FSTDT

Miscellaneous Islamic Theocracies #fundie #homophobia religiouswatch.com

Islamic governments are expected to join with the Vatican in protesting against a French-backed declaration in the UN General Assembly that calls for the decriminalisation of homosexuality worldwide.

Rama Yade, France’s secretary of state for human rights, will visit Manhattan this week to throw her weight behind a statement supported by dozens of nations that blasts the outlawing of certain types of sexual behaviour.

The 13-point declaration urges states to ensure that sexual orientation or gender identity may under no circumstances be the basis for criminal penalties, in particular executions, arrests or detention.

While the controversial document is not binding in international law, it has provoked hostile responses from leaders of religiously conservative nations that regard homosexuality as sinful.

Margaret Awino-Kafeero, a diplomat from Uganda’s mission to the UN, which currently chairs Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) meetings at the world body, said many Muslim governments rejected the declaration.

OIC delegates have discussed the gay-friendly statement and agreed that governments choosing to prosecute homosexual behaviour should object to the declaration independently.

The OIC decided it will be each individual country’s decision, Awino-Kafeero said.

The declaration indirectly criticises more than 80 countries in which homosexuality is punishable by law.

The Vatican’s permanent observer to the UN has already revealed Holy See opposition to the statement, which is still being drafted and carries the support of 56 countries.

Archbishop Celestino Migliore said the Vatican opposed the resolution because it would add new categories of those protected from discrimination and could lead to reverse discrimination against traditional heterosexual marriage.

France’s declaration is backed by EU members and has won support from non-western countries, such as Ecuador and Uruguay as well as two OIC members, Gabon and Guinea-Bissau.

Nasser Abdulaziz al Nisr #fundie religiouswatch.com

Speaking on behalf of members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Nasser Abdulaziz al Nisr, Qatar’s ambassador to the United Nations, told delegates at a recent meeting that freedom of expression should not permit the abuse of religions.

Speaking in New York, Nisr described blasphemy as unacceptable, while western governments allege leaders from the Islamic world are trying to stifle basic freedoms and infringe the rights of non-Muslims: "Our countries categorically reject all forms of incitement, discrimination, hostility, violence, attempts to justify the distortion of religions and hostility-based incitement of religions in the name of freedom of expression. The responsibility rests, therefore, with the governments to address such conduct by legal and executive possible means, including amending legislation that allows such practices in the name of freedom of expression and opinion.”

Nisr was speaking in advance of a vote in the UN General Assembly’s committee on human rights on a draft resolution intended to combat defamation of religions. The draft resolution is supported by the 57-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference and has passed every year since 2005. Although not binding in international law, the resolution sets a global moral standard.

Random fundie #fundie religiouswatch.com

[Jesus fuck. Now it's happening over here as well.]

A protest was organised in response to part of a display on evolution being censored following a complaint to Abington Park Museum in Northampton .

A passage in a display on Charles Darwin at the Northampton Borough Council-run museum was covered up after a complaint from a Christian nutter. The move has now sparked the Northampton Socialist Forum to decide on protest action.

As reported in the Chronicle & Echo on Thursday, four lines of text were obscured. The information in the display explained how Charles Darwin used fossils to formulate his theory of evolution, which the forum said was established scientific fact.

Patrick Markey, of the forum, said: People are entitled to have all sorts of ideas, but no right to impose them on others. This is a public museum and should respect rational scientific thought, not the ideas of some religious fundamentalists.

The National Secular Society has written to the borough council. President Terry Sanderson said: There is a global push by the so-called 'creationist movement' to undermine the theory of evolution. It is incumbent on all educators to resist this attempt to deny evidence and, in the process, retard science and progress.

Visitors to the museum are entitled to a better explanation of Darwin's world-shaping idea than the bowdlerised version you have on display at present.

Councillor Brendan Glynane, the cabinet member for museums said: There was absolutely no attempt at censorship. The text contains a factual error which could cause confusion. We have now uncovered the display board and are in the process of getting a new board produced.

The council says the revised wording will read: He used the same layers of fossils to show the slow changes that are taking place over the millennia of earth history, each small change enabling a species to adapt to the rigours of its environment – the struggle for survival, through the natural selection, leading to the survival of the fittest.

An Iranian court #fundie religiouswatch.com

An Iranian court has sentenced a man to one year in prison after police arrested him last year for collecting signatures in a Tehran park in support of women's rights, his lawyer said Sunday.

Amir Yaghoub-Ali, a twenty-two year-old student, was found guilty on May 25 of endangering national security and spreading propaganda.

Yaghoub-Ali's signature campaign was in support of the larger One Million Signatures Campaign, protesting Iran's interpretation of Sharia law under which women must obtain a male guardian's permission to work or travel, are prohibited from serving as judges, and have their court testimony given only half the value of a man's.

Yaghoub-Ali's lawyers plan to appeal.

Sheikh Mohamud Ali #fundie religiouswatch.com

Muslim leaders in Kenya's North Eastern Province have resolved to campaign against the promotion of condoms as a means of preventing HIV.

The decision was made after a recent meeting on the theme of "Islam and Health", attended by more than 60 Muslim scholars and teachers in the provincial capital of Garissa.

A lot of money is being wasted to poison our community ... a huge amount of money is spent on buying condoms, buying immorality, Sheikh Mohamud Ali, of Garissa district, told IRIN/PlusNews.

The leaders agreed to actively preach against the use and public promotion of condoms as a strategy to contain the pandemic and prevent pregnancy. They also agreed to oppose the distribution of condoms in villages and educational institutions across the northeast.

The clerics further demanded the closure of bars in the northeast and asked the government to suspend the licensing of any new bars. According to the clerics, local bars and "video dens" screened pornographic movies that were contributing to sexually transmitted infections. The widespread abuse of drugs was another factor: a locally grown mild stimulant, "khat", is popular in the region.

The leaders expressed their view that the best way for the youth to avoid HIV was through the observance of Islamic teachings such as fasting, regular prayer and shunning extramarital affairs. They advised men to avoid looking at women, who should dress modestly.

The population of Mymensingh, Bangladesh #fundie religiouswatch.com

Muslim villagers in Mymensingh, Bangladesh, eager to rid the area of the Christian work of a local pastor have gang-raped his 13-year-old daughter, the girl's father said.

Pastor Motilal Das of United Bethany Church said that on Friday (May 2) the villagers sexually assaulted his daughter, Elina Das, and left her unconscious in front of his house in an attempt to drive him and his Christian ministry out of Laksmipur village.

Local residents have long been angry with him for his ministry and evangelism, he said, and he has received death threats.

Elina Das has identified two of the rapists and could identify the others if she saw them or their pictures, said Das.

When Das initially went to police to file charges, he said, police were reluctant to register the case: Police told me that it was a false case. They also said that it was a fabricated drama. Police spoke with my daughter in filthy language and showed prurient interest in the details of the incident in front of us rather than filing the case quickly.