According to the Bible...

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Abortion isn't a sin.

When it comes to abortion, the Bible cannot be used to justify an anti-abortion position because the Bible is silent on the issue.

The Bible is Silent on Abortion.

Yes, you read it correctly, according to the Bible, Abortion is not a sin.

The first five books of the Bible have a great deal to say about sexuality and reproduction. For instance, Adam and Eve are expected to cling together, as though becoming one body (Genesis 2:24). In describing the first birth, the book of Genesis, though speaking euphemistically, wants us all to know that Adam and Eve actually had sex (Genesis 4:1)! In Egypt, Hebrew midwives report that the women of Israel recover quickly from their deliveries (Exodus 1). And the book of Leviticus (18) devotes many verses to its view of permissible intimate relations. This Jewish Bible that has so very much to say about sex is, nevertheless, totally silent about abortion.

So, it exists that there is no direct mention of it in the Bible.

Some might say that the notion of abortion is a 'modern concept', but not necessarily so. It might've existed for a long time... but then wouldn't it have found its way into the Bible?

Regardless, it isn't in any religious book, so the Bible Argument holds no water.

And on the quotes/passages frequently cited by the pro-life front? What are those all about? They seem like they are referring to the act, however...

But these verses simply discuss the fetus; they are not about abortion. They do not permit, proscribe, or prohibit abortion. They consider an accidental miscarriage but do not describe the willful termination of a pregnancy. And what if a woman wants to end her pregnancy? Let's say the fetus endangers her life or her physical or mental health. If she decides on abortion, the Bible is silent.

If you want to go further, the 'pro-choice' front may have a new and unorthodox tool in its battle, the Bible. Why? Nowhere in it does it mention that abortion is a sin. Therefore, it is no longer something they need to fight against, in fact, they ought to embrace it. It can help debunk the myths and ill-conceived notions that the Bible explicitly states that the act of abortion is a sin. And of course in the process prove that the pro-life front is deliberately misinterpretting their own dearly regarded scripture and that the pro-life front has been using deception to further its own agenda... (not that the pro-choice front hasn't known that for years).

Iran's Latest Crime Against Humanity

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Dear reader,

I am providing a news article in full because I do not have the written capacity to express what I felt as I read the article. Instead, I am going to post it as it was posted on the originating site, along with two links so that you the reader may go and see for yourself that I didn't make it up.

There are two version, I'm posting the one that I feel is better written as a news piece, but will still provide a link to both articles. The actiom in question has been condemn by Amnesty International but has sadly gone unreported because there is no media outlet in the Islamic Republic of Iran that would fairly recount the girl's story.

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Tehran, Iran, Jan. 07 – An Iranian court has sentenced a teenage rape victim to death by hanging after she weepingly confessed that she had unintentionally killed a man who had tried to rape both her and her niece.

The state-run daily Etemaad reported on Saturday that 18-year-old Nazanin confessed to stabbing one of three men who had attacked the pair along with their boyfriends while they were spending some time in a park west of the Iranian capital in March 2005.

Nazanin, who was 17 years old at the time of the incident, said that after the three men started to throw stones at them, the two girls’ boyfriends quickly escaped on their motorbikes leaving the pair helpless.

She described how the three men pushed her and her 16-year-old niece Somayeh onto the ground and tried to rape them, and said that she took out a knife from her pocket and stabbed one of the men in the hand.

As the girls tried to escape, the men once again attacked them, and at this point, Nazanin said, she stabbed one of the men in the chest. The teenage girl, however, broke down in tears in court as she explained that she had no intention of killing the man but was merely defending herself and her younger niece from rape, the report said.

The court, however, issued on Tuesday a sentence for Nazanin to be hanged to death.

Last week, a court in the city of Rasht, northern Iran, sentenced Delara Darabi to death by hanging charged with murder when she was 17 years old. Darabi has denied the charges.

In August 2004, Iran’s Islamic penal system sentenced a 16-year-old girl, Atefeh Rajabi, to death after a sham trial, in which she was accused of committing “acts incompatible with chastity”.

The teenage victim had no access to a lawyer at any stage and efforts by her family to retain one were to no avail. Atefeh personally defended herself and told the religious judge that he should punish those who force women into adultery, not the victims. She was eventually hanged in public in the northern town of Neka.

Iran to hang teenage girl attacked by rapists
Iran : A 17 year old girl is sentenced to death by hanging.
Iran: Amnesty International calls for end to death penalty for child offenders

Christianity is a Religion; Scientology is a Farce

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While I'm normally an outspoken person regarding my opinion of religion (in that is nothing more than a load of horse shit, and that the followers of religion are ignorant little twats with no backbone - especially the preachy 'moral' types), after much research, I've reached this conclusion: religion sucks; Scientology is worse than fundamental Christianity and radical Islam. It is funded by the naive and those who are 'enlisted' are coerced into life time memberships, signing away their very existance to the evillest of the religions. It is a religion that exists in the so-called Western World where human rights are held sacred and civil liberties are rampant.

Scientology vs Human Rights

Only non-aberrated individuals should be granted civil rights (Dianetics, page 486 in my 1992 edition)

Natasha: My Boyfriend Was a Scientologist

The major religions of the world all generally focus on creating a following of loyal sheep who all go 'bah', but they don't reach the same levels of extremism that some fanatical sects do. But, even so, there is still a level of freedom that is there; a freedom that is permitted within the theocratic laws of a nation.

All religions have their doctrines, which in many cases are hundreds if not thousands of years old. Scientology doesn't have that; it just has a bunch of writings by a crackpot fiction writer. Heh... sounds like the assertian that most Atheists have of religion? That the doctrine is written by some human...

In fact, one could easily say that any form of religion is a cult.

After all, they all portray similar characeristics.
- rituals
- chants/prayers
- doctrines that can be confusing
- dress codes/uniforms
- a hierarchy
- repentance systems
- promises of salvation and a chance to get into Heaven
- a call for 'donations' (ie: collection plates...)

"This new religion is nothing more than a pack of weird rituals and chants designed to take away the money of fools. Now let's say the Lord's prayer 40, but first, let's pass the collection plate." ~ Rev. Lovejoy, The Simpsons

"Scientology training is training for slavery" -- Justice Latey

Though most are voluntary, though the parental units of young religious members force this line of thinking onto their young, and it doesn't matter what the religion is because this holds true across all religious sects. The core of all religions is preservation and survival.

This is why Catholics marry Catholics and if a Jewish girl wants to marry a Baptist boy, the boy has to 'convert' or vice versa.

The survival of religions comes through being able to provide the kind of guidance that people seek, with the largest religion being Catholicism followed closely by Islam, which has almost all of its most ardent followers in the Middle East.

However, there is none of the dangerous cult mentality in these religions because they aren't taken in after a 'test'; the people go into their recognized religion because it is part of their ethnicity/cultural heritage.

However, with Scientology, people aren't brought in through heritage, but rather through coercian and shallow promises of nothing in exchange for them giving up their livelihoods. People are promised answers that only Scientology can offer and they are told that their shortcomings can be fixed with Scientology.

This is done first through the free personality test.

The Personality Test

And just how do they work?

People have commented frequently on the fact that the OCA always seems to point up hidden fatal flaws in one's personality which (surprise!) only Scientology can "cure". This is partly the result of the way the OCA is administered (of which more in a moment), but it also owes a great deal to the way in which the test itself works. The 200 questions asked in the OCA are subdivided into 10 categories (as already mentioned above) with 20 questions in each category. The answers - Yes, Maybe or No - are graded on a scale of 1 to 7, with the scores for each question being added up to produce a round figure of up to 115 points. Crucially, the answers for each question have a fixed points score set by Hubbard himself. As with much of the rest of Scientology, Hubbard seems to have assumed that his opinions and solutions would automatically be true for everyone else. Dr. Delvin's comments above that the questions were "of the type much favoured by women's magazines" is uncannily accurate, as they are marked in exactly the same manner.

How the Personality Tests Work

What Is Scientology?

Another Scientology site frankly states: "The Scientology religion is based exclusively upon L. Ron Hubbard's research, writings and recorded lectures -- all of which constitute the Scriptures of the religion." -- source: http://www.theta.com/goodman/religion.htm (emp. adddd)

Scietology-based Schools and tutoring groups

Scientology - a pack of rituals and lies structured around pseudo psychiatry on the grounds that the human mind is unpure and that we are constant under stress unless we can become clear and rid ourselves of pain from our past.

'Ministers' from the 'church' try and convince people of this...

The ideas stem from one man, L. Ron Hubbard, who had professed to being an accredited professional in his field. However...

Actual Scan of L. Ron Hubbard's grades

Hubbard himself claims a distinguished scholarly background with "many degrees" and "many honors" for his work. He claims to have been "trained in nuclear physics" and to have graduated from the Columbian College of George Washington University, with a degree in Civil Engineering. The first page of his book Science of Survival gives particular credit to "my instructors in atomic and molecular phenomena, mathematics, and the humanities at George Washington University and at Princeton." A request for confirmation from GWU brought the following response from J. L. Roames, Assistant to the Registrar:

"LaFayette-Ronald Hubbard has never received any degree whatsoever from The George Washington University." -

Hubbard's repeated claims to have attended Princeton apparently refer to a three-month seminar which he attended during the winter of 1949, as part of his training as a U.S. Naval officer.

Scattered throughout his books are occasional references to his Ph. D. from "Sequoia University." This is particularly puzzling, as there is no Sequoia University listed among accredited educational institutions. Of course, Hubbard's lack of traditional scholarly credentials does not automatically mean his theories are incorrect. However, a lack of personal integrity, if indicated, would mean that any and all claims must be given extra-close scrutiny. Such scrutiny will be given to Hubbard's theories and doctrine in later chapters.

And the purpose of Scientology?

"A world without insanity, without criminals, and without war." This seems to be an admirable ambition, until one examines closely just who it is that Hubbard considers to be criminal and insane. On page 131, he proposes that every individual in the U.S. be tested to determine their position on the "Hubbard Chart of Human Evaluation," a copy of which he included with the book. All who fall below a certain point should be "quarantined" and "processed" until they are "sane." Some of the definite indications of a low position on the chart's "tone scale" are: "Any slightly or greatly repulsive physical odor." Page 146 "nagging or forgetfulness or occasional gossip." Page 35 "carping, nagging and criticizing." Page 90 "pre-clears who want attention but not processing." p.41 To its members, the "Church of Scientology" represents "little "areas of sanity" in a world gone mad. 17 According to Hubbard's specious logic, because his movement's goal is a sane world.

"It would be stopped only by the insane." In fact, anyone who criticizes or opposes Scientology is automatically considered dangerously insane. Perhaps intending to reassure his readers, Hubbard concludes, "This does not propose that depriving such persons of their civil rights should obtain any longer than is necessary to bring them up the tone scale to a point where their ethics render them fit company for their fellows." History has shown that such assurances are not worth much after an authoritarian leader has gained the power he craves.

Now before I get into the horror stories I have found with my research, I'd like to take this opportunity to post this:

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OFFICIAL SCIENTOLOGY POLICY:

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HUBBARD COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE Saint Hill Manor, East Grinstead, Sussex Remimeo HCO Policy Letter of 18 October 1967 Issue IV

ENEMY: SP Order ["suppressive person" declaration, declaring the subject to be antisocial and an enemy of $cientology]. Fair game. May be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist.

May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed.

LRH:jp L. RON HUBBARD Copyright (c) 1967 Founder by L. Ron Hubbard ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

World's Most VICIOUS Religion

And beneath this lies the human side.

A story of broken family, trashed dreams, forgotten careers and foresaken educations simply because of a forced loyalty to Scientology which encourages its members to 'disconnect' from family that may hold them back; from the ideas that one must be devouted to Scientology to be worth something and to find the answers.

Those trapped in the illusion can't get out and those who are ex-Scientologists and families of Scientologists all tell very similar stories. The pattern isn't hard to miss.

How Scientology Gets Its Hooks in New Recruits
Social Control in Scientology: A Look at Methods of Entrapment

Dear Amanda is one of such stories, as told by Mr. Steven Keller. He lost his daughter to this cult. This is his story of his attempt to get back something precious to him, but is still losing.

Of course, Scientology has both its critics and supporters and it is unfair to not let its supporters (aka, those naively roped into believing the bullshit preached by this entity of pure capitalist exploitation).

Testimonies of supporters and critics of Scientology and Dianetics - though I'd have to say, it's mostly critical.

Affidavits and personal stories of life in Scientology

One of the most valued elements in society is our children. There are numerous laws designed solely for the purpose of protecting these small people because they can't protect themselves from unscruplous adults who know no boundaries. This is no less true than in Scientology, which has little or no regard for the safety and welfare of each of its children.

This happens both in terms of overall welfare in the housing com,plexes at Sea Org in Clearwater, Florida, the 'religious' headquaters of Scientology, where children are often left in squalor conditions, off set from the seemingly pristine offices of the Sea Org members. They are cast aside; little emphasis on their wellbeing.

Their healthcare and education are also compromised in the name of Scientology...

[Adeline Dodd-Bova] left Scientology two years ago. I had been a teacher and word clearer in Scientology schools, including Delphi, for three years. I loved the children and was very dedicated to my profession. It was personal observation that provided me the first clue that Scientology placed a low priority on the welfare of children. A co-worker and I began to notice certain neglect and occasionally even abuse among the children we taught. We observed that many Scientology parents climbing the "Bridge to (their own) Total Freedom" assumed almost no responsibility for their children. Children often came to school with little or no food. Children, aged 3 and 4, had to pack their own lunches -- when they could find any food at home to pack. You can imagine what their lunches consisted of. Busy parents who were working and doing courses rarely had time to shop. Some children arrived at 7:30 a.m. and at times did not leave until 6:30 p.m. They often had been shuffled from house to house after school and had litfie sleep. This seemed to us to be a direct contradiction to the regimen the parents rigorously observed for their own Scientology auditing [counseling] and training to be well- rested and fed prior to session or course time.
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The children there also suffered from blatant parental neglect. I saw situations which got reported to the school's principal, but, in truth, the Department of Social Services should really have been called. One eight-year-old appeared to have been sexually abused; another child suffered, without handling, for dyslexia. One child wore the same clothes for two weeks. No one took notice of his lack of personal hygiene -- his parents had separated and the child had to fend for himself. All of the children I mention were in the same class of only 15 students. Another child exhibited extxemely disruptive and destructive behavior, including violent physical tantrums and swearing. He often disturbed the whole school. The "remedy" for this child was to have him sweep up around the school.

These were the children of dedicated Scientologists. Students' files revealed previous teachers' statements of incidents of physical and sexual abuse. All of these cases were reported to the principal. The reports were "handled" by Scientology alone. Teachers dared not report these crimes on their own outside the school for fear of losing their jobs.

Low Priority for Child Welfare

In the process, it seems that at least in the American state of Florida, the justice system is failing the average person in the fight against Scientology.

From: "Jeff Jacobsen"
Subject: Florida legal system sucks
Date: Tue, 08 Jul 2003 05:23:09 -0000
Message-ID:

It's pretty clear to me that the Florida legal system has serious problems:

1. Lisa McPherson is essentially killed, yet no one will ever be criminally charged with it. The state attorney filed the weakest charges he could find against Co$, then even dropped those.

2. Dennis Clark of CCHR punches Mike Krotz on 2 different occasions, both being videotaped (once from 2 different angles). No charges ever pressed against Clark.

3. Bob Minton admits to perjury, then gets caught perjuring himself while testifying about his previous perjury. Yet no charges are filed.

4. A permanent injunction is placed against critics of Scientology based on one action by Bob Minton where Bob poked a guy with his picket sign.

Critics of Scientology are enjoined from speaking to Scientologists, from going certain places, and from protesting at certain locations.

Compare #4 with 1-3. Scientologists or those helping them get away with assault, killing, perjury. Critics not even in the state when the offense happened are severely restricted by Florida courts. What's happening?

Florida Legal System Sucks

Many people have been hurt because of the manipulative nature of Scientology's 'lawyers' and the inability of the justice system to adequately address the needs of those trying to escape the harassment and the threats that follow the departure of those who have become disenchanted with the 'religion' because they've returned to their senses.

The Woodcraft family is another example of how Scientology has torn families apart.

Or... Abuse and Neglect of Children in Scientology

Scientology puts little or no emphasis on family; a trait found in no other religion. All the other religions around the world (other than the pagan and its derivitives), place a high emphasis on family and its values.

Christianity, Islam, Catholicism, Judiasm, Hinduism and many other of their derivitives have a strong emphasis on the family and children's welfare. They put the family as the core of society and that the family is needed in order to survive. There is still a hierarchy but it comes from within the family environment.

By now, in any sentence in which I use 'Scientology' and 'religion', I tend to put religion in quotes simply because Scientology isn't actually a religion. It's a cult. Why? It fits the description of the 5 core characteristics that define a cult.

1. It uses psychological coercion to recruit, indoctrinate and retain its members.
2. It forms an elitist totalitarian society.
3. Its founder/leader is self-appointed, dogmatic, messianic, not accountable and has charisma.
4. It believes 'the end justifies the means' in order to solicit funds and recruit people.
5. Its wealth does not benefit its members or society.

At this point, I'd like to refer you to the website that I found ALL the above links at and it is: Operation Clambake: Undressing The Church Scientology Since 1996.

This site has an excellent vault of information that I couldn't fit into this post. Consider this post to be a reference point.

Their site is a wonderfuk point from which people seeking information to help those trapped in the vice grip of Scientology can find what they need. The site also provides a good list of suggestions of what one can do in order to fight this evil.

How to support the fight against the Church of Scientology

And nothing makes a good statement like victim impact statements.

When it comes to the various accounts of abuse, neglect, broken families, lost careers, abandoned edcations, et cetera, nothing says "Scientology is evil and it must be eradicated" like a series of victim impact statements/first hand accounts. The scary thing about all these accounts is that there are various patterns.

Isabel's story
Chris's Story
Patrick's Story

But, these people aren't alone. There are millions of others who have been through the same thing, or they are people who have posted informative websites, or they are assholes like me who pick bits and pieces and post them in their blog. Either way, there is an extensive counter-propoganda campaign that is going on while Scientology attempts to poison the world with its mind controls and its ideas of 'clearing the world'.

Heck, even some cartoons have joined the fight in their own subtle ways.

The Simpsons have made their statement with their episode on the Movementarians and recently South Park came out with an episode that berates Scientology directly and indirectly calls one of Scientology's biggest supporters, Tom Cruise gay.

"Mom, Tom Cruise won't come out of the closet!" - Stan Marsh

The recent South Park TV episode - "Trapped in the Closet" - in which the South Park staff educates the global community through humor on the human rights abuses and other dangers of the destructive mind control cult Scientology has done a great service to societies and families everywhere their show airs around the world. This show is also a great educational tool for dangers of destructive cults in general.

In spite of Scientology’s infamous reputation for retaliation and lawsuits, it took a great courage to so accurately portray the brainwashed cult dependency of Tom Cruise and John Travolta as well as criminal-like nature of Scientology and its current leader David Miscavige. Because of this courage and its educational value to society on the dangers of Scientology and cults in general we at FACTNet name the entire South Park TV Show Staff our FACTNet Person(s) of the Year for 2005.

FACTNet
FACTNet Newsletter

And need a way to educate that young child of yours?

Well, they like Harry Potter, don't they?

Harry Potter and the Cult of Doom

I'd give you more links... but there are already a zillion extra links once you've clicked on the ones I've provided.

In closing - I still believe that religion is a whole whack of shit and Scientology is the worst of the bunch.

Old School Doesn't Always Mean Ultra Conservative

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China allows newspaper to re-open

The ones calling on it are...? No, they aren't the youths, nor are the the bloggers that use proxies to circumvent Chinese internet filters, nor are they the media moguls who seek to get out their 'message'; it is party elders who have called upon their government to curb the zealous censorship.

It is a reason that some people earn the title of elder, and it is for 'wisdom'; they have grown wise with their years and know a thing or two that they can teach the upstart generations.

The news comes two days after prominent Communist Party elders issued a rare open letter to protest about increased media restrictions and censorship.

The signatories - who included a onetime aide to former leader Mao Zedong and an ex-party propaganda chief - said strict censorship may "sow the seeds of disaster" for China's political transition.

This comes at a time when Beijing is incredibly intent on curbing media freedom and heavily censoring anything that it deems out of sync with adminitrative mandate (Google anyone?)

The Bingdian (Freezing Point) was shut down because it dared to publish an article that questioned the administration.

In his article on 11 January, Yuan Weishi wrote that Chinese history text books never acknowledged the culpability of the government, but blamed others instead.

"We were raised on wolf's milk," he wrote in the article, meaning a culture of hatred and violence.

Ah yes, another way of saying, "we're being brainwashed through government slanted propoganda.". The Chinese public is being very much influenced by theit government to not to speak out; the penalities are severe and the stakes are high.

A spokesman for China's foreign ministry on Thursday defended the closure of Bingdian.

Qin Gang told a news briefing that the historian's essay "gravely violated historical facts, gravely hurt the national feeling of the Chinese people, and gravely injured the image of the China Youth Daily".

In other words, the newspaper published the truth that the Chinese government didn't want the public to know.

This is also from the same government which is pressing down heavily on Japan for 'white washing' its history textbooks in regards to its crimes during World War II. Before the Chinese government starts to clean up its neighbouir's yard, perhaps it ought to take a gander at its...

It's All Just Window Dressing

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Whether it's a Liberal or a Conservative, election-time promises are all the same; they're geared to appeal to even the most apathetic of voters. They are desigend to get us out to the polls and vote for a party that can best appeal to the masses. They repeat the same old promises, but add an exciting twist to make it new and fresh for the masses, which sit in front of the glass teat, gawking and bitching because all politcians in general are scumbags and it is just different packaging for the same load of bullshit when it gets the leader side of the house.

One of the big election promises that got Stephan Harper (bloody conservative hypocrit!) elected as Prime Minister of Canada (though via a minority government with only 36% of the total vote) was to reform the hosue rules so if an MP (Member of Parliament) crossed the floor, they'd have to answer to their constituents. This was left over from the defection of Belinda Stronach from the Conservatives, as a backbencher to the Liberal Cabinet without so mcuh has having to stand a byelection for changing parties.

Martin decries Emerson's switchto the Conservatives

Emerson, industry minister under Martin's government, was re-elected as a Liberal in the riding of Vancouver Kingsway. He switched parties shortly after last month's election. He's now a minister in Stephen Harper's new Conservative government.

Opposition Cabinet

Opposition Leader Bill Graham says he's concerned by a number of Conservative cabinet appointments, including unelected minister Michael Fortier and former Liberal David Emerson.
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Layton, whose party holds 29 seats, said Emerson should resign and run in a byelection as a Conservative. He accused the former Liberal of turning his back on the people who voted for him.

Layton said the NDP had put forward legislation in the House that would have prevented MPs from crossing the floor by requiring them to sit as Independents and face re-election before they could join another party.

"If someone wanted to switch parties, they would have to go back to their voters – otherwise there's a feeling of deception."

Cabinet includes defector and senator-to-be

In changing parties, he followed the example of former Conservative MP Belinda Stronach, who crossed the floor last year to become a Liberal cabinet minister.

At that time, Harper said:

"We don't go out of our way to romance MPs to get them to cross the floor. Liberals will do anything to win.

"We are trying to create a principled party where people act in a principled way, and obviously we're fairly cautious about encouraging party jumping, because that's the kind of thing that generates cynicism.

"And frankly, when someone jumps, once you're not sure you can trust them the next time, so I would always handle that with an extraordinary degree of caution."

Well, at least we know where the Conservatives truly stand, and I would like someone to try and say that they don't have a hidden agenda, but, this proves otherwise. They came right out and without any hint of discretion, shit right in the face of the 36% of Canadians who voted for these assholes.

Well, at least the remainder of us saw through this and will be waiting in queue for the next election in order to punish this party, who has the hypocritical and corruption capabilities, previously only known to that of the Liberals.

Those Darn Danish Cartoons...

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** WARNING: This post isn't 56K sensitive. There are going to be a handful of images that will be loading. Please be patient while they load. Thank you. **

Well, since I'm a writer free of 'constitutional restrictions' and with the luxury of freedom of expression, I'm going to fully and freely express myself here. The Danish newspaper, Jyllands Postenm which is located in a country with a very free press had every right to publish the images.

There was only one remotely questionable one and it is one wherein there is an Islamic man portrayed as having a bomb for a turban. It could be Muhammad or it could very well be Ayatollah. But, it doesn't really matter since the outrage didn't start until these cartoons were brought over to the Mid East.

In fact, like I've mentioned in an early post, there are many drawings that exist with Muhammad, the 'sacred' prophet and founder of Islam. Why was there no outrage about it until now? For that matter, why is there only outrage when there is an 'offensive' cartoon or the Qu'ran, according to News Weekly, has been 'violated'...? Where is the moral outrage over the treatment of women and children? Outrage over the escalating violence and beheadings and everything else that goes against Islam's so-called 'peace'? How can these people call it a 'religion of peace' when they only stand up for something that is offensive and do so with violent actions?

So, for that reason, I'm willingly republishing the images in my blog as a statement that I stand behind Jyllands Postenm's democratic right to publish these cartoons. They may be offensive to some, but there have been plenty of Christian and Jewish cartoons published before with far less public backlash.

If it had been Christian or any other sensitive topic, I'd be posting it as well, simply because I don't need a bunch of conservative hyper-sensitive politically-correct assholes telling me what I can and cannot post.

Jyllands Postenm

Danish author Kaare Bluitken wrote a primarily educational children's book about the prophet Mohammed, but ran into problems trying to find an illustrator. Certain interpretations of Islam find it inappropriate or directly forbid pictures of the prophet. Eventually, an illustrator did agree to work on the book, but only under the cloak of anonymity.

Jyllands-Posten published several articles addressing this state of affairs. The newspaper took a position that it is untenable for non-Muslims to be bound by Muslim scripture.

In order to find out exactly how widespread self-censorship is, the newspaper asked a number of Danish illustrators to submit their own personal interpretations of how the prophet might appear.

Twelve illustrators submitted drawings, which the newspaper published on 30 September 2005 as a contribution to the debate about self-censorship amongst journalists, authors, and artists.

The Story behind the drawings
Egyptian Newspaper Pictures that Published Cartoons 5 months ago

Muslims Overract: It's just a cartoon, grow a thicker skin!

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In the US you have the Christian zealots who congregate to protest anything 'liberal' or that conflicts with their moral values. They gather to protest the rights of homosexuals and women's right to choose. They've been the lynch mobs that seek to detroy that which doesn't agree with ingrained and doctrined Christian values and morals.

They are merely a small breed of a greater movement that can only be best describe as Religious Extremism, a brand of fundamentalism that Americans have typically associated with the Mid Eastern Islamic countries, which embrace Islam as their (un)official state religion, whether through zealous enforcement (Saudi Arabia, Iran...) or through cultural pressures (Iraq, Syria, Jordan).

Freedom of the press is a foreign concept in some Middle Eastern and Far East countries. The media is just a mouth piece for the government to spout off propoganda in order to keep the masses blissfully ignorant.

Freedom of the press is normal in 'western' nations, where we haven't even the faintest notion why someone could not understand why we cherish this so.

Denmark, Sweden, France, Norway and Germany are just a few of the nations with such freedoms. They enjoy those freedoms. It is with those freedoms that the press can make a mockery of religion's fanatics and its fundamentalism. They stick it to the Jews and Christians on a regular basis with little or no back lash, while an innocent and yet stereotypical editorial cartoon sends some Muslims into a tirade of anger and indignation.

How the row unfolded...

2006

7 February: Several hundred Iranians attack the Danish embassy in Tehran as the country announces it is cutting all trade ties with Denmark.

6 February: Protests claim lives - at least five people are killed in Afghanistan, and a teenage boy dies after protesters attack police in Somalia.

5 February: Lebanese demonstrators set the Danish embassy in Beirut on fire. Interior Minister Hassan Sabeh resigns over the violent protests.

4 February: Syrians attack Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus, prompting UN chief Kofi Annan to call for calm.

2 February: The editor of the French newspaper France Soir is sacked for printing the cartoons.

1 February: Papers in France, Germany, Italy and Spain reprint the caricatures, defying Muslim outrage.

31 January: The Danish paper apologises. The Danish prime minister welcomes the apology but defends the freedom of the press.

30 January: Gunmen raid the EU's offices in Gaza, demanding an apology over the cartoons.

26 January: Saudi Arabia recalls its ambassador to Denmark, while Libya says it is closing its embassy in Copenhagen.

10 January: A Norwegian newspaper reprints the cartoons.

2005

20 October: Ambassadors from 10 Islamic countries complain to the Danish prime minister about the cartoons.

30 September: A series of cartoons, some depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a terrorist, are published by Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.

But, who can blame the numerous free presses around the world for reprinting these editorial cartoons? After all, they are entitled to freedom of expression and they have frequently shown the same contempt for Christianity and other religions.

About 5,000 people take to the streets in Peshawar in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province

Several hundred Muslims protest in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir

Hundreds of Muslims gather in Cotabato, in the southern Philippines, demanding Denmark punish the newspaper that initially published the cartoons

Norway demands compensation from Syria after its embassy in Damascus is set on fire on Saturday

In Indonesia, protesters target the Danish and US consulates in Surabaya, the country's second-largest city. Protests are also held in the capital, Jakarta

Only they don't take to the streets in throes.

Sure, the government may have used propoganda and the clerics ignorance, but the people have to act on what they are given. They are told what to believe instead of educating themselves on worldly and cultural matters. These people are from parts of the world were education isn't as fundamental as family values and religious morality.

It is these people who have shown a lack of regard for property; they've taken out their anger against governments who have no control over the press because the laws of these countries permit freedom of the press.

A clash of rights and responsibilities

And yet it is the governments and not the press who is apologising? Why? No idea...

And of the protesters?

They have allowed religion to blind them; they have decided to let someone else think. The cycle continues because there is little education can do in the face of religious fanaticism.

All this over a series of editorial cartoon...

The cartoons offends the few who read the original paper.

The cartoon then offended an envoy of Danish Muslims who reproduced the images in the east and then the people react angrily.

And as a sign of maturity...

Iran paper seeks cartoon revenge

An Iranian paper is holding a contest for cartoons about the Holocaust, to retaliate against the publication of images of the Prophet Muhammad.

Now, normally I try and be unbias, but when it comes to religion, I can hold back...

GROW THE FUCK UP! It's just a bloody picture!

INLCP's "Grow a Thicker Skin" Rant

--- THIS BLOG HAS BEEN ABANDONED. OUR NEW HOME IS: THE WEASEL SOAP BOX ---

It seems that political correctness these days is paving the way for extreme sensitivity of the most irrelevant issues. Anything that creates even the slightest annoyance/offence is enough to send many thin-skinned individuals into a snit fit and a tirade worthy of a princess who didn't get a good night's sleep simply because her pillow was too thick.

I'm speaking of course not of video games, as they are a scapegoat of modern religious over zealous paranoia and intent on blaming something that doesn't agree with their ingrained 'morals' and 'principles', but of issues that are springing up like weeds in a flower patch. Issues that could've otherwise been classified as 'irrelevant' have become forerunners in justifying 'righteous outrage'.

While there are many, IFLCP will pick its favourite three.

These are in no particular order despite that they are being numbered (this being, strictly out of convenience).
1. Anger grows over Muhammad cartoon

First off the top, the Arab nations' outrage to Danish editorial cartoons depicting their 'sacred' prophet, Muhammad. These cartoons were published in a Danish newspaper, in a primarily Christian nation, where freedom of the press is convetional and editorial cartoonist have exhausted traditional sources for their jabs and mockings.

According to Islam, caricatures, depictions, statues and other related forms equate to idoltry, and in this faith, it is anti-Islamic to have any images of the prophet Muhammad.

However, there was no instance of these cartoons being published in media that is directed at these people; it's designed for the Danish public. It was propogated into France and Germany, where the images were republished, sparking more 'outrage', despite that all three nations have freedom of expression and press on their books.

Letters of protest from LOCAL residents to the offending papers would've been far less deserving of INLCP's mockery than those of people who have likely never seen these publications in their life. The use of guns against officials unrelated to those who have made the publication and the burning of flags from those nations do no one any good; it especially bodes terribly for the so-called 'offended'.

Those who are protesting it need to stop and consider their position.

How can they protest this when they've violated elements of their own religion? After all, the Qu'ran doesn't directly call for women to wear any veil or even cover up; it merely calls for modesty on the part of the female and the male. The veil is a local adaptation. Women are considered equals in the Qu'ran, though not the same as men; this doesn't mean they are to be overruled by men, in fact, the only bing theyr are directly overruled by is Allah.

Holy Warfare, or Jihad was never endorsed directly; during the crusades, Muslim folk used slaves to do their fighting, because their religion and faith explicitly forbade such actions, as it never directly guaranteed a man many wives. It was done out of convenience after there was a shortage of men due to the crusades.

Those who were protesting this, need to grow a thicker skin and end the hypocrisy if they truly wish to be taken seriously.

Oh, while we're at here... Mohammed Image Archive

2. China ban for Memoirs of a Geisha

First it was anything with the following words: 'democracy', 'freedom' and 'liberty'. Then came the round in which they took the bloggers into the boxing ring, blind folded them and hit them below the belt. Any accurate details of Tiananmen Square massacre are taboo, as is anything homosexual - of course, in the name of protecting the people and the state.

The crusade doesn't end there. They've taken it to the next level and have directed their eyes and ears to the movie, Memoirs of a Geisha. The government and pressure groups have even led the movie industry to decline to release it. Gee, one less movie for the black market industry...

The decision to cast Chinese actresses Ziyi Zhang and Gong Li in leading roles as Japanese women has caused controversy in China.

Critics say it is insensitive because of Japan's atrocities during their occupation of China in the 1930s.
...
Film company Sony Columbia Tristar Pictures said Memoirs of a Geisha would not be released in China "because of the negative social response to the film reflected on various media".

So... it's 'insensitive' because of Japan's wartime atrocities?

This is perplexing. After all, Germany has been forgiven by their European neighbours and have healthy relations with them, and they too committed many wartime atrocities.

Further, didn't The UK hold Hong Kong in 'occupation' longer than Japan held any of its wartiome conquests? Didn't the Brits commit some nasty crimes there?

Didn't Japan already apologise?

Further, the movie has no link toward the war...

Nitta Sayuri tells the story of her life as a geisha. It begins in a poor fishing village in 1929, when, as a nine-year-old girl with unusual blue-gray eyes, she is taken from her home and sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. We witness her transformation as she learns the rigorous arts of the geisha: dance and music; wearing kimono, elaborate makeup, and hair; pouring sake to reveal just a touch of inner wrist; competing with a jealous rival for men's solicitude and the money that goes with it.

Memoirs of a Geisha

3. Blizzard Entertainment, the creators of the pay-to-play game WoW (World of Warcraft) in their inifite wisdom have decided that it's perfectly justifiable to allow the Jesus lovers and Bible thumpers to impose their views onto others and spam the local channels in WoW with their religious propoganda, but it is a big no-no if a GLBT guild to even exist.

Blizzard decries orc-on-orc gatherings (I won't bother to repeat what Demodulated has already said simply because I agree).

Online game warns gay-lesbian guild

In recruitment messages she posted on WoW, she wrote that the guild was not "'glbt only,' but we are 'glbt friendly.'"

To WoW publisher Blizzard Entertainment, however, Andrews' message was out of bounds. The Irvine, Calif.-based game publisher said her recruiting was a violation of the game's harassment policy, specifically the section of that policy regarding sexual orientation.

Ok, this is questionable, since, IFLCP isn't sure if this is a case of the publisher needing to grow a thicker skin, taking a lesson is not discrimination, or that the publisher lacks an IQ that prevents them from following the sheep mentality, but in either way, it's NOT harassment when it's a FRIENDLY place for people who are normally persecuted, and ironically, at the hands of those who are recruiting for the religious guilds.

If they're concerned about harassment related to sexual orientation, perghaps they ought to muzzle the religious movement that they're permitted to propogate in their cyberspace.

In an interview with CNET News.com, Blizzard public relations manager Gil Shif said that the company is reviewing the harassment policy and plans to modify it in the near future. The policy will likely be broadened, Shif said, to go beyond limiting prohibited language to that which is insulting and to include "any language that could result in situations where players are going to break down into harassing debate. It's just not appropriate for a gaming environment."

To Andrews, however, Blizzard's position doesn't hold water in a game that provides keyboard commands that allow characters to say things like, "Homogenized? No way, I like the ladies!"

"They state that they don't want mention of sexuality in their game, for fear it may cause people to harass others," Andrews said. "Yet they have things like this in the game already that (were) put there by them."

To some observers of online games like WoW, Blizzard's decision to warn Andrews gets harassment protection backward.

It seems that the player, Sarah Andrews who has created this guild isn't alone.

"We recognize that stopping harassment is extremely important," said Brian Chase, a staff attorney at Lambda Legal, an organization that promotes civil rights for the GLBT community. "But the way to stop the harassment of gay people is to stop the harassers, not insist gay people be quiet."

Interestingly...

Those rules state that players agree not to transmit language that is "unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortuous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, that may be invasive of another's right of privacy or publicity, hateful, racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable."

So, it seems that advocating/advertising for a guild in WoW that is GLBT-friendly falls under these rules and is breaking the rules.

Yep, they really need to grow a thicker skin and return to school to learn what real harassment is.