Miscellanea Agnostica

Once again, I have to report on yet another example of “the Religion of Peace” displaying its true colors for the world to see. The (UK) Independent reports a mob of Muslims — enraged by the possibility that someone had dared dis their almighty prophet — threw a colossal, violent tantrum, ripping through a neighborhood in Lahore, Pakistan and burning down a hundred buildings (WebCite cached article):

Hundreds of people in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore ransacked a Christian neighborhood today and torched dozens of homes after hearing reports that a Christian man had committed blasphemy against Islam’s prophet, said a police officer.…

The incident started yesterday when a young Muslim man accused a Christian man of committing blasphemy by making offensive comments about the prophet, according to Multan Khan, a senior police officer in Lahore.

A large crowd from a nearby mosque went to the Christian man’s home last night, and Khan said police took him into custody to try to pacify the crowd. Fearing for their safety, hundreds of Christian families fled the area overnight.

Khan said the mob returned today and began ransacking Christian homes and setting them ablaze. He said no one in the Christian community was hurt, but several policemen were injured when they were hit with stones as they tried to keep the crowd from storming the area.

I must congratulate the world’s Muslims on their ability to keep up their angry, violent religionistic immaturity. It’s an incredible achievement. Well done! You all must be so proud.

Oh, and it’s behavior like this that makes the rest of the world sleep so well at night, knowing Pakistan has nuclear weapons at its disposal. Yep, it’s positively heart-warming and reassuring to know this. No doubt!

Photo credit: AFP/Getty Images, via The Independent.

Tags: arson, blasphemy, burning, childish, immature, immaturity, Islam, islamism, islamist, islamists, juvenile, lahore, lahore pakistan, muslim, muslims, pakistan, religiofascism, religiofascist, religiofascists, religionism, religionist, religionists, religious violence, riot, riots

Several months ago I blogged about militant Sunni Islamists in Mali destroying Sufi sites there as part of their sectarian campaign of violence. Earlier this month, France intervened in the ongoing civil war there. Since then, the rebels have lost ground, and the militant Islamists are in retreat. In the process, as Reuters reports, they took out their religiofascist anger out on yet another site of historical importance in Timbuktu (WebCite cached article):

Islamist fighters fleeing Mali’s ancient Saharan city of Timbuktu as French and Malian troops closed in set fire to a South African-funded library there containing thousands of priceless manuscripts, the city’s mayor said on Monday.

“The rebels sit fire to the newly-constructed Ahmed Baba Institute built by the South Africans … this happened four days ago,” Halle Ousmane told Reuters by telephone from Bamako. He said he had received the information from his chief of communications who had travelled south from the city a day ago.

No doubt these furious Islamists hoped to emulate the legend told of the Muslim general ‘Amr ibn al-’As, who after conquering Egypt c. 640, supposedly ordered the famous ancient Library of Alexandria destroyed.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Tags: ahmed baba institute, Islam, islamism, islamist, islamists, mali, mali civil war, muslim, muslims, northern mali conflict, sufi, sufism, timbuktu

The steady parade of incredible childishness continues, around the Muslim world. The poor little things just can’t handle the fact that some insolent, Neocrusading Coptic Christian living in California dared make a movie that mocked their precious prophet Muhammad. Things had settled down a bit since the height of the fury late last week, but the Washington Post reports things have kicked up again, including in Beirut, Lebanon (WebCite cached article):

Tens of thousands of people hit the streets of Beirut to protest the controversial video mocking the prophet Muhammad on Monday, a massive rally organized by the Shiite Muslim militant group Hezbollah that was also an attempt to show the party’s strength.

Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, made a rare public appearance around 6 p.m. local time and led the crowds in chants pledging martyrdom to the prophet Muhammad.

“The world should know our anger will not be a passing outburst but that this is the start of a serious movement that will continue all over the Muslim world to defend the Prophet of God,” he told the crowd, who roared their approval as he spoke. Nasrallah also warned the U.S. that if the full anti-Islam movie is released, rather than the short clip that has been posted on YouTube, there will be “dangerous consequences.” The video supposedly promotes a full-length film.

The WaPo notes that different Islamic factions are trying to one-up each other in this effort to protest the movie “Innocence of Muslims”:

Sunni leaders, not to be outdone by their Shiite counterparts, also announced more protests on Monday. The controversial Sunni sheikh Ahmad Assir, who is based in the city of Sidon, announced a demonstration for his followers later this week.

Yes, guys, that’s the way to show the world how wonderful your religion is! Get into a pissing contest with your rival sects to show which of you can be more immature and violent. Well done, Muslims! You must be so proud! Why, I am just so impressed by all of you … it makes me want to run right out and start worshipping al-Lah along with you!!!

… NOT … !

Photo credit: Beawiharta / Reuters, via the Washington Post.

Tags: beirut, blasphemous, blasphemy, hassan nasrallah, hezbollah, innocence of muslims, Islam, islamism, islamist, islamists, lebanon, movie, muslim, muslims, protest, Religion, religionism, religionist, religionists

A group of militant Islamists in Mali are carrying out a campaign against idolatry in Timbuktu and destroying treasured monuments in the process. They’ve been at it for a couple of days, as Reuters reports via the New York Times, and they aren’t letting up (locally-cached article):

Ignoring international calls to halt their attacks, Islamist militants in Timbuktu continued to smash the mausoleums of Sufi saints on Sunday, witnesses said.

The hard-line Salafi group Ansar Dine, which supports a puritanical version of Islamic law, consider the centuries-old Sufi shrines in Timbuktu to be idolatrous. About 30 militants armed with assault rifles and pickaxes destroyed three mausoleums on Saturday and three more on Sunday, witnesses said. The group said it planned to destroy all 16 of the city’s main shrines.

Unfortunately, the Mali government can do nothing to stop this; due to a civil war, they don’t have control of the region. UNESCO and other international interests have condemned the desecration, but no one appears inclined to do anything about it, just now.

Of course, this is not the first time Islamofascist thugs have destroyed monuments to sects or religions they despise. The article mentions sites Salafis have demolished elsewhere in the last year. The Taliban in Afghanistan also famously destroyed some Buddhist statues. So this kind of destructive religionism, unfortunately, isn’t without precedent in Islam.

Note that this is a sectarian struggle; Salafis and Sufis are all Muslims, even if they might, themselves, disagree on that.

Photo credit: Martha de Jong-Lantink, via Global Heritage Fund.

Tags: ansar dine, idolator, idolators, idolatry, Islam, islamism, islamist, islamists, islamofascism, islamofascist, islamofascists, mali, muslim, muslims, salafi, salafis, salafism, sidi mahmoud, sidi mahmoud ben amar, sidi mahmoud shrine, sufi, sufi shrine, sufis, sufism, timbuktu, unesco

This issue isn’t really new. Wired magazine has been reporting on this particular issue for quite some time (cached). It seems anti-terror instruction in the US military has been taken over by Neocrusaders who’ve made any number of outrageous claims about Islam as a whole and are trying to inculcate hatred of Muslims generally among the ranks. I blogged about this particular influence within the FBI when Wired reported on it last year. But the influence of the Neocrusade in the military seems to be worse, more pervasive, and more extensive.

Last year the Pentagon began a review of its anti-terror training materials, and the results of that review are starting to emerge. MSNBC elaborates on an Al Jazeera report on aspects that have come to light already (WebCite cached article):

As the Pentagon reviews all military classes following the disclosure of one that advocated “total war” against Muslims, the news website Al-Jazeera reported Saturday that it had received materials from a similar course and that both were put together by the same group, a nonprofit that offers classes and workshops to military and government officials.

Al-Jazeera said [cached] it received course slides from an unnamed military officer who said “this bigoted conspiracy cabal is both disgusting and so deeply un-American.”

The slides leave the impression that Hamas extremists have infiltrated the U.S. government, media and education via U.S. Islamic groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Al-Jazeera said. …

The documents indicated the two courses were prepared by the consulting firm Strategic Engagement Group, Inc., Al-Jazeera said. The website for Strategic Engagement [cached] does include statements similar to those in the materials cited by Al-Jazeera, msnbc.com found.

I decided to nose around in Strategic Engagement’s Web site to see what they offer. The first link I clicked on was this PDF version of a Powerpoint presentation entitled “CAIR Is Hamas” (cached). It didn’t take long for me to discover that these people are spewing factual errors. For instance, slide 3 of the presentation says:

In the 1920’s, after WWI and the Turkish Revolution, Mustafa Kemal “Ataturk” became the leader of the new nation-state Turkey. He dissolved the nearly 700 old Islamic State (Caliphate) known as the “Ottoman Empire,” outlawed the wearing of hijab, the growing of Islamic beards, the call to prayer, replaced Arabic with Latin, did away with Shariah (Islamic Law) and replaced it with secular law, and built an army to protect secular Turkey.

First, while it’s true that Ataturk did establish a new, and secular, government in Turkey, his new state did not encompass all of what had once been the Ottoman Empire. That dismantled state was succeeded, in those other regions, by other less secular states, or they became colonies of western powers and only later became independent states. So it’s factually incorrect to state that “the Ottoman Empire” was succeeded uniformly by the “secular” state of Turkey.

Second, the Ottoman Empire was not really a “Caliphate.” While some of its rulers did use that title, sporadically, even when they did, it was not universally recognized across Islam. Moreover, that they did so, doesn’t really mean a lot: Ottoman rulers sometimes arrogated other titles, such as “Roman Emperor,” and that’s also difficult to take very seriously. The title that best applies to the Ottoman rulers was “sultan,” not “caliph,” making the Ottoman Empire a “sultanate” rather than a “caliphate.”

Third, Ataturk did not “replace Arabic with Latin.” Within Ataturk’s new state of Turkey, the dominant language had been Turkish, not Arabic, and it remains so. While Turkish had long been written mostly using the Arabic alphabet, it was less than ideal; Ataturk did encourage the use of a Latin-based alphabet instead. But it is simply not true that Turkey went from speaking Arabic to speaking Latin.

I hardly need to investigate these Neocrusading wingnuts any further, given their loose command of basic history. Listen, I get it. Really I do. I get that the United States has been attacked by Islamic terrorists who feel compelled to kill others — and themselves — out of a violent religiofascistic impulse. I also get that there are immature, violent Muslims who are prone to explode in insane fury at the slightest provocation. I concede there are still some dangerously fanatical Muslims out there who think their religion orders them to maim and kill. That’s very much in evidence, and only a fool would say otherwise. What concerns me are these two basic premises of the Neocrusade:

1. Islamofascist terrorists are not the “fringe” of Islam, they are its heart; which means that all Muslims, not just some, are murderous fanatics.
2. Only Islam has any murderous impulses; other religions, particularly Christianity, do not.

The former premise is just not true, as witnessed by the fact that there are plenty of “moderate,” non-terrorist Muslims around the world, who at this moment are fighting the terrorist element of their religion. And other religions, including Christianity, most certainly also have their own terrorizing, murderous extremists. Eradicating Islam completely — which is the Neocrusade’s ultimate goal — cannot and will never end terrorism. To assume so is not only irrational, it’s delusional. The cold fact is that nearly any religion, anywhere, is capable of inciting violence and even terrorism in its followers. None is immune to it. The sooner we understand this, the better off we’ll all be.

Tags: al jazeera, anti-terror, anti-terrorism, antiterror, antiterrorism, christian, christian right, christian terrorism, Christianity, christians, Islam, islamism, islamofascism, islamofascist, islamofascist terror, islamofascists, military, muslim, muslims, neocrusade, neocrusaders, neocrusades, pentagon, religiofascism, religiofascist, religiofascists, religionist, religionists, religious right, religious terror, religious terrorism, religious violence, religonism, terror, terrorism, terrorist, terrorists

The people of Afghanistan continue to express their sanctimonious rage over the burnings of some Qur’ans at the Bagram military base. As CBS News reports, nine people were killed at Jalalabad because of it (WebCite cached version):

A suicide car bomber struck early Monday at the gates of Jalalabad airport in eastern Afghanistan, officials said, killing nine people in an attack insurgents said was revenge for U.S. troops burning Korans. …

The explosion comes after six days of deadly protests in Afghanistan over the disposal of Korans and other Islamic texts in a burn pit last week at a U.S. military base north of the capital. …

More than 30 people have been killed in protests and related attacks since the incident came to light this past Tuesday, including four U.S. soldiers.

As I’ve noted previously, there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight to this violence and little to no effort is being made by the Afghan government to calm their people. If anything, the government seems to be stoking the fires of protest — at the same time that it mouths acceptance of apologies by the US and has sent police in to break up some protests. What a wonderful crew.

Oh, and to any Christians out there who may be feeling smugly superior to the Afghans because you don’t think your fellow Christians can’t handle blasphemy … guess again. Christians have been known to react badly when they think Jesus is being “dissed,” too, and have threatened people who dare to get in their way. So get off your high horses about it. OK?

Photo credit: Getty photo, via CBS News.

Tags: afghan, afghanistan, afghans, blasphemy, desecration, february 2012 qur'an burning, Islam, islamism, islamist, islamists, jalalabad, koran, koran burning, koran desecration, muslim, muslims, qur'an, qur'an burning, qur'an desecration, religionism, religionist, religionists

Having already displayed their raging, sanctimonious immaturity over some Qur’ans that had been burned at the Bagram military base in their country, Afghans decided to ramp it up even further, and have killed over it. CBS News reports on this murderous childishness (WebCite cached article):

Two U.S. troops have been shot to death and four more wounded by an Afghan solider who turned his gun on his allies in apparent anger over the burning of Qurans at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan, an Afghan official tells CBS News.

A statement from the International Security Assistance Force – Afghanistan, the international coalition in the country, confirmed that two troops were killed in Eastern Afghanistan on Thursday by “an individual wearing an Afghan National Army uniform.” …

The source also said the shooting appeared to be motivated by the burning of Qurans at the sprawling U.S. Bagram air base, north of Kabul, but he did not provide additional details as to what led him to that conclusion.

Way to go, Afghans. Congratulations. Well done! I’m impressed. You must all be so proud of your accomplishment!

Update 1: Afghan immaturity continues to impress. As of Saturday, 2/25/2012, the violent protests continue, and more people have died as a result (cached). There doesn’t appear to be any end in sight.

Photo credit: Getty photo, via CBS News.

Tags: afghan, afghanistan, afghans, bagram, burning, childish, childishness, february 2012 qur'an burning, hyperreligionist, hyperreligiosity, hyperreligious, immature, immaturity, Islam, islamism, islamist, islamists, juvenile, koran, koran burning, koran desecration, korans, muslim, muslims, NATO, qur'an, qur'an burning, qur'an descecration, qur'an desecration, qur'ans, religionism, religionist, religionists

This is a story which, no doubt, has lifted the hearts of America’s Neocrusaders, and which will — as they see it — confirm that Islam needs to be banished from the US. As CBS News reports, the infamous “underwear bomber,” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was sentenced for his attempt to bomb a plane as it approached Detroit in December 2009 (WebCite cached article):

After a short prayer, [Abdulmutallab] said sheik Osama Bin Laden and sheik Awlaki “are alive” and the “mujahedeen are proud to kill for Allah” and that it was “exactly what we were told to do in the Quran”.

I expect violently hyperreligious nutjobs like Abdulmutallab to spew crap like this. The Qur’an is large enough for them to sift through and extract any number of passages that they view as mandating their campaign of terror and death. I’m sure that Abdulmutallab and his murderous cohorts are certain that 72 houris await them in Paradise after their deaths (his, of course, will likely occur in prison decades from now).

While Neocrusaders will view Abdulmutallab and his claim as proof that Islam must be eradicated, they will also miss the real point here, which is that any religion based solely on faith, which presumes to press itself on reality, and which considers itself mandatory for all of humanity, is going to generate murderous followers like Abdulmutallab. There are, for example, Christian groups that advocate killing, such as the Army of God. There have been bombings and killings by Christians who believe their religion orders them to be violent.

In short, this problem is not solely limited to Islam, as the Neocrusaders would have us believe. Any sufficiently religionist system can conceivably lead to terror and murder in the name of metaphysics. Yes, even within Christianity. The sooner we all understand this, the better off we’ll all be.

Photo credit: AP Photo/Jerry Lemenu, via CBS News.

Tags: Abdulmutallab, bombing, detroit, detroit MI, Islam, islamism, islamist, islamists, koran, qur'an, religionism, religionist, religionists, terror, terrorism, terrorist, terrorists, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, undewear bomber