What would happen to her and her compatriots if religious authorities discovered their actions?
“A simple answer. They would kill me, and kill all of my friends, by cutting off our heads.”
From the same article:
She’s not alone in her fight. Seeds of Iblis (“Iblis” is an Arabic word for the Devil) features five men and one other woman besides Anahita herself (Epona, who has also spent time in the now-defunct black metal band False Allah) who handles the vocals and lyrics, and released their first EP, Jihad Against Islam, in 2011 via French label Legion of Death. This band is even more unrelenting, crafting songs like “Sex With Muhammad’s Corpse” and “Inverted Hilal.” One of the band’s guitarists, Yousef, pulls double duty in Tadnees, another virulently anti-Muslim outfit who, together with the aforementioned projects, style themselves as part of an “Anti-Islamic League.”
Music is an effective way of spreading ideas, and ideas are the best weapon against all forms of dogma.
Plus, it’s good to see that at least some places, culture is still playing the important role of holding a mirror up to society!
Every religious person should oppose ‘blasphemy laws’ with every fiber of their being.
Why?
With ‘blasphemy laws’ in place, it is impossible to have freedom of religion.
Every religion has, as its central tenet, the bold and uncompromising claim that it and it alone is ‘the righteous path’ to wherever or whatever it proclaims people ought, according to its teachings, be on the path to.
Even if we set the anti-theists, atheists and non-theists aside and accept the religionists’ claims, it is impossible for more than one of these religions to actually be true.
Therefore, every single time that someone preaches/teaches one religion, he/she is necessarily committing blasphemy against every single other religion.
Thus, if blasphemy laws are actually enforced, we’ll soon have jails filled with religious teachers/preachers!!!
Plus, there will, of course, be the added complications – for those of us living in constitutional democracies – that enforcing ‘blasphemy laws’ necessitates that The State police the dissemination of religious dogma, which is fundamentally incompatible with the principles underlying our legal systems.
Sure, ‘blasphemy laws’ are seen by many as a measure to protect religious freedoms, but if you really think about it, they are the most certain way to prevent the teaching of any religion at all!
But, don’t take my word for it: we have real-life examples of this mechanism in action from countries where the enforcement of ‘blasphemy laws’ (which really mean anti-blasphemy laws) is sending clerics to jail.
Yes, we all know that Iran is trying Christian preachers for blasphemy – but, well, what do you expect from Iran?
And, yes, we know Christian preachers have been tossed into jail for blasphemy for holding Bible study classes inside their homes in Pakistan – but, well, it’s not like Pakistan is a bastion of good governance, right?
And good luck even finding a Christian or Jewish religious teacher who could potentially commit such blasphemy in Saudi Arabia…
So, let’s not use the most extremist countries as examples. Let’s look at Indonesia, long touted as an example of how multiculturalism can work in a tolerant, moderate Muslim country: a Shia cleric has been sentenced to two years in jail for – you guessed it – promulgating Shia teachings, which was not to the liking of the influential local Sunni clerical council.
‘The judge said that Muluk had propagated Shiite teachings in his village of Nangkernang, where a nearby branch of the country’s top Islamic clerical council dubbed the denomination “deviant” from mainstream Islam.’
‘“The Indonesian government should immediately drop the case against Tajul Muluk, which highlights the threat Indonesia’s blasphemy law poses to religious freedom,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The government needs to reverse the growing trend of violence and legal action against religious minorities in the country.”’
. . .
‘The Coordinating Board for Monitoring Mystical Beliefs in Society (Badan Koordinasi Pengawas Aliran Kepercayaan Masyarakat or Bakor Pakem) is a coordinating body under Indonesia’s Attorney General’s Office with branches in every province and regency under local prosecutors’ offices. According to the 2004 Public Prosecution Service Law, Bakor Pakem has the responsibility to provide “oversight in respect of religious beliefs that could endanger society and the state.” Bakor Pakem normally sits under the intelligence division of the public prosecution office, and works closely with the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the police, the military, local governments, and religious establishments.’
Let’s take a stand for religious freedom and ensure that ‘blasphemy laws’ are gotten rid of worldwide!
Remember, the end never justify the means. Rather, the means always define the end…
Clearly, his words were spoken before the Muslim Brotherhood candidate was declared the winner of the Egyptian presidential elections. But, he speaks of Egypt, from Egypt and I think his words will come back to haunt us all – most of all, the Egyptians themselves!
This video is interesting for several different reasons.
Yes, I do agree with most of what AronRa says in this one.
The only exception I take is to his claim that circumcision gives some protection against the transmission of AIDS. Yes, there are studies that ‘conclusively’ show this. But, there are just as many studies that just as ‘conclusively’ show that this is not so. All studies, however, show that wearing a condom does work…
…and I think that it is better to err on the side of caution when it comes to incurable deadly diseases. Still, if people wish the protection of circumcision as well as a condom, when they are old enough to give informed consent to it and they pay themselves for it, I have no problem with any cosmetic procedure.
After all, self-ownership is the cornerstone of our civilization!
The reason this video is important is not just because of the reasonable things AronRa says (and that he looks rather good saying them), and not because of how he says them (he is a much better speaker when he does not deliver a prepared speech but rather when he speaks unscripted), but because of the attitude the theists in the audience display as well as the demonstration of theist sentiment in the video that AronRa shows.
It is difficult to describe just how visceral the hatred many theists feel toward atheists – and feel completely righteous in expressing – is.
Don’t get me wrong – I don’t want to shut them up.
Let them spew.
But really – saying that if my beliefs don’t match theirs, I should be raped?
Suggesting all atheists should be hunted down and killed?
We are not talking about some uneducated Islamists – these sentiments were expressed by American Christians…
OK.
An orthodox Jew, a moderate Muslim and an archetypal polytheists (someone who believes all gods exist – as fairy-tales) walk into a bar.
What happens next?
The Jew and the Muslim unite against the atheist in a ‘theological’ debate.
This is not a joke – it happened to me. The moderate Muslim was Salim Mansur. We were all celebrating the launch of Salim’s most excellent book, ‘The Delectable Lie’.
Sure, everything was very friendly and good humoured – but, it still did not take long for the two monotheists to set their differences aside and unite against the atheist. (To be perfectly honest, I am nowhere near as good at verbal arguing as either one of these two intelligent, educated men… Mind you, since then, I have thought of really, really awesome things I should have said! AHA!)
OK, these guys had their fun, but they were very, very nice to me.
They were not like the typical theists one meets.
Somehow, I suspect I have had more than my ‘fair’ share of ‘scary’ experiences.
I have ‘bunny-hopped’ a tank once – because my Aspieness got me manipulated into trying to drive one when I was 12-years-old. Really, I just mouthed-off to the ‘wrong’ ‘many’-star general (because I did not ‘get’ it) it a totalitarian country – all my friends later admitted they thought I was going to be either sent to re-education camp or expelled from the exclusive language school as a result.
I have been stopped in the street and interrogated by the police – in a totalitarian police state – for not having my ‘documents’ …when I was too young to have been issued ‘documents’.
I have escaped from a totalitarian police state across a closed border.
I was less than 15 meters from a live shoot-out battle between two criminal elements within the UN refugee camp where I was staying. There were fatalities.
I was stalked – twice, by very different men in very different circumstances.
I was physically attacked by attempted rapists, three times (twice by someone whom I knew, once by a group of strangers). I had to fight my way out, each time. (Twice I did so unharmed, once I got off easily with just a torn-up shoulder – it still pops out of its socket at the slightest provocation! Well worth it!)
But, never in my life have I felt as unsafe, as physically threatened, as when a neighbour manipulated me to go to her Pentecostal Church and the ‘congregation’ saw me – singled out – refuse to ‘accept Jesus into my heart’!!!
Truly, this was the most frightening thing I have ever experienced.
At the risk of sounding pretentious, I suspect I understand how Hypatia felt in the last moments of her life. (This NOT, in any way, a comparison of me to Hypatia: it is the comparison of the fear we both felt as we faced a crowd of homicidal theists on her part and almost-homicidal ones on my part!)
I kid you not.
I could face a bullet.
I could beat up a bunch of thugs.
I could face down stalkers.
I can defend my honour against attempted rapists.
But faced with such a large crowd, whipped into a mob mentality by their preacher, so sure in their ‘righteousness’ and so pitiless towards ‘unbelievers’ – I knew that if something tipped them just a tiny bit further, I was dead.
It was palpable!
It was then that I knew what being hated not for ‘who I was’, but for ‘what I was’ was like.
So, yes – I do believe the theists – Christian, Muslim or whatever other religion – when they say that they will kill me, if they get a chance.
Not every theist is this way, of course not.
But way too many are.
The religion itself is much less important than the sense of self-righteousness it conveys onto its adherents!
It is my profound conviction that without the religious teaching that it is righteous and God-pleasing to exterminate ‘the unbelievers’, these men and women would never have abandoned morality in favour of threatened or actual mob violence – and felt good about doing it!!!
The recipient of this legal smackdown – to the tune of almost 23 million USD – are the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
In a precedent setting ruling, Candace Conti was awarded 28 million USD – 7 is damages and 21 punitive. (The Jehovah’s Witnesses are to pay the 21 million in punitive damages and 40% of the 7 million in damages.)
‘A substantial part of her allegations dealt with claims that the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York (the organisation that oversees the Jehovah’s Witnesses) had adopted a policy in 1989 that instructed congregation leaders to keep child abuse allegations secret. This meant that when Conti’s abuser from the 1990s, Jonathan Kendrick, was convicted in 2004 of molesting another girl, the elders at the North Fremont Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses did nothing to prevent him coming into contact with other kids at the church.’
Of course, he re-offended – and the ‘Church’ is being punished for not taking precautions as well as for not having revealed his history when he did eventually molest another child.
I suppose that making them financially accountable is the only way these organizations which hide behind piety and enforce silence on their congregation through ‘eternal blackmail’ will sit up and start paying attention!
And, we will not let organizations hide pedophiles just because they play the ‘religion’ card!
As a matter of fact, let’s go a step further: let’s let people believe whatever batpoop-crazy stuff they want, but let’s hold those who profit/make their living from marketing it live up to the same consumer protection laws that every other commercial entity has to.
If you can prove the claims about your product (that would be your dogma) – continue to sell it.
If not – then let’s call fraud a fraud.
While you’re at it – start paying your fair share of taxes on your highly lucrative commercial enterprises!
And if you don’t think that religious organizations are highly lucrative commercial enterprises, then I have this bridge here I’d like to sell you. It’s a great deal: you pay me now, get the bridge after you die!
Oh – and here is an afterthought: stop mutilating your children in the name of religion! It is NOT your religious right to violate the bodily integrity of another human being!!! (Plus being this obsessed with your kids genitals is seriously creepy – please, seek professional help!)
(Sorry – pedophiles make me angry. Organizations that hide, protect and enable them make me angrier… People who mutilate their own kids in the name of their own religion – they make me about as angry as angry can get!)
It is difficult to understand the impact of much of the news we hear if we lack the context in which to evaluate it. While I have educated myself on Islam and even early Middle Eastern history in order to better understand the cultural context which gave rise to this major world religion.
Still, this does not mean that I understand all the intricacies of the modern network of Muslim organizations. Without understanding this, how can I recognize the difference between truly moderate Muslim voices (whom we need to help be heard) and shameless fronts for Islamists?
The ‘litmus test’ I usually use is ‘Sharia’: Muslims who have attempted to escape Sharia tend to be moderate voices of reason while Muslims who support Sharia, by definition, wish to impose their religious views onto their neighbors…. This may be a good ‘rule of thumb’, but it does not help me understand the complexities of the various Muslim organizations in North America.
Here is something that might help get one started: a 10-part course about the history and activities of Muslim Brotherhood in America.
One Law for All has been spending a lot of time recently working with Caroline Cox and her team in promoting the Arbitration and Mediation Services (Equalities) Bill. The aim of the Bill, which was introduced to the House of Lords last year, is to make arbitration services in the UK subject to equality laws and to bar any arbitration where parties are of unequal standing; for example, it would disallow arbitration providers placing greater weight on the testimony of one party over another, as is the case with sharia law where a wife’s word is worth only half of her husband’s. The Bill will also create a criminal offence and make it illegal for arbitration bodies to pretend they have greater jurisdiction than they do – in other words, preventing them from misinforming people that they must obey their rulings. It will also place a duty on public bodies in the UK to inform women of their rights under British la w.
The Bill is due for a second reading in the House of Lords this October. Many Peers have already pledged support but we need your help in persuading them further. If you have time, please write to any members of the House of Lords and ask them to consider the seriousness of this Bill and its need in maintaining a society where all people are equal before a single secular and democratic law. In your letter, you could point out to Peers that the Islamic Sharia Council and the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal both openly acknowledge that the testimony of women is given less value than that of men, that custody of children is awarded to fathers regardless of the circumstances, and that sharia family law permits, and therefore encourages, domestic violence and the abuse of women and children. You can find out how to write to Peers here: http://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/contact-a-lord/lord/. You can read the bill here: http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2012-13/arbitrationandmediationservicesequality.html.
‘Equal and Free?’, a book of evidence compiled in support of the Bill, can be found here: http://equalandfree.org/download-file/downloads/EqualandFree.pdf. It includes testimony from women who have been through the sharia family law system here in Britain, as well as charities and groups which work closely with these women. It also looks at other religious tribunals, such as the Beth Din, and the effect the Bill may have on arbitration more broadly.
Debates and Conferences
One of the issues of concern to those deciding whether to support the Bill is that it may represent an infringement on religious liberty. One Law for All maintains that the right to freedom of religion ends at the point where other people’s rights begin. Sharia family and criminal law represent a serious infringement upon the rights of women to receive a fair hearing and to live without violence or the threat of violence. We will be holding a debate on this issue in the coming months and will invite members of both Houses of Parliament to attend – further details will follow. For more information on other speaking engagements and events, visit: http://www.onelawforall.org.uk/category/events/.
Child Protection
As has been mentioned, sharia family law awards custody of children to fathers from a pre-set age regardless of the circumstances, and regardless of whether the father is abusive or violent. Again, the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal and the Islamic Sharia Council do not deny this fact. It is also known that matters of child custody and contact are being increasingly heard by sharia bodies, increasing the isolation of Muslims in Britain and endangering the children of Muslim parents who may be excluded from the protections provided by British law – which places the wellbeing of the child as the paramount consideration in all questions of this kind. We have been pushing this message very strongly at the House of Lords; all Peers have now received a copy of ‘Equal and Free?’ which contains details of how sharia family law is flouting legal norms in matters of child protection, and the danger this represents &ndas h; it is creating a parallel legal system, based on religion, in the UK.
Support us!
December will mark four years since the establishment of the One Law for All campaign. A lot has changed in the public debate on Sharia law and equality as a result of our campaign. If you want to and can, please help us to continue our essential work. To donate to the work of One Law for All, you can either send a cheque made payable to One Law for All to BM Box 2387, London WC1N 3XX, UK or pay via Paypal. We also need regular support and for supporters to commit to giving at least £5-10 a month via direct debit. You can find out more about how to donate or join the 100 Club here: http://www.onelawforall.org.uk/donate/.
1. The One Law for All Campaign was launched on 10 December 2008, International Human Rights Day, to call on the UK Government to recognise that Sharia and religious courts are arbitrary and discriminatory against women and children in particular and that citizenship and human rights are non-negotiable.
Xanthippa's Chamberpot 