Yeah, but wasn't Al-Andalus great?
Islamic Tolerance Alert: "Egypt forcing converts from Islam, members of Bahai faith to conceal their religion, watchdogs say," from The Associated Press (thanks to all who sent this in):
CAIRO, Egypt: Egypt must change its policy of not allowing converts from Islam and members of the Bahai faith to register their religion in official documents, two human rights groups said Monday.In a report two years in the making, the New York-based Human Rights Watch and the local Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, or EIPR, described how Egyptians of religious persuasions authorities disapprove of are unable to get birth certificates and identification cards.
Joe Stork, the HRW Middle East deputy chief, said it was a systematic policy to deny documents to members of faiths other than Islam, Christianity and Judaism — the only three religions officially recognized by Egyptian authorities.
ID cards are mandatory here, but persons seeking to have "Bahai" listed as their faith on the card, for example, are denied the document, Stork told reporters in Cairo.
The report quoted some 40 people the watchdog groups interviewed as saying they were told in applying for papers that they must list themselves as either Muslim or Christian, or risk not being able to obtain the document....
And notice, this is coming from a country where all laws related to religion must pass through the higher faculty of Al-Ahzar University. But when you point this out, we are told that this is a "cultural thing", not related to Islam, or Islamic practice, or the Quran, or Hadith, or Muhammed.
Then when you point out that no Muslim-majority country completely stays out of its citizen's religious practicies, not Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Tunisia, Indonesia, Malaysia, even that bastion of secularism, Turkey, you are called a bigot.
Yeah Al-Andulas was great, then the Muslims came along and stuffed it up.
According to the Egyptian constitution, only Muslims and Christians can be citizens of the Republic of Egypt. Other religions need not apply.
To update Descartes:
I am afraid; therefore, I submit to Muslims.
These things are relative: Ahmedinejad rose as a member of a political group whose chief object in life was to physically exterminate Bahais.
Why they should be persecuted, he regards as so obvious that it doesn't need explaining:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm8QK3sLp6I
although not having a prophet would appear to have something to do with it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV2qZtB8W3c
It does warm the soul that HRW is aware of other human rights violations besides Jews using the livers of Palestinian children to season matzah ball soup. Actually, this "watchdog" organization has such a record of holding whitey and hymie to a higher standard and focusing obsessively to the point of deceit on the "transgressions" of America and Israel that I cannot believe any HRW report on Egypt or any other real offender of human rights either. Any HRW report is suspect. I have no doubt that Egypt is a major human rights violator, but I gather that from other sources and not HRW. For all I know, HRW is just reporting on Egypt to provide cover for its next attack on Western civil rights violations, which means morally equating self-defense with genocide and religocide. So piss off HRW.
Wimbeldon Womble,
First of all, when I say there is no cannibalism involved in the Jewish cuisine, I mean there is a limited amount, but not statistically more than any other cuisine :-)
Also, organizations like HRW are liable to pressure. If they are called out on their prejudices, they can be turned toward a better end than they otherwise would. That would take a concerted effort on the part of charismatic, famous people, if not elected leaders. Heck, even a dictator prattling on about religious freedom in Egypt could make a difference. We all need a dictator to remind us of things now and again, like Joseph Pilsudski for instance.
Wimbledon Wobble wrote: "It does warm the soul that HRW is aware of other human rights violations besides Jews using the livers of Palestinian children to season matzah ball soup. Actually, this "watchdog" organization has such a record of holding whitey and hymie to a higher standard and focusing obsessively to the point of deceit on the "transgressions" of America and Israel that I cannot believe any HRW report on Egypt or any other real offender of human rights either. "
It's fair to hold the US to a higher standard, as we're supposed to be a world leader in human rights, and we're the world's "only remaining superpower". Now one sees utterly untouchable war criminals in the White House, including Dick "waterboard" Cheney, protected from removal or serious questioning by complicit Democrats and immune for life from criminal or civil prosection thanks to the Military Commissions Act. Only really powerful people like presidents and maybe telecom corporations get to commit a crime and have the legislature immunize them after the fact. One sees Republican presidential candidates falling all over themselves to promote "enhanced" interrogation. And one sees an American gulag whose crown jewel at the Guantanomo concentration camp, originally intended to be a totally law-free zone, is still open for business. So HRW has some reason to pick on us.
But to the point, if you look at HRW's website, www.hrw.org, you will see their press releases for points all over the world.
But "there is no complusion in religion". I remember reading that somewhere.
I think that to expect the cultural areas formed by the mahomatens to embrace the sort of tolerance and liberties that arose from Judeo-Christian values would be a futile exercise.
...Muslims are terrified of Christians, Jews, and others who actually have a better system and a more sensible belief system....the Muslims cannot compete therefore they eliminate the competition..
...Ban Muslim Immigration...