, justifying it all by quoting their holy books. I mean, there are more Christians on earth than Muslims, so if moral equivalence is true, we should find more Christian than Islamic terrorist networks, more Christian than Islamic beheadings, kidnappings, murders and bombings. There should be a Christian Al Qaeda, a Christian Taliban, and a Christian Hamas, etc., etc., etc. But, the fact is, these things do not exist. So, in terms of ongoing relevance, numbers killed and overall scope, Christian violence is not even remotely in the same league as Muslim violence. Not even really close, let alone equal.

A Saudi mother said Sunday she defied a ban on women drivers in the ultra-conservative kingdom by getting behind the wheel for four days without being stopped. Najla al-Hariri, a housewife in her mid-30s, said she drove non-stop for four days in the streets of the Red Sea city of Jeddah "to defend her belief that Saudi women should be allowed to drive." "I don't fear being arrested because I am setting an example that my daughter and her friends are proud of,"

an incident in Mansfield, Ohio, where the Mansfield High School forced a local Tea Party group to change venues after the group invited an "anti-Islam" speaker. According to the school, the event was canceled not because of the speaker's message but because the school — in consultation with the police — decided that it "could not guarantee public safety...." illustrates the power of "vigilante sharia," the all-too-often demonstrated willingness of radicals to go outside the law to enforce sharia norms on the rest of the community.... Violent or (more commonly) merely threatening radicals should fear law enforcement more than citizens should fear the radicals. [Tweet-linked by Cousin Brandon http://twitter.com/brandondutcher/statuses/53120760369266688]

TEHRAN - Iran's second biggest city has massively increased the amount it fines for women who fail to observe the Islamic dress code and don't cover their hair properly, media reported.

California police said Jessie's stepfather, Mohammad Khan - who is from Pakistan - and her American mother, Melissa, were planning an arranged marriage for the teen

In the first presidential address in 136 years to a joint session of France's two houses of parliament... President Nicolas Sarkozy... "The burqa is not a religious sign, it's a sign of subservience, a sign of debasement—I want to say it solemnly.... It will not be welcome on the territory of the French Republic...."

A man was stoned to death in Iran for adultery but the woman involved in the case repented, the judiciary said on Tuesday, suggesting her life was spared. The Islamic Republic has been heavily criticized by the European Union, rights groups and the United Nations for stoning convicted criminals and there are official Iranian recommendations the practice should not occur.