The Psychopaths Are Trying To Run The Asylum
One news story stood out on the BBC this lunchtime. It was all about how jogging has been banned in Burundi and can get you many years in jail.
I noticed this paragraph in the story.
The 49-year-old president, for his part, remains an enthusiastic consumer of team games – football in particular.
He has his own side, Hallelujah FC, for whom, according to government leaflets, he plays as a striker and often scores goals.
So it’s not just Muslim fanatcs who are three parts round the bend.
The news is depressing with more fighting and massacres in Iraq due to ISIS, dozens killed in Kenya by Al Shabab, kidnappings in Israel probably by Hamas and all the Boko Haram troubles in Nigeria.
Although those four seem to say they support Islam, many of those they kill seem to be Muslims too!
I sometimes think that this section of mindless violence will only end when the various divisions have eliminated each other.
It just gets more depressing!
I Can’t Bear To Look At The Times Website Today
The headline story is of the poor woman sentenced to death in Sudan for a love of a man of the wrong religion, giving birth on the floor of a prison cell in chains.
What has all this got to do with religion?
Are Boko Haram Just Psychotic Male Chauvanist Pigs
I’ve just watched John Simpson’s report from north eastern Nigeria on the BBC.
I’m left with the thoughts that led me to write this post.
I’ve read extensively about Islam and can’t see how any of Boko Haram’s actions have anything to do with the religion.
In fact, in the early days of Islam, women were equal and over the centuries education has been a large part of the religion. In fact, but for early Islamic scholars and thinkers, we wouldn’t have the mathematics we have today.
Boko Haram are just thugs and should feel the full force of all right-thinking people in Nigeria and the wider world.
Is This How To Deal With The EDL?
This story tells what happened when EDL protesters turned up at a mosque in York.
The mosque offered the protesters tea and biscuits, they all had a chat, and then everything ended peacefully.
Let’s hope this episode sets a precedent.
Summing Up Casablanca
The trip to the beach was excellent, but that couldn’t be said for the weather! I’ve been to Morocco before, and it was just as non-threatening as Marrakesh was ten years ago.
One thing that I noticed, was that a lot of the young Moroccan women, don’t bother to cover their hair, as most women do in Muslim countries. Coupled with the vast numbers of newspapers on the streets, does this show that Morocco is joining the modern world? Incidentally, I did hear a report on BBC World, that said that Morocco was one of the most welcoming countries in the world.
Let’s hope it stays that way! Or possibly gets even better!
I remember last time in Marrakesh that we had been recommended a restaurant by one of C’s colleagues in her chambers. We asked the concierge of our five star hotel, how we could get to the restaurant and he said to take a taxi, as the restaurant was difficult to find. We then asked how we got a taxi to get home and he said, that if we felt up to it the best way was to walk, as Marrakesh was a safe city.
So after an amazing meal, we walked back to the hotel!
The only interaction we had on the walk, was when a guy courteously waved us through, as he was in a hurry.
A History Of Syria With Dan Snow
I am watching this program on BBC2 as I write this and I’ve never seen a program that explains the tortuous history of the troubled country of Syria so well.
The program is being repeated tomorrow at 23:20 according to this page and is an absolute must see!
If you don’t see the program, your ideas about and solutions for Syria won’t be correct. Unless of course, you are someone who has studied the country and its history and problems for years.
It has been some time, since I’ve seen such an informative and well-made documentary on such a terrifying subject, that might boil over on all of us!
And to think that one of the causes of the current round of troubles in Syria, is the bad doctor, Bashar-al-Assad!
One phrase from Dan Snow summed up the mess.
The threads running through this conflict, mean there is no simple solution.
As he finishes the program, he does at least feel that there is some hope, because of the resilience and experience of the Syrian people.
I hope he’s right!
Is David Cameron Satanic?
It has been reported that Anjem Choudary has called David Cameron satanic.
Quite frankly, David Cameron is one of the least satanic prime Ministers we’ve had. I suppose though, he shares with John Major and Margaret Thatcher, no outspoken religious views, which must make him satanic to some.
Choudary was on BBC Radio 5 this morning and Phil Williams asked if he was on benefits. He refused to answer. Judging by the texts read out on the program, Choudary doesn’t have much support.
Let’s hope it stays that way and we can file him and his movement in the same dustbin as those of the Far Right.
Surely though after another atrocity in Pakistan yesterday in the centuries-old feud between Sunni and Shia Muslims, Islam needs a few men of peace with vision. On the subject of the rivalry between the two parts of Islam, read this.
Food Wars In Israel
Most stories to come out of Israel are not about how well Orthodox Jews and Muslims get on, but this one from The Australian is. Here’s the introduction.
IT was meant to be a battle for supremacy in the kitchen and, perhaps, for the right to claim ownership of the cuisine.
But Israel’s most popular cooking contest has achieved what decades of peace talks have failed to do after turning an orthodox Jew and a Muslim Palestinian into firm friends.
As Jackie Azoulay and Salma Fiyumi completed their dishes in the Masterchef final on Wednesday, they cheerfully embraced on national television.
It’s just a pity that the leaders of both sides can’t sit down with these two women and have a really good meal.
My next door neighbour years ago, had been a Colonel in the British Army. At one time, he had been enforcing the British mandate in Palestine, so he knew the area well.
He said that the only way to tell if the various people in the area, were Jew or Arab, was from their surname. It would appear, these two women have performed that wonderful feat of turning the clock back constructively.
What’s Wrong With Snooker?
The news from Pakistan just seems to get worse.
The latest was this bombing of a snooker hall in Quetta.
I doubt that any religion or sect could be against such an innocent game of snooker and it looks like Sunni Muslims were attacking Shias.
I just can’t understand anybody wanting to kill anybody, except in exceptional circumstances!
A Very Dangerous Religious Law
This story on the BBC’s web site, just shows that religious zealots are alive and well and living in Indonesia.
They want women to sit on a motorcycle side-saddle. What about women, who want to actually drive the bike?
Incidentally, I know several women, who’ve been on the back of motor-bikes side-saddle, as it was seen occasionally in the 1960s.
I think we’d all agree it’s not a sensible idea, but then in India and I suspect Indonesia, you see lots of people riding motor-bikes in unusual and to us dangerous ways.
The interesting last word is these paragraphs from the article.
The regulation has been met with criticism from well-known Muslim activists like Ulil Abshar Abdalla, who is based in the capital, Jakarta.
“How to ride a motorbike is not regulated in Sharia. There is no mention of it in the Koran or Hadiths,” he said on his Twitter account, referring to the second most sacred text in Islam after the Koran.
You could also ask, how crash helmets fit in with Muslim and other religious views. I think for instance in the UK, that male Sikhs who adhere to their religious views, also follow the crash helmet law or don’t ride motor-bikes. Or at least, I haven’t seen a Sikh in a turban riding a motor-bike in years. Perhaps, they wear a patka underneath like some Sikh sportsmen do.
The Anonymous Widower 