From the Jakarta Post

The Tangerang municipal administrationin Indonesia destroyed thousands of bottles of name-brand alcoholic drinks, pornographic pirated VCDs and six gambling machines confiscated in a string of raids this month.

The raids were made as the introduction to the newly endorsed Bylaw No. 7/2005 that limits the sales of alcohol and includes regulations against piracy and gambling, said Mayor Wahidin Halim who presided over the destruction at his office compound.

Tangerang Police chief Raja Erizman, Council speaker Krisna Gunata, chief judge Suhadi, chief prosecutor Bambang Rajardjo and religious figures also witnessed the mayor and staff as they bulldozed at least 19,000 bottles of liquor and burned 31,061 VCDs and the gambling machines.

The municipal administration has set out to make Tangerang a "religious city" ... therefore I have also ordered officers to seize and destroy pornographic calendars and posters sold by sidewalk vendors, Wahidin added.

From Denmark.dk

An Islamic cultural organisation encouraged its members to boycott Denmark until an official apology was offered for drawings printed in a national newspaper depicting the prophet Mohammed

The Islamic cultural organisation, ISESCO, has encouraged its 51 members to boycott Denmark, Danish daily Information reported on Wednesday.

Abdul Aziz Othman al-Twaijri, the organisation's secretary general, told Arabic TV station Arabiya that a boycott was necessary until an apology was offered for the drawings printed in national newspaper Jyllands-Postent that depicted the prophet Mohammed: We encourage the organisation's members to boycott Denmark both economically and politically until Denmark presents an official apology for the drawings that have offended the world's Muslims.

Tensions between Muslims in Denmark and abroad have run high since the newspaper Jyllands-Posten published 12 cartoons in September that depicted the prophet Mohammed. The newspaper said printing the cartoons was a way to ensure the freedom of speech in the face of intimidation from radical Islamists.

Egypt's ambassador to Denmark, Mona Omar Attiah, warned against not taking the boycott seriously: There is talk of a popular sentiment that could mean people stop buying Danish products.

Lars Erslev Andersen, a Middle East expert, suggested that the international organisation's call for a boycott represented an attempt by individual countries to avoid a confrontation with Denmark.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Information, however, that it had not been contacted by ISECO yet, nor could trade organisation Danish Industry report that any of its members had experienced the effects of a boycott.

From the Washington Post

An Afghan journalist who was recently sentenced to two years in prison for publishing controversial magazine articles about Islam, women's rights and the Afghan justice system will be released from jail later this week, officials said.

Before gaining his freedom, however, Ali Mohaqeq Nasab had to confront an agonizing choice: formally apologize for what he had published or risk being sent to the gallows.

Ali Mohaqeq Nasab, pictured in a newspaper photo, was sentenced to two years in prison for publishing offensive articles and is scheduled to be released this week. After refusing for three months to retract his comments, Nasab told an appeals court this week that he was sorry for printing stories that asserted women should be given status equal to men in court, questioned the use of physical punishments for crimes and suggested converts from Islam should not face execution.

A panel of three judges responded Wednesday by shortening his punishment to a six-month suspended sentence, allowing him to walk free.

The case has aroused concern among international human rights groups and stirred contradictory passions in Afghanistan. Religious hard-liners here had called for Nasab's death; free speech advocates, women's rights backers and fellow ethnic Hazaras had asked that he be shown mercy.

As postwar Afghanistan tries to chart a path between religious traditions and modern democracy, Nasab's fate is being seen as an indicator of how much -- and how little -- the country has changed since the ouster of Taliban rule in 2001.

Nasab's release is an encouraging sign, said Nader Nadery, who heads Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission. But the case sets a bad precedent in the area of freedom of expression. It discourages journalists and promotes self-censorship. Nadery said other Afghan journalists had already told him that they have to be very, very careful in the way that they talk.

Afghan news media have proliferated rapidly in the past four years, with newspapers, radio and television stations sprouting after more than two decades of conflict. According to the new constitution, the media have broad freedom to publish and broadcast without fear of reprisal. But local leaders have physically intimidated reporters, and conservative judges have occasionally tried to punish journalists who broach controversial topics.

Nasab returned to Afghanistan last year following a long exile in Iran and began publishing a magazine called Women's Rights. Articles in the May issue attracted the attention of a Muslim cleric, who denounced Nasab as an infidel during Friday sermons.

When Nasab complained to officials in the justice system in September, he was detained on charges of blasphemy. Prosecutors said Nasab's articles -- including one that claimed God, not the courts, should punish those who leave Islam -- proved he had abandoned his religion. They pushed for the death penalty, but a lower court gave him a two-year sentence.

That decision provoked an outcry among religious conservatives. A council of 200 religious leaders in the southern city of Kandahar issued a fatwa , or religious edict, calling for Nasab to be hanged unless he repented. A division of the Supreme Court took a similar step.

Meanwhile, international human rights groups lobbied on Nasab's behalf, and Western embassies here indicated to the government that they were watching the case closely. President Hamid Karzai carefully straddled the line, expressing support for a free press but insisting he could not interfere in the decisions of an independent judiciary.

One of the appeals judges, Abdul Muqeem Atarud, said Thursday that he had heard from many people on both sides of the issue. We told them that if he did not repent, he would be executed. It's the only way. It says in sharia that if someone repents for leaving Islam, he should be forgiven. So that is what happened.

Condoms save lives. I wonder how many more millions of lives would have been saved if Mary had been protected by a delicate veil of latex.

From The Guardian

A British artist has outraged Roman Catholics around the world by advertising a statuette of the Virgin Mary enveloped in a condom in a respected Jesuit weekly.

The artist, Steve Rosenthal, offered readers a chance to buy a "a stunning 22cm statue of the Virgin Mary standing atop a serpent, wearing a delicate veil of latex". It provided an email address at which prospective buyers could register interest.

In a front-page article in the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Vittorio Messori, a literary collaborator of the late pope John Paul, expressed horror at the way the sperm cup at the end of the condom had been arranged so as to sit on top of the Virgin's head, "like a grotesque cap replacing the royal crown of tradition". The Jesuit weekly, America, which calls itself the US "national Catholic weekly", apologised in its latest issue. A spokesman told the Guardian: We made a terrible mistake by publishing this. We only saw the ad in black and white, so we didn't see how serious it was.

Rosenthal, who is based in London, said last night his work had been "orchestrated" for publication coinciding with World Aids Day on December 1. The primary aim of the work is to highlight the Vatican's continuance of non-advocation regarding the use of condoms. The description of the work was clear from both the text included and the image provided. America magazine happily accepted the insertion and billed me for $391. It has subsequently refused to accept payment."

From the Islington Gazette

Muslims are protesting at the Islington Council's "moronic anti-Christian purge" of Christmas.

The council declined to use the name "Christmas lights" this year - insisting on calling them "festive lights" instead. In Newington Green there was an "inter-faith Celebration of Light" ceremony. Even many Islington schools now refer to the Christmas holiday as "the winter festival".

But Abuse Munassir, of the Al Nehar Mosque in Caledonian Road, King's Cross, said: Blaming Christian traditions for being offensive to Islam is ridiculous and completely untrue. This practice is absolute madness. Islington's councillors must wake up and strive to create harmony and diversity rather than destroying it. My younger Islamic community members are considering marching on Islington Town Hall in a peaceful protest against this anti-Christian moronic purge. I feel race incidents will occur unless this political-correctness nonsense ceases to exist.

Other faith leaders have backed Munassir's comments.

John Bradford, the information manager of the North London Buddhist Centre in Holloway Road, said: I can't imagine any Buddhists getting offended by Christmas lights and people celebrating Christmas. The only sort of people who would get offended are the people who are over-sensitive and get offended by anything. But Buddhists are quite pluralistic about this sort of thing.

Father Jim Kennedy, of the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Copenhagen Street, King's Cross, added: All faiths support each other's festivals. As a multi-cultural society where, according to the 2001 census, religion is important to 77 per cent of the population, we need to celebrate each others' festivals. Of the 77% of people claiming a faith allegiance, 72% claim Christianity as their faith. Are the majority not allowed to have their fun? What we should be doing is ensuring the minority religions have their fun as well and we should join in. Generally the killjoys are those who have no faith and wish to expunge all concept of faith.

But councillor Laura Willoughby (Liberal Democrat), executive member for communities, said: Christmas is and always has been coming to Islington. The only difference is that this year it's bigger and better than last year.

Based on an article from The Scotsman

Theories of "intelligent design" are based on unscientific, religious beliefs and cannot be taught as an alternative to Darwin's theory of evolution, a United States judge said yesterday in a landmark ruling.

Judge John Jones launched a scathing attack on nutter supporters of intelligent design (ID), accusing them of lying "time and again" about their motivations and condemning the "breathtaking inanity" of a decision by a school board in Pennsylvania to teach teenagers that evolution is not a fact, that is has "gaps" and that ID is a realistic alternative view.

ID holds that some aspects of nature are so complex they must have been the work of an unnamed creator rather than the result of random natural selection. Opponents argue it is a thinly disguised version of creationism - the belief that the world was created by God, as described in the Book of Genesis - which the US Supreme Court has ruled may not be taught in state schools.

The latest "theory of evolution" case, brought by a group of parents against Dover School Board, was one of the highest-profile in the US for 80 years. It was closely watched in at least 30 states where Christian conservatives are planning similar initiatives.

After the ruling, nutters claimed those opposed to their theory were "anti- religious" and wanted to tar people who believe in God as "irrational".

In October 2004, Dover became the first school district in the US to include ID in its science curriculum. Yesterday, Judge Jones ordered that it should be removed. In making this determination, we have addressed the seminal question of whether ID is science. We have concluded that it is not and, moreover, that ID cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents, he said in a written ruling. We find that the secular purposes claimed by the board amount to a pretext for the board's real purpose, which was to promote religion in the public school classroom. The citizens of the Dover area were poorly served by the members of the board who voted for the ID policy. It is ironic that several of these individuals, who so staunchly and proudly touted their religious convictions in public, would time and again lie to cover their tracks and disguise the real purpose behind the ID policy.

To be sure, Darwin's theory of evolution is imperfect, the judge said. However, the fact that a scientific theory cannot yet render an explanation on every point should not be used as a pretext to thrust an untestable alternative hypothesis, grounded in religion, into the science classroom or to misrepresent well-established scientific propositions.

Alan Leshner, chief executive of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and executive publisher of the journal Science, said he was "heartened" by yesterday's decision. It recognises that intelligent design was injected into Dover's biology classes for religious reasons rather than scientific reasons, he said. On behalf of the entire US scientific community, we are grateful for the courage of science teachers and parents in Dover, who worked so hard and took such risks to preserve the integrity of science education in our public schools.

From the Tahlequah Daily Press

Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has banned all Western music from state radio and TV stations _ an eerie reminder of the 1979 Islamic revolution when popular music was outlawed as "un-Islamic" under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Today, though, the sounds of hip-hop can be heard blaring from car radios in Tehran's streets, and Eric Clapton's Rush and the Eagles' Hotel California regularly accompany Iranian broadcasts.

No more _ the official Iran Persian daily reported Monday that Ahmadinejad, as head of the Supreme Cultural Revolutionary Council, ordered the enactment of an October ruling by the council to ban all Western music, including classical music, on state broadcast outlets. Blocking indecent and Western music from the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting is required, according to a statement on the council's official Web site.

Music was outlawed by Khomeini soon after the 1979 revolution; Khomeini claimed it was "intoxicating." Many musicians went abroad and built an Iranian music industry in Los Angeles. But as revolutionary fervor started to fade, some light classical music was allowed on Iranian radio and television; some public concerts reappeared in the late 1980s. But later, Khomeini allowed classical music to be played over state radio. Since his death, pop music has been creeping into Iranian shops.

In the 1990s, particularly during the presidency of reformist Mohammad Khatami starting in 1997, authorities began relaxing restrictions further. These days in Iran, Western music, films and clothing are widely available in Iran. Bootleg videos and DVDs of films banned by the state are widely available on the black market.

However, women are prohibited from singing in public, except to a segregated female-only audience. Hard-liners were afraid the voice of a woman soloist might arouse impure thoughts in men. Women are allowed to sing as part of a chorus.

Earlier this month, Ali Rahbari, conductor of Tehran's symphony orchestra, resigned and left Iran to protest the treatment of the music industry in Iran. Before leaving, he played Beethoven's Ninth Symphony to packed Tehran theater houses over several nights last month _ its first performance in Tehran since the 1979 revolution. The performances angered many conservatives and prompted newspaper columns accusing Rahbari of promoting Western values.

Ahmadinejad's order means the state broadcasting authority must execute the decree and prepare a report on its implementation within six months. Ahmadinejad won office in August on a platform of reverting to ultraconservative principles, following eight years of reformist-led rule under Khatami. During his presidential campaign, Ahmadinejad also promised to confront what he called the Western cultural invasion of Iran and promote Islamic values.

The latest media ban also includes censorship of content of films. Supervision of content from films, TV series and their voice-overs is emphasized in order to support spiritual cinema and to eliminate triteness and violence, the council said in a statement on its Web site. The council has also issued a ban on foreign movies that promote "arrogant powers," an apparent reference to the United States.

Based on an article from The Sun

A Christmas magic show has sparked outrage amongst nutters by attempting to recreate Bible miracles. Nutters slammed Channel 4’s The Magic of Jesus – which aims to see if eight New Testament ‘feat’ are really possible. Illusionists raise a headless corpse from the dead, cure a blind person, feed 5,000 football fans with five loaves and two fishes and walk on water.

John "Concentration Camp" Beyer, of mediawatch-uk, said: Channel 4 are, true to form, trying to court controversy by putting on a show like this at Christmas time. An awful lot of people will be upset and this seems to me a calculated attempt to cause offence.

The hour long show from Objective Productions was commissioned by C4 and will be followed by 3BM Television’s controversial Tsunami: Where was God? – scheduled for Christmas Day. C4 has also confirmed that Jamie Oliver will deliver its annual alternative yuletide address on Christmas Day.

From The Independent

Proposals by the Turkish government to ban alcohol in city centres and create "drinking zones" in remote suburbs have enraged secularists and rekindled fears that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is returning his ruling party to its Islamic roots.

A group of lawyers representing the Ankara Bar Association filed a lawsuit earlier this week to try to prevent some municipalities from forcing restaurants and bars serving alcohol to move out of the city centre. They said the move was unconstitutional and an affront to freedoms. Municipal law allows the local authority to allocate specific areas, the association's complaint said, but doesn't make any reference to alcohol drinking zones.

Secularists have come into frequent conflict with the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP), which they accuse of trying to stamp a Muslim way of life on the country even as it implements Western-style reforms designed to woo the European Union.

Authorities in Istanbul and the tourist town of Antalya, recently given the power by the AKP to ban alcohol at state-run restaurants and cafés, exacerbated the issue by suggesting ridding the cities of alcohol altogether and creating special drinking zones out of town.

The proposals have enraged the secular and business communities of both cities, who fear that such prohibitions would do irrevocable harm to the thriving tourist industry and to Turkey's status as a secular state. The resort of Antalya, run by the AKP, has given into pressure from businesses and designated the city a "wet area" in reaction to the plans.

From The Guardian

According to a survey by the Merkez news agency, there are now alcohol bans in public places in 61 of Turkey's 81 provinces. By law, it would be difficult for the government to issue a blanket ban on alcohol. Raki is the national tipple in Turkey, which also boasts a growing quality wine industry and Efes, a major brewer. Critics complain, however, that the Erdogan government is moving by stealth to institute a ban, to stigmatise drinking, and to step up pressure on the industry.

An opposition leader, Kemal Anadol, argued that it was illegal to segregate alcohol consumption in cafes and restaurants. What they want is Tehran not Luxembourg, he said.

Across Turkey the local authorities still own and administer many leisure facilities such as hotels, restaurants and cafes. It is in such places that alcohol is increasingly being restricted or banished.

The government has not yet moved against privately owned premises, but proprietors complain that bureaucratic and fiscal obstacles to alcohol consumption are being exploited to discourage drinking - cumbersome licensing procedures, inspections, and taxes.

updated 17th December

From the BBC

Religious authorities have began implementing a ban on mixed taxis and busses passed earlier this year. In accordance with Sharia law, men and women are not allowed to travel together on public transport.

The BBC's Ado Sale Kankiya in the city of Kano says some 9,000 religious marshals are on the streets to implement the ban.

Despite the officials and publicity leading up to the implementation of the law, many women are still riding on the bikes, he says. Women say there are not enough public transport alternatives in the state that adopted Sharia law in 2000.

About 500 three-wheeled motorbike taxis and 100 women's-only buses have been introduced, but women say this is not sufficient.

Our correspondent says officials are not arresting or fining offenders, just warning them about the new law. In Zamfara State, though, taxi riders have been lashed when found carrying female passengers.

Kano is one of several Muslim majority states that adopted Sharia law five years ago. The move initially heightened tensions between Muslims and Christians and led to clashes which left thousands dead.

Human rights groups have condemned abuses sanctioned under the law including amputations and flogging, and say it discriminates against women. Sharia law appears to have retained popular support in the north.

But there is significant opposition to the law, especially among the Christian minority. While officially it does not apply to them, many say that in practice they are forced to comply.

From The Guardian

Hundreds of taxi moped operators in the northern Nigerian city of Kano have clashed with Islamic authorities over a ban on women passengers, a new sharia law which they said deprived them of their best customers. A fleet of riders, known as achaba, drove through the city wielding sticks this week in protests which turned violent, leaving 11 people injured and 24 motorised tricycles vandalised.

No amount of intimidation and lawlessness will deter us from carrying out this noble duty of stopping women from riding on achaba, said Yahaya Farouk Chedi of the religious police.

What's the betting that religion is behind this suggestion rather than any notion of caring for the community.

Based on an article from the National

A local government leader in the Western Highlands province of Papua & New Guinea want a total ban on nightclubs, poker machines and alcohol in the province.

Western Highlands Provincial Council of Women president Paula Mek expressed her concern during a ceremony last week. Local leaders who were there supported her opinion saying these areas were the ‘breeding grounds’ for HIV/AIDS and its rampant rise.

Mek said that nothing substantial had been done by any authority to uproot the cause of the disease.
She said parents had invested a lot in caring and raising their children to have good lives but nightclubs, poker machines and alcohol were redirecting them towards early deaths. There are a lot of tears. Parents are crying for their children. Wives are crying for their husbands. Mothers are crying for their sons. Nightclubs, pokies and alcohol have taken away our children and fathers. We’ve called on the provincial government to ban these evil things. So far nothing has being done and many are dying. We’ll keep on making noises.

Mek said the current HIV/AIDS trend warrants the provincial government to take actions on these three issues. We’re talking about our young people’s lives. It’s not their future we’re talking about because there is none if nightclubs, pokies and alcohol are not completely removed from our province. She said though HIV/AIDS was the biggest issue, family and social breakdowns, violence, rapes, poverty and prostitution among others were caused by the three vices.

Based on an article from the BNP

The following is the report received from one of our British National Party representatives who attended the recent meeting, called by concerned Christians to organise protest against next month’s showing of the Jerry Springer “musical” at Plymouth’s Barbican theatre.

The meeting was held in Catherine Street Baptist Church and attended by over a hundred people representing the City’s Christian communities.

The meeting was opened with the motto of the city being read out, taken from Proverbs, “The Name of the Lord is a strong tower”, which continues, “The righteous run into it and they are safe”!

There then followed a shared prayer led by Roy Beaumont of “Prayer for the City”, who had previously highlighted the reasons why Christians find the ”musical” so offensive. He was followed, in addressing the gathering, by Stephen Green of Christian Voice.

Green suggested that a series of activities could be initiated which may persuade the Barbican theatre to abandon the production. He expressed enthusiasm for many activities like letter writing to the theatre and local media, and for leafleting the audiences as they enter the theatre.

The meeting gave a round of applause on being told that Sainsbury’s had withdrawn the DVD of the “musical” from their shelves following representations from Christian Voice.

At one point Councillor David Salter, Conservative member for Plympton Chaddlewood ward addressed the gathering.

Attendees were then invited to ask questions.

However one speaker was emphatic in blaming the City Council for their implicit support of the production, particularly in the degree of financial support that they gave to the theatre and outlined a number of political issues closely related to the subject matter of the meeting.

Councillor Salter predictably, in the opinions of our representatives, rebutted these criticisms of the Council, saying that it could not be blamed for an independent decision of the governing board of the theatre.

In conclusion the gathering was asked if they felt that, after all that had been said, they were in favour of something practical being attempted? The general impression gained by the meeting organisers was in the affirmative. The points were made that everybody should act in accordance with their own consciences and to undertake those protests that they felt able to do.

From Denmark.dk.

Daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten's twelve cartoons of the Muslim prophet Mohammed are causing ripples across the world and worries at the Office of the United Nations' High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour.

Arbour has sent a letter to the Organisation of Islamic Conferences (OIC), an international organisation of 56 Muslim states, which had complained over the cartoons.

In September, Jyllands-Posten called for and printed the cartoons by various Danish illustrators, after reports that artists were refusing to illustrate works about Islam, out of fear of fundamentalist retribution. The newspaper said it printed the cartoons as a test of whether Muslim fundamentalists had begun affecting the freedom of expression in Denmark.

Muslims in Denmark and abroad have protested against the newspaper, calling the caricatures blasphemous and a deliberate attempt to provoke and insult their religious sensitivities.

Arbour said she understood their concerns. I would like to emphasise that I deplore any statement or act showing a lack of respect towards other people's religion, she said.

Daily newspaper Berlingske Tidende reported that it held a copy of the letter, which stated that Arbour had appointed UN experts in the areas of religious freedom and racism to investigate the matter. I'm confident that they will take action in an adequate manner,'Arbour said in her letter to the 56 governments, which have requested the UN to address the issue with Denmark.

A diplomat from one of the countries told the newspaper that the governments were pleased with Arbour's answer.

Foreign Minister Per Stig Møller said Arbour's involvement in the matter was natural, given her position. It's her job. She was contacted by the IOC, and she needs to look into it. The wrong thing to do would have been if she ignored their request.

While Møller said Denmark would cooperate with a UN investigation, he reinforced that freedom of speech was a matter to be decided by the courts. It's up to the courts to decide if Jyllands-Posten is guilty of blasphemy. The government has no say in that, Møller said.

Based on an article from Unison

A group working with women involved in prostitution is campaigning against the opening of Peter Stringfellow's lap dancing club on Parnell Street in Dublin.

RUHAMA is supporting the North Inner City Concerned Nutters in their attempt to prevent the club from being granted a dance license.

RUHAMA spokesperson Geraldine Rowley said it is internationally recognised that such clubs are part and parcel of the sex industry.

Rowley said she is concerned that the club would create yet another breeding ground for prostitution.

She said she knew of women who went to clubs expecting to dance, only to discover that their contract had changed, and that they would not get paid unless they provided private dances.

See Response from John "Concentration Camp" Beyer of Mediawatch-UK

From the Mediawatch-UK response to the Government consultation on the possession of violent pornography.

We agree that the possession of material listed in paragraph 39 of the consultation should be illegal but this list is too limited and should be extended to include material listed by the BBFC as suitable for classification at ‘R18’.

The penalty appropriate for these new offences should be a minimum of three years imprisonment with heavy fines and confiscation of assets and destruction of the guilty person’s pornographic articles, computer and/or video and DVD copying equipment. Penalties should also be available for those who upload such images, Internet Service Providers who host it and telecommunications companies who allow access to it.

Did I read something in the bible along the lines of : If thy neighbour's private bedroom pleasures offend you, then pluck out his eyes and send him to prison for three years?

Even if it does not appear quite like this in the bible I believe that it must have been an error in translation and the sense was indeed as above.

I simply cannot believe the depths of intolerance and persecution that supposedly religious people are descending too. How can any civilised person wish a 3 year prison sentence on the totally harmless bedroom activities of say a couple of million people.

It is about time religious bosses got their act together and stopped their religion from being hijacked by warmongers, torturers, child molestors, terrorists, violent mobs and Mediawatch-UK.

From Christian Today

The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has urged the reform of Pakistan’s Blasphemy laws during an eight-day tour primarily of earthquake-stricken regions this week.

The Archbishop expressed his fear that the country’s blasphemy law, which makes desecration of the Koran punishable by death, was being used to “settle private scores”, with many Christians arguing that the law is being used as an excuse to attack them.

The Christian community of Sangla Hill suffered an attack just last week in which around 2,000 Muslims destroyed churches and Christian properties, following allegations that a young Christian man had burned a copy of the Koran.

Dr Williams told reporters the Sangla Hill incident had focussed attention on the problems caused by the blasphemy laws. I think it is widely recognised that the abuse of the blasphemy laws is a major problem which this country has to tackle; the problem is not so much the idea of a law against blasphemy as about a law whose penalty is so severe and whose practice gives so much scope for allowing people to settle private scores. I was able to speak to the President directly about this and the problem is certainly widely recognised.

AFP quoted one Christian community leader, Peter Jacob, as saying: Blasphemy law has always acted as a lethal sword against the minority communities. Its repeal is our longstanding demand.

From Bgay

More than two dozen gay Arab men face strict punishment after being arrested at what police in the United Arab Emirates described as a mass homosexual wedding.

The country, which lies along the Persian Gulf between Saudi Arabia and Oman, has banned openly homosexual behavior. The unfortunate victims could be lashed, forced to undergo hormone treatments and jailed for five years, an Interior Ministry official said as he announced the arrests on Saturday.

Interior Ministry spokesman Issam Azouri said police detained 26 men during a raid earlier in the month as the wedding ceremony was about to begin in a hotel chalet in Dubai. Azouri said the men would probably be tried under Muslim law on charges related to prostitution and adultery, the Associated Press reported.

There have been a series of similar group arrests of homosexuals over the past few years in the United Arab Emirates. The Interior Ministry said the latest detentions stemmed from a tip-off to police. The arrested men were mostly from the Emirates but one came from India and three others were from neighboring Arab countries, Azouri said

From Christian Today

The Catholic Church in Scotland has criticised plans by a condom manufacturer to provide taxi drivers in Edinburgh with condoms to give out to couples for free on their way home after a night out.

If the plans are approved by council officials, the Safe Ride scheme could be launched as early as January, reports the BBC.

The Family Planning Association (FPA) in Scotland has welcomed the scheme, also under consideration by Glasgow City Council, against the concerns of the Catholic Church. FPA spokesman Tim Streets praised the plans: “I don’t really have a problem with people finding it a bit funny, at least at first. Let’s get the giggles out of the way, We’re talking about protecting people’s health and getting them to see that, even after a night out on the town and maybe being inebriated, this is a serious issue.

Edinburgh’s City Council’s licensing committee has been considering the initiative involving Festival City Cars. Company manager David Coutts, said: It seems sensible that the cabbies, if they’re asked by the passenger, would make such facilities available. I appreciate that some people might look upon this as being a bit humorous but it is a serious campaign.”

The Catholic Church in Scotland has raised serious concerns over the campaign, however. This will give the green light to casual sex,” cautioned Church spokesman Peter Kearney. It’s also very dangerous to suggest condoms absolutely prevent sexually transmitted infections as they don’t.

The 5,000 free contraceptives have been distributed to the taxi firm, which has a fleet of 220 cars, by a US contraceptives company. The Edinburgh scheme follows the launch of a similar scheme earlier this year in Brighton, supported by boxer Chris Eubank.

We wouldn't like to think that the French unrest was caused by MPs' own policies now would we. Far better for them to pin the blame on some ludicrous media hook. If some MPs show this level of incompetence in their analysis of the causes of unrest, then it is hardly surprising that they have proven incompetent in policy making.

From the BBC

A French MP has publicly accused rappers of fuelling the country's recent riots with their songs. It comes a day after 200 politicians backed his petition calling for legal action against seven rap musicians and bands it alleges have incited racism.

The petition, handed to Justice Minister Pascal Clement, has been signed by 153 members of the lower house of parliament and 49 senators.

MP Francois Grosdidier said it was no surprise youths "saw red" after listening to violent lyrics. Grosdidier, a member of President Jacques Chirac's conservative ruling UMP party, said songs like Monsieur R's FranSSe incite racism and hatred, and should be banned from radio play. When people hear this all day long and when these words swirl round in their heads, it is no surprise that they then see red as soon as they walk past policemen or simply people who are different from them.

The French Prime Minister, Dominique de Villepin, however dismissed the claims by some of his party colleagues that rap music fuelled suburban rioting in France. de Villepin told French radio that he wanted to avoid finger-pointing about the origins of the unrest. But he said that the courts should deal with lyrics that overstepped the mark.

Speaking on French radio, de Villepin said: I very much wish during this period - it is one of my primary responsibilities - to avoid any sort of confusion or finger-pointing. Is rap responsible for the crisis in the suburbs? My answer is no.

Rapper Monsieur R, one of those singled out in the petition, rejected the idea, saying rap is not a call to violence.
As well as Monsieur R, it names artists Smala, Fabe and Salif and bands Ministere Amer, 113 and Lunatic.

Monsieur R, real name Richard Makela, already faces a separate lawsuit for "outrage to social decency" over the song FranSSe, brought by another conservative MP and to be heard in February. The rapper told LCI television: Hip hop is a crude art, so we use crude words. It is not a call to violence.

Four members of the rap group Sniper were acquitted earlier this year in Rouen, northern France, in a case brought by the Interior Ministry over a song it alleged incited attacks on the police. An appeal is due to be heard next month.

French authorities said the situation had returned to normal last week, following three weeks of unrest that affected dozens of towns and cities. Nationwide, almost 9,000 cars were set ablaze and some 3,000 people were arrested. The French parliament last week approved a three-month state of emergency.

updated 27th November

From The Times

Marlowe's Koran-burning hero is censored to avoid Muslim anger

It was the surprise hit of the autumn season, selling out for its entire run and inspiring rave reviews. But now the producers of Tamburlaine the Great have come under fire for censoring Christopher Marlowe’s 1580s masterpiece to avoid upsetting Muslims.

Audiences at the Barbican in London did not see the Koran being burnt, as Marlowe intended, because David Farr, who directed and adapted the classic play, feared that it would inflame passions in the light of the London bombings.

Simon Reade, artistic director of the Bristol Old Vic, said that if they had not altered the original it would have unnecessarily raised the hackles of a significant proportion of one of the world’s great religions. The burning of the Koran was “smoothed over”, he said, so that it became just the destruction of “a load of books” relating to any culture or religion. That made it more powerful, they claimed.

Members of the audience also reported that key references to Muhammad had been dropped, particularly in the passage where Tamburlaine says that he is “not worthy to be worshipped”. In the original Marlowe writes that Muhammad “remains in hell”.

The censorship aroused condemnation yesterday from senior figures in the theatre and scholars, as well as religious leaders. Terry Hands, who directed Tamburlaine for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1992, said: I don’t believe you should interfere with any classic for reasons of religious or political correctness.

Charles Nicholl, the author of The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe, said it was wrong to tamper with Marlowe because he asked uncomfortable and confrontational questions — particularly aimed at those that held dogmatic, religious views. Why should Islam be protected from the questioning gaze of Marlowe? Marlowe stands for provocative questions. This is a bit of an insult to him.

Reade said that Farr felt that burning the Koran “would have been unnecessarily inflammatory”. The play needed to be seen in a 21stcentury context, he believed.He said: Marlowe was not challenging Muslims, he was attacking theism, saying, ‘I’m God, there isn’t a God’. If he had been in a Christian country, a Judaic country or a Hindu country, it would be their gods he’d be attacking.

Inayat Bunglawala, the media secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain, disagreed, saying: In the context of a fictional play, I don’t think it will have offended many people.

From The Guardian

The director and adaptor of Tamburlaine ,  David Farr,  responds to yesterday's story in the Times.

It is complete nonsense to suggest, as the Times did yesterday, that my decision to alter the burning-of-the-books scene in Tamburlaine was based on a desire to appease Islamic opinion. As I made clear, my decision to adapt the text was purely artistic. Journalists and academics often forget that theatre directors are dealing with living texts. We constantly adapt, chop, cut and change to make the work vibrant and rigorous for a modern audience, to present our particular vision in as limpid a way as possible.

Marlowe knew how to sell a play. Anti-Turkish feeling was running high in 1587 (think of the Turk's Head pubs still dotted around today). The Ottoman empire was a threat to the great western hegemony - the unknown dark enemy threatening all that was great about Europe. The 23-year-old boy-wonder Marlowe tapped brilliantly into a well of anti-Turk feeling to make his first Tamburlaine (now known as part one) a huge hit, with the lead character as a kind of surrogate Christian avenger tearing the heart out of the dark Ottoman soul.

When the play proved a smash hit, like all good Hollywood writers, Marlowe wrote a sequel (part two), with another Turkish antagonist, more beatings and more cruelty. Marlowe's were not the only Turk-bashing plays of the time (others included A Christian Turned Turk by Robert Daborne and Selimus by Robert Greene), but his were the best. In both parts he gave his audience lashings of anti-Turk delights - brainings, whippings and burnings. Tamburlaine is partly a gleefully racist comedy. And they loved it all the more for that.

Marlowe's play is remarkable, then, in that it is both anti-Turk tosh and a masterpiece of philosophical defiance. What I did in my version was to focus ruthlessly on the philosophical freedom of my lead character in a pared-down version that took the two plays (seven hours) into one three-hour evening. This involved ripping apart the play, and choosing to focus only on what interested me. That's my job. The scene in question is crucial to the play's narrative arc and was kept in - Tamburlaine did burn the Qur'an centre-stage in an old petrol drum - but I wanted to make it very clear that his act was a giant two fingers to the entire theological system, not an piece of Christian triumphalism over the barbarous Turk. So, in our production, Marlowe's "heap of superstitious books" were the books of all religions. His act was a hubristic and nihilistic defiant scream at what he saw as an empty universe.

In our production, Tamburlaine's god does not belong to any religion, for they are all in hell. "Seek out another godhead to adore. The god that lives in heaven, if any god. For he is god alone, and none but he." The phrase "if any god" becomes key. Tamburlaine is positing what Marlowe could never have proposed at that time without literally risking his neck. He is proposing atheism.

One other thing should be made clear. Never in our rehearsal discussions did we receive any pressure from the Muslim community - this was never the question. Never did we receive any pressure from the Young Vic or the Barbican to change any scenes. Never did I receive external pressure of any kind. The decision to focus the play away from anti-Turkish pantomime to an existential epic was artistic, mine alone, and I stand by it.

From The Scotsman

A popular actress has been pelted with sandals, tomatoes and rotten eggs for telling Indian men not to expect their brides to be virgins any more.

Khushboo has also been hauled before a court, banned from making any further