ISIS Cartoon Garners Blasphemy Accusations For Indonesian Newspaper Editor

In so-called moderate Indonesia, Meidyatama Suryodiningrat- the editor of  The Jakarta Post (an English-language newspaper)- could spend 5 years in jail for blasphemy. Why? Because a cartoon the newspaper published this past July offended the hard-line Islamists.

The cartoon- quite obviously critical of ISIS- shows a bunch of armed jihadists, one of whom is pointing a gun at the head of a blindfolded man kneeling next to other blindfolded men (we've all seen those videos and photos), and another one hoisting a black flag with a picture of a skull and crossbones with "There is no God but Allah" written in Arabic.

An apology on the front page wasn't enough to appease the easily offended..

Following an outcry from Islamic groups, the Jakarta Post issued a front-page apology and retracted the cartoon five days later, insisting it was meant to “critique the use of religious symbols” and as a “reproach” to ISIS, a brutal Islamist group which holds vast swathes of territory across Syria and Iraq.

A group called the Jakarta Muslim Preachers Corps filed a complaint to the police and on Friday, Jakarta police spokesman Rikwanto, who goes by one name, said that Suryodiningrat had been officially named a suspect the previous day.

“The status of MS has been upgraded to suspect,” said the spokesman, using the editor’s initials, the usual practice in criminal cases in Indonesia.

It's proof that there are more radical Muslims out there than people would like to admit. Anyone who supports a violent, terrorist group like ISIS is one step from being a terrorist themselves.

More here.

TV Channel Fined For Airing Blasphemous "Simpsons" Episode

I don't think I've ever watched an episode of 'The Simpsons', and other than Homer's famous "Doh" I don't know much about it, but apparently the Turkish people do. They've been watching for almost ten years now. But the TV station that airs the adult cartoon series, CNBC-e, will have to fork over £18,600 after being fined for an episode that was deemed blasphemous by "making fun of God, encouraging the young people to exercise violence by showing the murders as God's orders."

The Halloween special "Treehouse of Horrors XXII"  that aired on September 20 in Turkey had actually aired last year in the U.S.

 In one segment of the episode, titled "Dial D for Diddly", the religiously-devout character Ned Flanders goes on a killing rampage after being given orders by what he thinks is the voice of God. Later in the episode, the Devil demands God bring him a cup of coffee. "Yes sir," God responds, revealing it is actually the Devil that runs the world.

According to RTUK, the state broadcasting regulator the entity that fined CNBC-e:

.. the episode shows "one of the characters is abusing another one's religious beliefs to make him commit murders.

The Bible is publicly burned in one scene and God and the Devil are shown in human bodies."

RTUK also said that God serving the Devil coffee can be considered an insult to religious beliefs.

Mehmet Yilmaz of the Hurriyet newspaper said of the fine:

"I wonder what the script writers will do when they hear that the jokes on their show are taken seriously and trigger fines in a country called Turkey. Maybe they will add an almond-moustached RTUK expert to the series," he added, evoking a popular Turkish stereotype of a pious government supporter.

One of the few, democratic, secular Muslim-majority nations in that region- thanks to its founder and first President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk- it is slowly creeping away from the secular roots that Atatürk fought so hard to maintain, mostly because of the current Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a devout, conservative Muslim.

But it's not just mocking religion that can get you in hot water in Turkey, a popular Turkish soap opera was targeted for depicting the famed 16th century Ottoman Sultan "Suleiman the Magnificent" (the one who orchestrated the conquest of  most of the Middle-East, much of Africa and parts of Europe until he was stopped at the Gates of Vienna in 1529), in a not so glamorous light.

The show, 'Magnificent Century', shows the 16th century Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent drinking alcohol and spending more time with his harem than conquering the surrounding lands.

Mr Erdogan – who has been accused of fostering a more reactionary environment – said the owner of the channel that broadcasts the show had been warned and that he expected the judiciary to act.

But to show just how religious and conservative the Turkish people are becoming, the 'Magnificent Century' has garnered 70,000 complaints since January 2011.  They apparently want the  RTUK to ban the show. Touchy.

Sources: TelegraphUK, GuardianUK

Indonesian Atheist Jailed For "Inciting religious hatred"

The 30-year-old West Sumatran atheist Alexander Aan, who was beaten up and jailed for writing "God doesn't exist" and posting Mohammad cartoons on his Facebook group page Ateis Minang, and was facing  a maximum of 5 years in jail, has finally been been sentenced.

Presiding judge Eka Prasetya Budi Dharma found Aan guilty of

“..deliberately spreading information inciting religious hatred and animosity."

“What he did has caused anxiety to the community and tarnished Islam.”

“Under the Electronic Information and Transactions law, we sentence him to prison for a length of two years and six months."

Initially, he was also charged with two other 'crimes'-  blasphemy and "persuading others to embrace atheism"- which could have netted him those 5 years. However, those charges were dropped, and prosecutors didn't get the 3 1/2 years they wanted.

Ironically, although not surprising, those who have attacked (and sometimes killed) Christians and Ahmadis (Muslim minority sect) have received far lighter sentences than Aan.

As I mentioned in my other post, Indonesia's freedom of religion is bogus.  These people need to get a life.