On July 7, 2007, an Indian court sentenced 14 Hindus to life imprisonment for their participation in the brutal slaughter of 116 Muslims during mob violence on October 27 1989. The 14 men (one of whom was a police officer) were members of a mob which attacked 116 Muslim men, women and children, using swords and daggers as part of a brutal religious turf-war over a scrap of land which apparently had holy significance to both groups of people.
More were involved in the killings than just those 14 sentenced to life imprisonment. Six others were accused but have already died, and four others believed to have been associated with the crime cannot be found.
This was a senseless, brutal murder; the mob hacked and stabbed to death over a hundred people simply because the two were of different faiths, and had different beliefs about a piece of land.
Not really the example of high moral values supposedly provided by religion that one would expect to see.
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Monday, 9 July 2007
Sunday, 8 July 2007
Double standards on justice, pardons, OK for US president
As the governor of Texas, George Bush appeared to take a particularly hash line on justice and pardons, issuing the least number than any Texas governor since some time in the 1940's. This amounted to just one death sentence pardon, and 20 pardons for lesser charges.
As the president of the United States, approaching the end of his second term, George Bush has commuted just 4 sentences, out of more than 4,000 applications. Again, this is a very low number of interventions by a United States President.
Yet it seems strange then that of those four interventions, the most recent one has been for a personal friend of the President, Lewis "Scooter" Libby.
While fully acknowledging his friends' guilt, Bush the US President intervened and commuted the jail sentence that Libby received.
This seems like remarkably convenient double standards by a supposedly fair and christian man. Apparently out of all the thousands of requests for pardons received by the President during his two terms, Libby's case was just one of four which were a unique enough travesty of justice or harsh penalty to warrant Presidential intercession.
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As the president of the United States, approaching the end of his second term, George Bush has commuted just 4 sentences, out of more than 4,000 applications. Again, this is a very low number of interventions by a United States President.
Yet it seems strange then that of those four interventions, the most recent one has been for a personal friend of the President, Lewis "Scooter" Libby.
While fully acknowledging his friends' guilt, Bush the US President intervened and commuted the jail sentence that Libby received.
This seems like remarkably convenient double standards by a supposedly fair and christian man. Apparently out of all the thousands of requests for pardons received by the President during his two terms, Libby's case was just one of four which were a unique enough travesty of justice or harsh penalty to warrant Presidential intercession.
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Former priest embezzled £20,000
Reported in BBC News Online on July 5 2007, we have the story of an ex-priest, who while a rector at a church in Ballachulish, Argyll, embezzled £20,000 from a £63,000 bequest made by a female churchgoer. Disturbingly, the same priest had been the only executor of her estate.
While he has now fully repayed the embezzled funds, it can hardly be said that a priest embezzling money is a sign of strong moral examples set by religion.
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While he has now fully repayed the embezzled funds, it can hardly be said that a priest embezzling money is a sign of strong moral examples set by religion.
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Friday, 6 July 2007
NATO accuses Taliban of using child suicide bombers
The Taliban, an organisation which has proved itself time and time again as the paragon of immoral behaviour, has apparently stooped to a new low, if new NATO reports are to be believed.
According to the RichardDawkins.net, reporting on a story from the UK Guardian Unlimited, NATO recently detained a confused 6 year old boy at a checkpoint, and discovered, then defused a bomb-vest attached to the poor child.
Quoting RichardDawkins.net:
"They placed explosives on a six-year-old boy and told him to walk up to the Afghan police or army and push the button," said Captain Michael Cormier, the company commander who intercepted the child, in a statement. "Fortunately, the boy did not understand and asked patrolling officers why he had this vest on."
Yet again such an abhorrently vile act shows that the Taliban, who seem obsessed with moral behaviour, have not the slightest ounce of it themselves.
References:
According to the RichardDawkins.net, reporting on a story from the UK Guardian Unlimited, NATO recently detained a confused 6 year old boy at a checkpoint, and discovered, then defused a bomb-vest attached to the poor child.
Quoting RichardDawkins.net:
"They placed explosives on a six-year-old boy and told him to walk up to the Afghan police or army and push the button," said Captain Michael Cormier, the company commander who intercepted the child, in a statement. "Fortunately, the boy did not understand and asked patrolling officers why he had this vest on."
Yet again such an abhorrently vile act shows that the Taliban, who seem obsessed with moral behaviour, have not the slightest ounce of it themselves.
References:
Buddhist monks arrested for tax fraud
The Australian "Herald Sun" reported on July 5, 2007, that four Buddhist monks from South Korea have been detained for tax fraud, assisting over 2,500 people evade over $2 million Australian in tax by forging donation receipts.
Some of the monks were so blatant in their efforts that they apparently had produced pamphlets which advertised their services over fake donations.
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Some of the monks were so blatant in their efforts that they apparently had produced pamphlets which advertised their services over fake donations.
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Tuesday, 3 July 2007
Vile childrens television programme shows violent killing in the name of religion
A character in a children's television programme affiliated with Hamas in Palestine has been using a mickey-mouse like character (named 'Farfour') as part of the show. Given the somewhat hateful message this pseudo-American symbol had been presenting, one might feel relieved that the program has ended, except for the dramatic way in which the mickey-mouse character was removed from the show.
In the final episode, Farfour is approached by an actor playing an Israeli wanting to buy his land. Presumably when Farfour refused, he was beaten to death.
There are, undoubtedly, legitimate claims for both Israeli and Palestinians in the middle east conflict. This is not in any way disputed. Involving children in this way must be seen as unacceptable.
What sick and deluded approach to childrens' television does this come from? Where is it acceptable in any sense of morality and right behaviour to demonstrate such hateful attitudes to children?
Children are innocent, and deserve to be left to their innocence. Whether it is physical abuse, mental abuse, sexual abuse or brainwashing, it is still child abuse, and should be utterly unacceptable to any moral person.
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In the final episode, Farfour is approached by an actor playing an Israeli wanting to buy his land. Presumably when Farfour refused, he was beaten to death.
There are, undoubtedly, legitimate claims for both Israeli and Palestinians in the middle east conflict. This is not in any way disputed. Involving children in this way must be seen as unacceptable.
What sick and deluded approach to childrens' television does this come from? Where is it acceptable in any sense of morality and right behaviour to demonstrate such hateful attitudes to children?
Children are innocent, and deserve to be left to their innocence. Whether it is physical abuse, mental abuse, sexual abuse or brainwashing, it is still child abuse, and should be utterly unacceptable to any moral person.
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Sunday, 1 July 2007
Religious person claims atheists have no rights to USA citizenship
In a remarkable tirade against free thought, a religious person has written a letter to the editor of a newspaper claiming that "freedom of the religion", part of the US constitution, means that anyone who is not religious must get out of the country.
Taking it one step further, the remarkably certain individual goes on to claim "I don't care if they have never committed a crime, atheists are the reason crime is rampant."
(It must be quite a relief to the catholic church, for instance, to know that atheists have apparently caused all the buggering of children by priests throughout the ages.)
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Taking it one step further, the remarkably certain individual goes on to claim "I don't care if they have never committed a crime, atheists are the reason crime is rampant."
(It must be quite a relief to the catholic church, for instance, to know that atheists have apparently caused all the buggering of children by priests throughout the ages.)
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