Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Sharia Law


In case one is not aware of just how diametrically opposed Islam is to western culture, this is just one small example…

By de Andréa

One of the bedrock principles of Western Civilization in general, and especially in America, is the right to free speech.

Ultimately, there can be no freedom in a society without freedom of speech.

In a perfect world there would be no contravention. But then we do not live in a perfect world. The framers wrote the first Amendment knowing that nearly every time someone spoke, someone in this world would be offended. Moreover this was precisely why the first amendment was written. Especially since someone is likely to be offended, we must have the right to offend. Without the right to offend we do not have the right to speak.

Freedom of speech has been under assault for several years now by those who argue that freedom of speech does not include the freedom to “offend.” Much of the ridicule directed at such “political correctness” has been focused on so-called “hate speech” bans, which are frequently found on college campuses and whose intent is to protect people from speech that “offends.”

Apparently it is easy to confuse being offended or insulted with the loss of ones rights. The only rule concerning rights is that if one would lose ones rights in the process of another’s employment of their rights, this would be an abuse of the right. If this were to be allowed, freedom would self-destruct.

In this case, the one who is offended, loses no rights, and is allowed under the same right to rebut. If the right to offend were to be taken away so would the right of rebuttal.

Enforcing such speech bans has proved to be problematic. Who among us hasn’t been offended by someone else’s speech at one time or another? Who among us hasn’t felt our beliefs and values insulted by someone else’s speech? If every one of us who has been “offended” by someone else’s speech demanded such speech be silenced, there would be no free speech.

This article describes just one of the thousands of incompatibilities of Islamic and western cultures, this is the latest attempt by Islam to stifle our cherished right of free speech. They level the usual charges of “Islamophobia” and discrimination. If leaders of the Muslim nations of the world proceed ahead with such a plan to muzzle any critique or criticism of Islam they deem offensive or defamatory, that is reasonable for freedom-loving people and societies to ask -- can Islam be compatible with freedom? Can freedom-loving societies hope to successfully co-exist with a religious and political ideology that demands that freedom of speech be subordinated to its demands and only its demands – or else?

The obvious answer is no…unless the west is willing to give up all of its rights and freedoms and be subjected to the bondage of Sharia law.

The reason why it is forbidden to speak out against Islam is because it is a violation of Sharia law. More importunately, it is a violation of Sharia law, because Islam cannot stand up against the scrutiny. So the purpose of the law is to avoid the scrutiny, the purpose of fighting back is for revenge, as taught by the Quran.

Defame Islam, get sued?
The Muslim world has created a battle plan to defend its theocracy from political cartoonists and so-called religious bigots that have no respect for Islam. [Yours truly being one of them] Of course if one were to ask for a Muslim to respect Judaism or Christianity one might not only find themselves offended, and disrespected but a loss of ones life might be the result. There is no compromise with Islam; it truly is a one way street.

Concerned about what they see as a rise in the indefensible defamation of Islam, leaders of the world's Muslim nations are taking legal action against those that slight their religion or its sacred symbols. It was a key issue during a two-day summit that started in early March and ended last Friday in western Africa

The Muslim leaders are attempting to demand redress from nations like Denmark, which allowed the publication of cartoons portraying the Prophet Muhammad in 2006 and again last month, to the fury of the Muslim world.

Though the legal measures being considered have not been spelled out, the idea pits many Muslims against principles of freedom of speech enshrined in the constitutions of numerous Western nations.

"I don't think freedom of expression should mean freedom of blasphemy," said Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade, the chairman of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference. "There can be no freedom without limits."

The Statement, "There can be no freedom without limits" shows the incompatibility of the Muslim and the Western mind. The truth is, that there is no freedom in Islam, because -- of the limits. The Quran teaches a hatred of freedom where the Bible teaches a love of freedom, Jesus came to set us free, where Allah wants us as slaves in bondage or dead. The true rational is; the more limits the less freedom. But then, there is no rational in Islam either.

"Muslims are being targeted by a campaign of defamation, denigration, stereotyping, intolerance, and discrimination," charged the thin skinned Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the secretary general of the group.

The International Humanist and Ethical Union in Geneva released a statement accusing the Islamic states of attempting to limit freedom of expression and of attempting to misuse the U.N.

Human Rights Watch said in a statement that objectionable depictions of the Prophet Muhammad do not "give them the right under international human rights law to insist that others abide by their views."

Hemayet Uddin, the lead author of the OIC report and head of cultural affairs for the group said legal action is needed because "this Islamophobia that we see in the world has gone far beyond a phobia. It is now at the level of hatred, of xenophobia, and we need to act.” Boy! If this isn’t the pot calling the…

A new charter drafted by the OIC commits the Muslim body "to protect and defend the true image of Islam" and "to combat the defamation of Islam."

To protect the faith, Muslim nations have created an "observatory" that meets regularly to monitor Islamophobia. It examines lectures and workshops taking place around the world and prints a monthly record of offensive content.

While the Muslim world worries about the image of Islam in the West, Sada Cumber, the U.S. envoy to the OIC attended the summit to try to tackle the thorny question of America's image among Muslim states. Sada Cumber calls his campaign the "soft power" of the U.S. — an effort to find common ground with Muslim nations by championing universal values the U.S. holds dear like religious tolerance and freedom of speech. "America has a deep respect for the religion of Islam," Cumber told The Associated Press. "The freedom of faith that we exercise, that we enjoy in America that is also a very important aspect of the American core values. Anyone who wants to practice any faith is never stopped or discouraged."

THE BOTTOM LINE: A large part of the problem that we have in America is, comprehending the Muslim mind. Despite his very impressive background and impeccable credentials, the last statement by Sada Cumber is a very ignorant one indeed. Sada is a Pakistani American, his bio doesn’t indicate whether or not he is Muslim, but he either doesn’t understand Islamic ideology or he doesn’t understand American values and philosophy.

First, his efforts at finding common ground between America and Islam have been and are a fruitless exercise. With a Masters in history he must have forgotten more than I know, and yet he doesn’t know that this has all been tried before more than a thousand years ago with the same incompatible results. If one would just take the time to read the Quran, (believe it or not the book has been translated into English and is available in paperback), and compare it to any document in American culture, including the Torah and the Bible, which is where our culture and values came from, one would find total incompatibility.

Second, “universal values that the U.S. holds dear like religious tolerance and freedom of speech”, are not universal values, these are Judeo-Christian Western values and have no place in Islam. Islam does not believe in freedom of any kind and certainly has no religious tolerance. You are a Muslim, a slave or you are dead. This is Sharia law.

Third, the statement, America has a deep respect for the religion of Islam," may also be part of the problem. If America has any respect for Islam, It is purely out of ignorance of what Islam is. While I can respect Islam’s right to exist, it will just not be in my house or my backyard or in my face. I will not for example, build a foot-washing bath for a Muslim, anymore than I would expect a Muslim to build a Cross for my church. The difference is, the Muslim does expect you to build a foot-washing bath for him, as well as a sexually segregated prayer room. As well as anything else he wants, or he will be offended. And this of course, puts us right back to square one as they say…

The last part of the statement, "The freedom of faith that we exercise, that we enjoy in America that is also a very important aspect of the American core values. Anyone who wants to practice any faith is never stopped or discouraged.” This part of the statement at least was totally true at one time in America, and is a part of American core values, but is certainly not part of any values of Islam. Moreover, anytime you make a concession or show willingness to compromise, a Muslim sees you as weak, and will do anything to take advantage.

I have debated this with many individuals, some with formal college and graduate degrees both Masters and Doctors. My discovery is, the more formal the education is, in this subject, the less they understand.
They are obviously just more deceived…

de Andréa

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