Posts Tagged ‘islam’

A fatal police mistake?

Posted: August 13, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
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It looks like the police might be questioning this story that we posted on a few days ago

Now it is the job of police to be suspicious but lets consider:

The Islamic scholar and ex-Muslim Ibn Warraq explains that all the schools of Islamic jurisprudence teach this: “Under Muslim law, the male apostate must be put to death, as long as he is an adult, and in full possession of his faculties….According to Hanafis and Shia, a woman is imprisoned until she repents and adopts Islam once more, but according to the influential Ibn Hanbal, and the Malikis and Shafiites, she is also put to death.”

My normal instinct is to give parents the benefit of the doubt, it’s a tough call, after all a parent can’t lose his parental rights due to his religion, that is a dangerous slope, but with the long history of honor killings and the fact that she is not a citizen the danger that they will leave or send the daughter away is large.

Will the publicaty prevent any violent action from the family? I don’t know. I still say time is the big thing here. This is the US legal system. If it gets strung out till the girl turns 18 under a year away then it will all be moot. If I was her lawyer that would be my plan.

Exit question: Let’s assume that she is returned to her parents. Would an attempt to leave the country with her be probable cause?

17 year old Rifqa Bary ran away from her family in Ohio in fear for her life:

Rifqa Bary pleaded with a DCF case worker to let her stay with Pastor Blake Lorenz from the Global Revolution Church. The 17-year-old girl from Ohio claims her father has threatened to kill her because she has converted to Christianity and rejected her family’s Muslim faith.

“They have to kill me, because I’m a Christian, it’s an honor. If they love me more than God then they have to kill me,” she said.

Her father has gone to Florida to try to get custody back:

Mohamed Bary came to Florida to try and bring his daughter back home and denied the allegations.

“Did you threaten to kill your daughter because she converted to Christianity?” Nguyen asked.

“No, no,” responded Mohamed Bary.

However, Rifqa Bary insists that’s not the case.

“This is not just threats this is reality. This is truth,” she said.

In one year of course this will all be moot when she turns 18. But I can’t see where she would get such a crazy idea about Islam.

A tale of two men…

Posted: July 5, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news, war
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…who both died by the hand of the Taliban. One was a soldier Aaron Faibairn:

It appears that Aaron was one of the two soldiers killed in a large Taliban attack on a base in Paktika

This young man willing put his life on the line for his country and died on the 4th of July. Per his father’s request I will be using the tag thankyouaaron on this post.

Taken from his beheading video by Reuters.

Photo taken from his beheading video via Reuters.

The second person you likely haven’t heard of. His name was Piotr Stanczak and the Taliban beheaded him on film back in February. He wasn’t a soldier he was a geologist but died just as bravely:

Piotr Stanczak did not exhibit the slightest hint of hesitation when the Pakistani Taliban asked him to choose between execution and conversion to Islam.

Whether the Polish geologist acted out of pride or religious conviction, he decided to pay through his blood to save his faith, a choice that bewildered his killers and keep them talking about him with respect after his murder.

I would very much like to consider myself a faithful Catholic but I honestly can’t say if in the same situation I would have the same courage.

Via Tim Blair who notes:

An earlier item on Stanczak’s murder:

The video is so horrifying that some news wire agencies chose not to distribute the images.

If they’d been from Abu Ghraib, however …

For our own sakes these men need to be remembered. Both died defending beliefs and principles dear to Americans. Keep this in mind when people try to explain why radical Islam in general and the Taliban in particular should not be resisted.

Democracy and defeat

Posted: June 29, 2009 by datechguy in Uncategorized
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Very busy yesterday so no posting but one thought.

Just finished re-reading Six Days of War that was returned to me after a loan. (My old Amazon review from 2002 is here) At the time the thing that struck me the most was the story of the BIG LIE, namely that the US and England had actively attacked Egypt and Jordan during the 1967 war. I wrote the following at the time:

This more than anything else shows the weakness of dictatorship in general and the arab states in particular. Building a foundation on falsehood; false victories, false reports, false charges is necessary when you have to control your people in order to lead them. Problems can’t be addressed and situations can’t be advanced while this is true, likewise troops can’t be inspired when they can’t believe what their commanders say for can the people be expected to sustain a war when they don’t believe what is being said. For Arabs this cycle is still being repeated today, my favorite example being Imam Muhammad al-Gameia who a few days after attending a service in NY preaching love and unity (in English) went to Egypt and said that the Jews were behind Sept 11 and Arabs were being shot in the streets in NY. (In Arabic)

The rest of my review at the time was edited by Amazon as it was an indictment of current Arab government. Not only has that opinion been vindicated (Remember Baghdad Bob) and the “massacre of Jenin” and ofHaditha” but the tactics were frankly copied by the American left in their description of the war in Iraq and of Gitmo.

I hate to say it but It’s my opinion that there is no real chance for peace in the middle east. Arab leaders don’t dare embrace actual peace and normalcy for fear of their public and power since the Arab street hasn’t embraces reality publicly. The only way democracy is going to be the answer is after a democratic Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Egypt demand fight and lose a war a catastrophic war against Israel.

Until the average Arab feels and acknowledges defeat peace will never happen. Limbaugh is right on this one.