There's no place like home.

I have plenty of issues with the way things work in America but I can still appreciate that we have it a whole lot better than some places in the world. Today's example:
Taliban orders stoning

Taliban stone couple for adultery in Afghanistan
AMIR SHAH
From Associated Press
August 16, 2010 11:32 AM EDT
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Taliban militants in northern Afghanistan stoned a young couple to death for adultery, which a rights group said was the first confirmed use of the punishment here since the hardline Islamist regime was ousted in 2001.
...

Not only did the Taliban condemn the couple but the local villagers seemed quite willing to come out and throw the stones. What is wrong with these people? Adultry may not be the best thing for a society but it doesn't seem as if it's worthy of the death penalty. If I rail against religion on this site it's because of religion's involvement in atrocities such as this. And it's not just Islam. Islam happens to be at the root of today's article but on any given day it could be Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism or any of the world's mythologies.
We have to keep religion out of our government. Not only is it in the constitution but it's also just a damn good idea. Thank you Thomas Jefferson.

Wuz I right, or wuz I right. More in the saga of the teddy bear named Muhammad

From the news: http://my.earthlink.net/article/int?guid=20071130/474f98d0_3ca6_15526200711301638185719

KHARTOUM, Sudan - Thousands of Sudanese, many armed with clubs and knives, rallied Friday in a central square and demanded the execution of a British teacher convicted of insulting Islam for allowing her students to name a teddy bear "Muhammad."

"Shame, shame on the U.K.," protesters chanted. They called for Gibbons' execution, saying, "No tolerance: Execution," and "Kill her, kill her by firing squad."

Oh my, what a lovely religion.
The Sudanese government, in an attempt to straddle the fence, sentenced Ms. Gibbons to 15 days and deportation rather than the longer sentence and 40 lashes called for by their religious, fundamentalist laws. Not good enough for the pious populace. Only death will do for letting children name a teddy bear Muhammad.

Here’s a comment from the article that I thought was straight to the point:
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the world's 77 million Anglicans, said Gibbons' prosecution and conviction was "an absurdly disproportionate response to what is at worst a cultural faux pas."

Christians don’t have a whole lot of room to talk when it comes to absurdity but in this case Mr. Williams got one right. Sometime within the next generation or so Europe is expected to become predominately Muslim. Are you prepared for that?


Ooooohhh…, two topics in one day.

In a bit of irony, we find another article with the following comment:

Pope Benedict XVI strongly criticized atheism in a major document released Friday, saying it had led to some of the "greatest forms of cruelty and violations of justice" ever known.

http://my.earthlink.net/article/int?guid=20071130/474f98d0_3ca6_15526200711301361581032

Say what? Hey Pope baby, go back and read the article about the teddy bear lady. If you want cruelty and violations of justice let’s talk Islam, you know, one of your fellow Abrahamic religions. Then go read some atheistic web sites, like say http://www.the-brights.net and see how many times they call for people to be lashed, stoned or executed. Does the number ZERO ring a bell? Besides Pope, old fellow, that comment of yours is an old chestnut. Atheism doesn’t lead to cruelty and injustice, megalomania does. If we look back through history at the worst mass murderers, on the level of Torquemada, Genghis Kahn, Hitler, Pol Pot, etc. we will find a common thread and it is not religion or lack thereof, it is megalomania. Kings and princes, popes and bishops, emperors and petty dictators, charismatic politicians and preachers, they have all been guilty of mass murder. Religious belief doesn’t prevent it, lack of religious belief doesn’t cause it and the Pope is showing his ignorance with this pronouncement. Unfortunately, due to his influence, people around the world will believe him. Bah!
Herman Melville put it well in Moby Dick: "Better sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian."

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

News report:
(CNN) -- Sudan has arrested a British teacher for insulting faith and religion, the British Foreign Office said Monday.
Blasphemy is punishable with 40 lashes under Islamic Sharia law, Britain's Press Association news agency reported.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/11/26/sudan.bear/

In a past article I laid into George W. Bush for being dumb but the Sudanese Government has topped even Georgie Boy. Does religion make people dumb or do dumb people fall for religion? I don’t suppose I should expect less from an Islamist country. I worry about America becoming a Christian theocracy but I am seriously frightened by Islamic governments. A class of 7-year olds names a teddy bear Mohammed, a common enough name in the Muslim world, and the teacher is arrested for blasphemy. She faces imprisonment and possibly 40 lashes. It sounds like something out of the Inquisition in the middle-ages but it’s happening all around the world in Muslim controlled countries right here in the 21st century.
Grown men with the education and experience to run whole countries want to whip a 54 year old, elementary school teacher because a teddy bear in her classroom was given the same name as the primary prophet of the local religion. I just can’t even begin to express how seriously wrong this is.
One thing I can say is that this would never happen in a non-sectarian government. You want to name your doll Richard (as in Dawkins) or name your dog Bertrand (as in Russell) or draw cartoons about any atheist or humanist popular figure? Go ahead. No jail time, no whips. We can take it. Speaking of which, these Muslims and their violent actions remind me of a saying from when I was a kid: “They can dish it out but they can’t take it”. Some tiny little (supposed) insult and they’re rioting in the streets, burning buildings, harming people… I generally avoid vulgarity but the word “assholes” comes to mind.