Muslims Not Amused With Atheist Dawkin's Comment On Muslim Nobel Prize Winners

Richard Dawkins seems to have upset many (and not just Muslims) with a Twitter post regarding the dearth of Muslim Nobel Prize winners. The hardcore atheist said:

 “..all the world’s Muslims have fewer Nobel Prizes than Trinity College, Cambridge. They did great things in the Middle Ages, though.”

Apparently he was called everything from racist to Islamophobe (the usual name calling), and defended his comment with, basically, the truth: Muslims "aren't a race."

".. What they have in common is a religion. Rather than Trinity, would you prefer the comparison with Jews? Google it.”

Al Arabiya has responses from both Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

PA Muslim Judge Mark Martin Dismisses Assault Charges Against Muslim Using Sharia

During Halloween last year in Pennsylvania, some members of an Atheist group joined a local parade dressed as a Zombie Pope and a "Zombie Muhammed". Talaaq Elbayomy (a Muslim immigrant) also happened to be there with his wife and kids, and when he saw Ernest V. Perce dressed up as said Zombie Muhammed, he attacked Perce (all caught on tape) to defend the Prophet's honor.  After the scuffle, both men tracked down a police officer for obviously different reasons: Perce, because he was assaulted for no justifiable reason, and Elbayomy because in his supreme ignorance believed dressing up as Muhammed was a crime.

Now one would think that in America, where it might be tacky but certainly not a crime to dress up as Muhammed, the person who assaulted another individual would have to pay the piper, but not so in Judge Mark W. Martin's court.  You see, Judge Martin also happens to be a Muslim convert who spent several years in Muslim countries while serving in the military. And rather than being able to separate his newly adopted religious beliefs from his constitutional duties as a judge, he dismissed the case against Elbayomy in spite of the police officer's testimony on Perce's behalf, all the while admonishing Perce for his insensitivity and lecturing him on Islam and Sharia (also caught on audio- with the judge's permission.)

Opposing Views, transcribed some of Judge Martin's diatribe:

“Having had the benefit of having spent over 2 and a half years in predominantly Muslim countries I think I know a little bit about the faith of Islam. In fact I have a copy of the Koran here and I challenge you sir to show me where it says in the Koran that Mohammad arose and walked among the dead. I think you misinterpreted things. Before you start mocking someone else’s religion you may want to find out a little bit more about it it makes you look like a dufus and Mr. (Defendant) is correct. In many Arabic speaking countries something like this is definitely against the law there. In their society in fact it can be punishable by death and it frequently is in their society.

“Islam is not just a religion, it’s their culture, their culture. It’s their very essence, their very being. They pray five times a day towards Mecca to be a good Muslim, before you die you have to make a pilgrimage to Mecca unless you are otherwise told you can not because you are too ill too elderly, whatever but you must make the attempt. Their greetings wa-laikum as-Salâm (is answered by voice) may god be with you. Whenever, it’s very common when speaking to each other it’s very common for them to say uh this will happen it’s it they are so immersed in it.

Well,  Judge Martin, this is the U.S. and here we don't execute people for blasphemy, and although we might be offended by someone dressing up as a Zombie Jesus, Pope, Buddha, Muhammed or whomever, it is their right to do so.

Then Martin goes on to say (as per Opposing Views):

“Then what you have done is you have completely trashed their essence, their being. They find it very very very offensive. I’m a Muslim, I find it offensive. But you have that right, but you’re way outside your boundaries or first amendment rights. This is what, and I said I spent about 7 and a half years living in other countries. when we go to other countries it’s not uncommon for people to refer to us as ugly Americans this is why we are referred to as ugly Americans, because we are so concerned about our own rights we don’t care about other people’s rights as long as we get our say but we don’t care about the other people’s say”


“All that aside I’ve got here basically.. I don’t want to say he said she said but I’ve got two sides of the story that are in conflict with each other.”

And,

“The preponderance of, excuse me, the burden of proof… “

And,

“…he has not proven to me beyond a reasonable doubt that this defendant is guilty of harassment, therefore I am going to dismiss the charge”

Apparently, Martin refused to allow the video of the attack to be admissible in court.

As for ignorance of the law, had Elbayomy killed Perce in the melee, would he have sided with Elbayomy?  If Judge Martin is unable to follow the rule of American law, then he has no place in our judicial system.

Video coverage by local news channel.
Perce's video of his ordeal.

You can voice your complaints to the following (H/T Pamela Geller):

Wanda W. Sweigart, Court Administrator
wanda.sweigart@pacourts.us
phone: 717-772-3771

The Court of Judicial Discipline of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Judicial Center
601 Commonwealth Avenue, Suite 5500
P.O. Box 62595, Harrisburg, PA 17106-2595
Phone: (717) 772-3771 • Fax: (717) 772-3774

Here's the homepage.

The Court of Judicial Discipline of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Judicial Conduct Board
601 Commonwealth Ave
Suite 3500
PO Box 62525
Harrisburg, PA 17106-2525

Atheist Indonesian Civil Servant Faces Five Years In Jail For Blasphemy

The constitution of so-called 'moderate' Indonesia calls for freedom of religion, with one caveat, however- it has to be one of the 6 state sanctioned faiths. You're good to go if you practice mainstream Islam (minority sects like the Ahmadiyah are a no-no), Buddhism, Catholicism, Confucianism (go figure),Hinduism and Protestantism. I guess you're out of luck if your a Jew. And although Atheism is not a religion, per se, if your an Atheist in Indonesia you better watch out.

30-year-old Alexander Aan, a West Sumatran civil servant and avowed Atheist, created a Facebook Page called Ateis Minang (Minang Atheist) that now has over 2,000 likes. Aan has been very open about his disbelief in God and other religious 'myths' like the devil, angels and heaven and hell. Unfortunately, Aan lives in a heavily Muslim locale and fellow residents took umbrage with a recent post that said "God doesn't exist".  That post was enough to trigger a posse of angry Muslims who trekked on over to his office and beat the man up. He was subsequently arrested, and could face up to five years for blasphemy. He has support from his on-line Facebook 'fans who are encouraging him to stick to his 'beliefs', but extremists, of course, want his head.

The Islamic Society Forum (FUI), an umbrella group for several hardline groups, said that a five-year jail term for Aan would not suffice.

“He deserves the death penalty, even if he decides to repent. What he has done cannot be tolerated,” said Muhammad al-Khaththath, FUI’s secretary-general.

“It is important to prevent this group from spreading atheism in this country,” he added.

He does have the backing of the International Atheist Alliance which has called on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to drop all blasphemy charges.

“This is a law that has been used to promote mob violence and intimidation against those who do not agree with... vigilante groups,” said the letter, copies of which were also sent to the United Nations and Human Rights Watch.

Although he has many supporters in those 2,000 plus fans, many who joined after the news of his arrest made headlines are Muslims, and they too are calling for death to all Atheists.

“These atheists should be beheaded, that’s what they deserve,” wrote a man who identified himself as Putra Tama, a Muslim from neighboring Jambi province.

“If you think your arguments are true, why don’t you just have a face-to-face meeting with us, people who still believe in God? You’re just a group of cowards,” taunted a post by another Muslim.

According to local police chief Chairul Aziz, Aan (who was born a Muslim and became an Atheist in 2008) apparently said that he was willing to revert to Islam, but unfortunately it won't make any difference.

“He expressed his intention to convert to Islam but he has not performed an Islamic declaration of faith. Even if he does so, he still can't escape from justice due to his blasphemous act,” Aziz told AFP.

He could also be in trouble for claiming he was a Muslim when he applied for his job, and could be fired.

So much for moderate Indonesia and its bogus freedom of religion.

Sources: Al Arabiya, Jakarta Post

Children's Film "The Golden Compass" not so golden!

Jumping on the global PC bandwagon, and its tireless effort to appease all those who might happen to get offended by nothing and everything, the film and television industry has had no compunctions, whatsoever, about censoring the word "God" from programming. Last year, I wrote about NBC editing out all references to "God" in the animated children's show "Veggie's Tales". According to Rebecca Marks (NBC spokeswoman) the references had been edited out

"... to reach as broad an audience as possible with these positive messages while being careful not to advocate any one religious point of view."

As if Christianity had the exclusive rights to God! In the original format two of the characters, Larry the Cucumber and Bob the Tomato, ended each episode with, "Remember kids, God made you special and he loves you very much." Nothing more, nothing less, but it was obviously deemed potentially offensive to someone, so "God"-- gone.

This year it's Disney's turn. This past October, the Disney Company ordered the word "God" to be removed from some radio ads promoting the animated film "The Ten Commandments". Disney claims the words "chosen by God" were purged

"...because its policies require mention of the studio in its commercials and it decided to replace the "chosen by God" phrase with "from Promenade Pictures" because the original script made it sound as though the actors were chosen by God, not Moses, as was the intended meaning."

If you listen to the ad, it actually could be misconstrued, however, the script could easily have been rewritten in order to make the intention clearer. They obviously chose not to.

Sadly, "God" has become, in many ways, persona non grata, in today's world. From banning prayer in schools to calls for removal of "In God We Trust" from the U.S. currency, we are slowly being forced to eliminate God from our lives by a vocal minority of God-haters. And many are acquiescing to the PC way of dealing with those easily-offended types, by catering to their whims because it's simpler than fighting back. But the more you submit, the more they demand- and the more you lose. It's not a good precedent to set, by any means. And what is so odious and offensive about the word "God", anyway? Even if you do find it so, what harm is there in its use by others who don't? There are many things I find offensive, but I don't demand they be removed or banned. If you can't bear to use the word "God" in our Pledge of Allegiance, then simply omit it, like a fellow actor at a recent SAG meeting!

There seems to be an on-going tug of war between those atheists who want a world devoid of God, and those who believe a God-less world will be the downfall of humanity. And atheists seem to be gaining ground in that battle- including in the realm of Hollywood. On December 7th, 2007 a children's film entitled "The Golden Compass", starring Nicole Kidman and other major players, is being released. It's based on the first novel "Northern Lights" in Philip Pullman's trilogy "His Dark Materials". Seemingly innocuous, it's actually atheism's answer to the Narnia Trilogy. And although all religious (or rather anti-religious references) have been removed, Christian groups are still calling for a boycott. Their main concern is that children will be inspired to read the trilogy after viewing the film (in its watered-down version), and that unsuspecting parents will then purchase the books, which have a decidedly anti-Church, anti-religious theme. In fact, God is portrayed as a drooling, senile old man, and is killed off at the end, by the young protagonists. Pullman, an avowed atheist makes no apologies for his writings, and has openly admitted:

"My books are about killing God."

And:

"I don't profess any religion; I don't think it's possible that there is a God; I have the greatest difficulty in understanding what is meant by the words 'spiritual' or 'spirituality."

Here is a reference from "His Dark Materials", that you won't find in the film:

"The Authority, god, the Creator, the Lord, Yahweh, El, Adonai, the King, the Father the Almighty – those were all names he gave himself. He was never the creator. He was an angel like ourselves – the first angel, true, the most powerful, but he was formed of Dust as we are, and Dust is only a name for what happens when matter begins to understand itself….The first angels condensed out of Dust, and the Authority was the first of all. He told those who came after him that he had created them, but it was a lie."

There are those who believe that the anti-religious references should not have been removed, and I tend to agree. In this way, parents would at least know, upfront, what they are dealing with, rather than being bamboozled into seeing a film which is actually based on books with a rabid anti-God agenda. They should be allowed to make an educated choice, particularly before buying the books for their kids.

I'm not calling for a boycott, however I won't be lining their coffers by viewing the film, nor will I be recommending it to anyone, either. And, just as I would challenge all Atheists to simply ignore any God references that they might find offensive, rather than jumping to sue to have them removed, I am challenging all Christians and others of faith to just not view films like "The Golden Compass", or buy Pullman's books, rather than calling for a boycott. Boycotts rarely achieve their intended goals.

However, I definitely think parents should be made aware and act accordingly. If I had kids, I know I would not allow them to see this film!