Outcry after French court rules on virginity

PARIS - The bride said she was a virgin. When her new husband discovered that was a lie, he went to court to annul the marriage — and a French judge agreed.

The ruling ending the Muslim couple's union has stunned France and raised concerns the country's much-cherished secular values are losing ground to cultural traditions from its fast-growing immigrant communities.

The decision also exposed the silent shame borne by some Muslim women who transgress long-held customs demanding proof of virginity on the wedding night.

In its ruling, the court concluded the woman had misrepresented herself as a virgin and that, in this particular marriage, virginity was a prerequisite.

Full story HERE.

Saudi king calls for end to Islamic extremism

Islam must do away with the dangers of extremism and present the religion's positive message, Saudi King Abdullah said Wednesday as he opened a conference of Muslim figures aimed at launching a dialogue with Christians and Jews.

The three-day gathering in the holy city of Mecca seeks a unified Muslim voice ahead of the interfaith dialogue. In particular, Saudi Arabia hopes to promote reconciliation between Shiite and Sunni Muslims.

"You have gathered today to tell the whole world that ... we are a voice of justice and values and humanity, that we are a voice of coexistence and a just and rational dialogue," Abdullah told the 500 Muslim delegates from 50 Muslim nations in his opening speech.

Full story HERE.

Brigitte Bardot Convicted Of Provoking Racial Hatred

PARIS — Brigitte Bardot was convicted Tuesday of provoking discrimination and racial hatred for writing that Muslims are destroying France.

A Paris court also handed down a $23,325 fine against the former screen siren and animal rights campaigner. The court also ordered Bardot to pay $1,555 in damages to MRAP.

In her December 2006 letter to Sarkozy, now the president, Bardot said France is "tired of being led by the nose by this population that is destroying us, destroying our country by imposing its acts."

Bardot, 73, was referring to the Muslim feast of Aid el-Kebir, celebrated by slaughtering sheep.

Full story HERE.

Judge's Courtroom Poster Draws Fire From ACLU

MANSFIELD, Ohio — The American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday called for a judge to face charges for keeping a poster of the Ten Commandments in his courtroom.

In June 2005, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ordered Richland County Common Pleas Court Judge James DeWeese to remove the Ten Commandments from his courtroom.

On Thursday, the commandments could still be found in DeWeese's courtroom, but in another version, 10TV's John Fortney reported.

Framed on one side of the judge's courtroom was the Bill of Rights. On the opposite wall was a poster titled, 'Philosophies of Law and Conflict,' which pits the Ten Commandments against seven moral relatives.

Full story HERE.

Scalia Decries 'Drift' of Court On Religion

U.S. Tradition Not Neutral, Justice Tells Torah Sages
New York Sun - June 2, 2008

Justice Scalia, speaking at a time when gay marriage, public education, and the war on terror are creating cases that test the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, chose the banquet of a large group of Orthodox Jews here to declare that the Constitution should not be read to "banish the Almighty from the public forum."

In a speech delivered last night from a dais on which he was surrounded by venerable, bearded rabbis dressed in black and wearing elegant hats, Justice Scalia drew a sharp distinction between America and Europe. But he decried what he saw as the Supreme Court's prevailing, if recent, jurisprudence that holds that government "cannot favor religion over nonreligion." Full story HERE.

Ford dealership: non-Christians "should sit down and shut up"

from BOINGBOING.net - May 31

Remember Kieffe & Sons, the California Ford dealership that ran a radio ad saying that they were Christians, and non-believers could therefore "sit down and shut up" and stop demanding separation of church and state?

Remember how they apologized for saying this really dumb thing?

They take it back.

The owner of the dealership says that he was forced to issue the apology by Ford, and he doesn't stand behind it, and he only issued it to appease "blog-lo-dites."

“I don’t regret the sentiment at all,” said Kieffe, who bought the 48-year-old dealership from his father in 1974. “It’s what we believe.”

Kieffe & Sons has sites in Mojave and Rosamond.

The dealer’s Web site Thursday bore a statement about the ad that included an apology “to all who were offended.”

Kieffe said he’d been contacted by Ford Motor Co. after the manufacturer heard complaints from numerous “blog-lo-dites.”

Remember, this guy doesn't actually attend church. Link

See also:
Sit-down-and-shut-up "Christian" Ford dealership is run by a non-church attendee who is sorry about the ad
Ford dealership uses bigoted radio ads to sell cars

Madrassa teacher beats boy to death

Saturday, 31 May, 2008, 01:59 AM Doha Time
MULTAN: A blind seven-year-old student at an Islamic school in eastern Pakistan has died after his teacher punished him for not learning the Qur’an, police said yesterday.
Mohammed Atif was hung upside down from a ceiling fan and severely beaten by his teacher, Qari Ziauddin, at the seminary or madrassa in Vihari, near Lahore on Thursday, they said.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had ordered an inquiry into the death, an official statement said.
“The prime minister has expressed his deep sorrow and concern over the tragic death of Mohammed Atif, who reportedly died as a result of corporal punishment by his teacher,” the statement said.
The police said the teacher had been arrested on charges of torturing and murdering the boy.
“Qari Ziauddin, who teaches Qur’an to boys in Qari Latif Islamic school, hanged Atif upside down with a ceiling fan in the school after beating him with sticks, which caused his death,” local police official Akram Niazi told AFP.
The teacher also failed to take the boy to hospital after he fell ill and his condition deteriorated, he said.
The police said a postmortem report also confirmed physical torture as the cause of death.
Pakistan’s 13,000 registered madrassas offer free schooling and board to hundreds of thousands of poor children in this devout nation, but some have also been linked to Islamic extremism. – AFP

Confederate group plans giant flag in Tampa

TAMPA — Next year, a giant Confederate flag may tower above the tree line near the junction of Interstate 75 and Interstate 4.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans wants drivers in the Tampa area to see the massive flag — 30 feet high and 50 feet long — atop a 139-foot pole, the highest the Federal Aviation Authority would allow. It would be lit at night.

With the pole already in the ground and building permits in hand, the group is on its way to having what it calls the "world's largest" Confederate flag in place by mid 2009. The group just needs about $30,000 more, said Douglas Dawson, Florida division commander.

John W. Adams insists the flag isn't about racism or slavery. "It's about honoring our ancestors and about celebrating our heritage," he said. "It's a historical thing to us."

Full story HERE.

Tony Blair wants to 'unite the faiths'

guardian.co.uk, Thursday May 29 2008
Tony Blair today said he wanted to devote the rest of his life to promoting understanding between the world's religions.

The former prime minister recalled how his Christian faith gave him the strength to take tough decisions during his spell in Downing Street.

In his most detailed description of the central role of faith during his decade as prime minister, Blair said religion inspired him even when he thought he had little political support.

His remarks appeared in an interview with Time magazine on the eve of tomorrow's launch of his new Faith Foundation, which aims to increase dialogue and practical work between the world's religions, in New York. Full story HERE.

Hundreds of New Testaments torched in Israel

(CNN) -- Police in Israel are investigating the burning of hundreds of New Testaments in a city near Tel Aviv, an incident that has alarmed advocates of religious freedom.

Investigators plan to review photographs and footage showing "a fairly large" number of New Testaments being torched this month in the city of Or-Yehuda, a police spokesman, Micky Rosenfeld, said Wednesday.

News accounts in Israel have quoted Uzi Aharon, the deputy mayor of Or-Yehuda, as saying he organized students who burned several hundred copies of the New Testament. The deputy mayor gave interviews to Israeli radio and television stations after word of the incident surfaced about two weeks ago.

Soon he was talking with Russian, Italian and French television stations, "explaining to their highly offended audiences back home how he had not meant for the Bibles to be burned, and trying to undo the damage caused by the news (and photographs) of Jews burning New Testaments," The Jerusalem Post reported. Full story HERE.