Sinsorship

The trouble is that all too often in human history, churches and priesthoods have set themselves up to rule people's lives in the name of some invisible god (and they're all invisible, because they don't exist) — and done terrible damage. In the name of their god, they have burned, hanged, tortured, maimed, robbed, violated, and enslaved millions of their fellow-creatures, and done so with the happy conviction that they were doing the will of God, and they would go to Heaven for it.

That is the religion I hate, and I'm happy to be known as its enemy.

--- Philip Pullman on Religion

Sinsorship of such views, expressed in any form, be it a book, a film, or a speech, appears to be spreading faster than the H1N1 virus. The symptoms of sinsorship includes irrational fear of bodily injury, death, and after-life, delusional business and political decisions, and desperate waving of both hands to explain such decisions.

There was a spike in the incidence of this illness immediately in the aftermath of the publication of cartoons in the Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, critical of Muhammad, a sixth century warrior-trader, who is said to be the founder of the religion of Islam. More recent examples are the Yale University Press' decision to expunge the Danish cartoons from Brandeis University professor Jytte Klausen's book, "The Cartoons that Shook the World", the British Government's decision to bar the Dutch politician and fierce critic of Islam, Geert Wilders, from entering the country, and the Indian Government's cynical but lukewarm attempt to defend an arcane law that criminalized homosexuality.

The latest incidence of sinsorship has taken place right here in my own country. The Hollywood producers of the Golden Compass, a moderately successful film based on Philip Pullman's trilogy, His Dark Materials, have apparently decided to shelve its remaining two sequels:

The American actor Sam Elliott says executives at New Line Cinema halted plans for The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass, despite the ''incredible'' commercial success of the first in the trilogy, The Golden Compass.

The film, starring Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig and Eva Green, grossed more than $US360 million ($400 million) worldwide after its Christmas 2007 release. But after a campaign by factions of the church in the US, it took a modest $US85 million there. Bill Donohoe, of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, led the attack, calling on parents to boycott the film, saying it would prompt children to buy Pullman's novels, which he described as "atheism for kids".

I am not a big fan of fantasy films, so I am not terribly disappointed that the film version of His Dark Materials will not be completed. It's a pity, though, that children are being deprived of an opportunity to have fun. Few, if any, who have seen the Golden Compass or read His Dark Materials would disagree that it's a lot of fun. The trilogy is after all a collection of tales of adventures of two children, Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry, as they travel through a series of parallel universes. What could be more fun than the daemons, dark matter, truth meters, and the ruthless villains of the Magisterium that they encounter, to help children learn to separate fact from fiction and freedom from tyranny? In Pullman's own words,

"At the end of the first novel, after Lyra's seen all these horrible and cruel things done, she thinks about it," Pullman said. "She's been told Dust is bad, but she thinks, 'If the bad people think it's bad, maybe it's good.' It's a huge moral reversal. Because Dust is actually the physical embodiment of the world of thought, of curiosity, of consciousness. And it's better to know more than to know less."

Why anyone would take exception to this call for thought and knowledge is beyond me.

The Catholic Church, however, is currently running scared. Perhaps, because the rising tide of faithlessness among young people is threatening to bankrupt their god business and rob them of their livelihood. The Church knows better than anyone else the value of Joe Camel, and hence the push to ban His Dark Materials from libraries around the world. The trilogy is only second from the top among the most challenged books in the US Banned Books List 2009. The top honor goes to — surprise, surprise — And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, the story of two male penguins raising an orphaned chick, because of its "anti-ethnic, anti-family, homosexuality, religious viewpoint, and unsuited to age group"!

I will not be surprised, if Pullman's books made it to the top of the list of banned books in China and Iran as well. For, His Dark Materials is not only a critique of religion's attempt to trap young minds in ignorance, but also its relentless use of the instruments of fear and repression. None can better the record of totalitarian regimes in this, be they theocratic or communist. The Magisterium is as much a representative of the Vatican as it is of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China and the Guardian Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The "authority" these dystopian establishments represent could be "religious, political, totalitarian, fundamentalist, communist, what have you" [Pullman, in a discussion with Chris Weitz, the director of the Golden Compass].

Well, none of these Magisteria is going to stop me from reading His Dark Materials to my granddaughter at her bedtime. I hope I can count on help from George's Secret Key to the Universe and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, to unravel for her the difference between science and sorcery. I'd rather have Anamika and her sleepover friends go to sleep, listening to a narration of the story of the adorable penguins, Roy, Silo, and Tango, than the horror of Sodom and Gomorrah, won't you?

So, bring it on, Magisteria, let's see what you can do to stop the march of civilization!

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Your Life Under Sharia - V

Echoing the liberal media and voices of appeasement world over, Claudio Cordone, an op-ed contributor to New York Times wrote on the recent Swiss ban on minarets:

The success of the referendum brings with it some long, hard lessons for the Swiss authorities that other European countries and political leaders would also do well to heed...

The absence of vocal, united and consistent opposition to the initiative clearly left the terrain free for the fear-mongering and exaggeration that Islamophobic ideologues thrive on. Other countries should not make the same mistake.

Fear-mongering, exaggeration, really? Read on.

[A court] has sent seven man (sic) to prison without bail and released two others with charges, accused of judging a woman according to Sharia law and planning to kill her for adultery. They are charged with illegally holding the woman, criminal association and attempted manslaughter... The detainees had created an Islamic Tribunal and illegally tried the woman for adultery, which according to Sharia law is punished with death by lapidation [stoning].

Muslim parents are warned to not allow their daughters to use the gymnasiums in the schools nor on any account should they use swimming pools. Muslims are told to remove their daughters from school upon the first appearance of menstruation.

According to one report, a Muslim teenage boy was given a severe beating by Muslim enforcers for having merely played soccer with non-Muslims. From the mosques there continue to emerge demands that Muslims not socialize with infidels.

In another such case, a pregnant woman was beaten by two men in October 2009 ... for having neglected to wear a veil. She managed to escape but was to suffer a miscarriage as a result.
Sources: Euro Weekly News, Energy Publisher

Where? Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran, Malaysia...? India, perhaps? No, in Catalonia, Tarragona, Gironés, and Segarra in Spain!

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Jesus Christ!

Breaking News from the Birmingham News: Jesus Christ appeared last week in Judge Clyde Jones's courtroom in Jefferson County, Alabama, because she was called for jury duty in a criminal case.

Court officials were skeptical at first when on Monday a potential juror submitted a name change form with "Jesus Christ" on it. But the 59-year-old Birmingham woman, who previously went by Dorothy Lola Killingworth, assured the presiding judge that was her name... "It raised eyebrows, so I asked her if that were truly her name," Circuit Court Judge Scott Vowell said. "She assured me that it was. She had her name changed in the Probate Court, and she presented her driver's license."

As a die-hard skeptic, I had always wanted to meet Jesus Christ. Naturally, I went to the Jefferson County Courthouse to see Jesus in flesh and blood, tired of seeing only his apparitions on burnt toast, chocolate, bathroom wall, and the rear end of a dog! The voir dire was starting as I walked into the court room. Here are some of the frequently asked questions during the jury screening process, and my recollection of the replies from Jury No. 1, Jesus Christ:

Counsel: Jesus Christ, may I call you Jesus Christ, Sir... er... Madam? You won't take offense at my taking god's name in vain, will you?
JC: Oh, for Christ's sake, call me Jesus Christ, what else? Besides, I am not my dad. I am his son... er... daughter... wait, son... no... I am all confused now!

Counsel: Are you married? Do you have any children?
JC: Why do you ask me? Ask Dan Brown!

Counsel: What do you do for living?
JC: I don't do anything for living; I do everything for the dead.

Counsel: If you are selected as a juror in this case, the Court will order you not to discuss this case with anyone unless and until permitted to do so by the Court. Will you have any difficulty in following this order?
JC: I can't hide anything from my dad. He is omniscient!

Counsel: What is your main source of news and information? Which do you think is most accurate - TV, newspaper, or radio?
JC: You must be kidding. After the Becks, the Hannities, the Olbermanns, and the Wolves? I bet you don't watch the Daily Show. Besides, I am omniscient, too!

Counsel: What was the last book you read?
JC: I wrote the last, and the only book you'll ever need, hehe...

Counsel: Do you drink alcohol? Do you or anyone close to you have a problem with alcohol?
JC: Yes, I do. So does everyone close to me. Why do you think I changed water into wine at the wedding in the village of Cana, eh?

Counsel: Have you ever been arrested for any crime, even if charges were never filed?
JC: Yes, once, for high treason. I was crucified, and those Roman idiots thought I was dead, but here I am. Now, do you believe in resurrection?

Counsel: If selected as a juror in this case, the Court will instruct you as follows: "A defendant in a criminal action is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty.". Are you willing to follow this instruction?
JC: Of course, not. Quite the opposite, I say. "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." Everyone is presumed guilty. Clinton, Craig, Edwards, Gingrich, Sanford, Spitzer, Woods...

Counselor: Do you think you might have difficulty judging someone who is charged with a crime?
JC: Judge not, lest ye be judged! Who said that?

The Birmingham News adds:

[Christ] was excused because she was disruptive, court officials said. Instead of answering questions, she was asking them, a court employee in Jones's office said.

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Minarets of Dystopia

Is the ban on new construction of minarets resulting from the 2009 Swiss Referendum Islamophobic? Absolutely! I have little doubt that the 57.5% majority vote, with 22 out of the 26 Cantons approving the ban — enough to amend the Federal Constitution of Switzerland, if necessary — has been motivated by Islamophobia, a primal fear of Islamic supremacy. A primal fear that the arcane of code of conduct, imposed by the Koran and the Hadiths through the legal system of Sharia, will abrogate the fundamental right to live our lives the way we like.

Minaret derives from the Arabic word, minara, meaning lighthouse. Minarets, like light houses, are tall structures built around a mosque. They have been traditionally used for the Islamic "call to prayer", until amplifiers and speakers took over. The minarets are not essential architectural features of the places of worship for Muslims. Nothing in the Koran stipulates minarets, it seems. Why minarets, then?

Islamic minarets, Christian church spires, Buddhist stupas, and Hindu temple towers, are symbols of supremacy. Ko-il, the Tamil word for a Hindu temple, literally means the king's [ko] house [il]. As tall structures besides or atop the house of gods, they dominate the skyline and the landscape. Opulent and ornate, they command attention and proclaim the power of the gods, or their purported proxies, over the people. Not surprisingly, they were often targets of pillaging and vandalism for marauding invaders, who danced to the tune of different gods.

[clockwise from left top] Minaret, Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca, Morocco; Jordan River Mormon Temple, Utah, USA; Madurai Meenakshi temple gopuram, Tamil Nadu, India; and Wat Phra Si Sanphet 4, Ayutthaya, Thailand; [center] Statue of Liberty, New York City, USA.

Loudly or not, the minarets call for submission to the authority of allah and his laws. A vote against the minarets is a vote against allah's laws. More women than men of Switzerland voted against the minarets, so as not to risk being submissive forever to the will of the men in their lives, as commanded by allah. This is not a misunderstanding of the "egalitarian" religion of Islam. It's the law in Afghanistan, for example:

Afghanistan's Shite Personal Status Law, dubbed the Marital Rape Law, legalizes withholding food from a woman who fails to have sex with her husband at least twice a week. It denies women's right to inherit, divorce, or have guardianship over her children. It forbids women to marry without permission, and legalizes forced marriage, including marriage to and rape of minors.

The Swiss women must certainly be afflicted with Islamophobia, don't you think?

An unknown percent of men and women might have voted to banish the minarets from their skyline, fearful of being stoned to death for minor sexual transgressions. Please, don't dismiss them as misinterpreting what the prophet had commanded. It's the law in Iran, for example, approved by the Ayatollahs of the Shiites:

Iran's moral police have arrested a dozen couples for engaging in illicit sexual acts, including swapping of partners, the conservative Jomhuri Eslami reported on Monday... Extra-marital sex is illegal in Iran where Islamic sharia law is the principal source of legislation. If found guilty of adultery, those arrested in the crackdown face being stoned to death.

I am shocked, shocked, that the voters of Switzerland suffer from Islamophobia!

No one would be surprised, I think, if it transpired that a super majority — 67%, 75%, even 90% — of Christian, Jews, Sikhs, and Hindu voters in Switzerland had voted for the ban on minarets, fearing their lives would amount to little and their pursuit of happiness would be disproportionately taxed under a Sharia regime. This too is not a misunderstanding of Islam, even if my country were to share with it many common principles, particularly, "principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings". In Saudi Arabia, the ultimate guardians of Islamic norms and values, apartheid rules:

In Saudi Arabia, when a person has been killed or caused to die by another, the prescribed blood money rates are as follows^[7]:

* 100,000 riyals if the victim is a Muslim man
* 50,000 riyals if a Muslim woman
* 50,000 riyals if a Christian man
* 25,000 riyals if a Christian woman
* 6,666 riyals if a Hindu man
* 3,333 riyals if a Hindu woman.

The amount of compensation is based on the percentage of responsibility. Blood money is to be paid not only for murder, but also in case of unnatural death, interpreted to mean death in a fire, industrial or road accident, for instance, as long as the responsibility for it falls on the causer.^[7]

Beware the fascists who are spreading a pandemic of Islamophobia across the globe!

Perhaps, a minority, or even a majority, of the refugees from the Balkans voted for not having to be reminded everyday of the Draconian laws that would brand them and their children as Muslims for eternity, and punish them by death for apostasy and blasphemy. This is not a misunderstanding of the religion of peace and tolerance, either. It's the law in several Islamic nations:

Today apostasy is punishable by death in the countries of Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Qatar, Yemen, Iran, Sudan, Afghanistan and Mauritania. In Pakistan blasphemy is also punishable by death. Other punishments prescribed by Islamic law include the annulment of marriage with a Muslim spouse, the removal of children and the loss of all property and inheritance rights.

Islamophobia, et tu, my brother?

Amidst this dismal scene unfolding in a nation renowned for its neutrality, for its progressive laws, and for its respect for privacy and individual rights, there is still something for us to laugh about. Oh, yes, I am referring to the cacophony of criticisms and protests emanating from the worst perpetrators of Islamic apartheid — Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the Organization of Islamic Conference, and their apologists, topped by the United Nations Human Islamic Rights Council.

Where was Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, when the Aceh province of Indonesia imposed Sharia on its Muslim and non-Muslim residents alike?

Once a hotbed of Islamic insurgency, Aceh is now turning to religion in peacetime. This month, the Indonesian province's legislative council passed a series of sharia-inspired bylaws to its criminal code, controversially bringing the Muslim-dominated northern tip of Sumatra island under some of the strictest readings of the Koran...

The new legislation pushes the fundamentalist stakes higher by allowing for stoning for crimes including adultery and corporal punishment for homosexuality, among other breaches of what the laws' proponents refer to as Muslim "ethics". One worrying aspect of the stoning for adultery provision in the new ordnance is that it allows the punishment to be doled out to both Muslims and non-Muslims

Was Ms. Pillay camping out in Mars, when just a couple of weeks before the Swiss Referendum, the parliament of the island nation of Maladives unanimously passed a bill to prohibit public display of reverence for any god other than allah?

MPs [Members of Parliament] approve bill to outlaw places of worship for non-Muslims... While the bill states that foreigners or expatriates will be allowed to worship in the privacy of their homes, involving Maldivians or encouraging them to participate will be an offence. The bill specifies a jail term of three to five years or a fine of between Rf36,000 (US$2,800) and Rf60,000 (US$4,669) for those in violation of the law.

On the outcome of the Swiss Referendum, however, the High Commissioner of Human Rights was quick and unflinching:

The United Nations said Monday it had appointed experts to examine the legality of that vote. But Navi Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights, did not await the outcome of this expertise to provide clear views. Banning minarets decided by the Swiss people is "clearly discriminatory," she said on Tuesday, adding that there was a "risk to the country at odds with its international obligations."

Make no mistake about this. I, too, have no hesitation in repudiating the Swiss ban on the construction of minarets as discriminatory, and a violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed in the Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation to its people. I don't doubt for a moment that it's any less dystopian than the strictures on MF Hussain's nude paintings, Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses, or the marriage of gays and lesbians. Nevertheless, the referendum sends a silent message to the high priests of religious dystopia. Listen to what it means, not what it says:

Today, we, the people, declare that we wish to be free from the tyranny of the gods and their messengers, and absolve ourselves of all allegiance to their irrational commandments and laws. Tomorrow, we would have banished all religions from the face of this earth. And then, only then, we'll be free to choose what we learn, whom we marry, how we reproduce, what we teach our children, and when we terminate our lives.

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