Pope John Paul the Great may be one step closer to beatification (and eventual canonization).

The Vatican may have found the "miracle" they need to put the late Pope John Paul one step closer to sainthood -- the medically inexplicable healing of a French nun with the same Parkinson's disease that afflicted him.

Monsignor Slawomir Oder, the Catholic Church official in charge of promoting the cause to declare the late Pope a saint of the Church, told Reuters on Monday that an investigation into the healing had cleared an initial probe by doctors.

Oder said the "relatively young" nun, whom he said he could not identify for now, was inexplicably cured of Parkinson's after praying to John Paul after his death last April 2.

"I was moved," Oder said in a telephone interview. "To think that this was the same illness that destroyed the Holy Father and it also kept this poor nun from carrying out her work."

John Paul suffered from Parkinson's Disease during the last decade of his life. His body trembled violently and he could not pronounce his words or control his facial muscles.

"To me, this is another sign of God's creativity," he said, adding that the nun worked with children.

He said Church investigators would now start a more formal and detailed probe of the suspected miracle cure.

Let us prayerfully wait and see what conclusions are drawn.

Posted by: Greg at 11:34 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Want a great example of dhimmitude in a supposedly secular country with a Muslim majority? Take a look at this piece from a Malaysian blogger.

The latest greatest document on Islamic treatment of non-Muslim minorities is a document published in AD 717 known as the Pact of Umar. Not surprisingly many Muslims (including your neighbours and colleagues) will find the occurences in today's Malaysia acceptable since this is where they get their guidelines on acceptable behaviour from.

First of all the Muslims term all the people who are kaffir as "dhimmis". This means they have to pay a jizya or a poll tax for protection. The local samseng back at school used to call this protection money. In the more refined Malaysia we give Muslims back tax dollars for monies paid to their religion. I once published a post or two on how Muslims are freeloaders because of this. I got condemned by a heavy hitting blogger but so far there has been no response from anyone as to why Muslims get their tax dollars back in equal amount for monies paid to the mosque and I don't get money back in equal amount paid to the church. Call it jizya, call it protection money or call it a mob shakedown. It's the first pillar of Islam in dealling with dhimmis. You pay more so that they can take more. Where I come from, that's called freeloading.

Let's see what else is in the Pact of Umar.

You'll have to go to Maobi to find out more about the Pact of Umar, and its de facto application in modern-day Malaysia.

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Could you imagine the outrage worldwide if a group of Christians did this to a group of Muslims trying to open a mosque?

At least 12 people were injured in clashes in Upper Egypt when a group of Muslims attempted to stop Christians converting a house into a church.

Security officials said the Muslims set fire to building materials for the building in Odaysat, near Luxor.

Several members of both communities were reported injured in the subsequent clashes, as well as two policemen.

It is the latest in a series of violent sectarian incidents in Egypt in the past few months.
A security source quoted by Reuters said the Christians did not have official permission to build the church.

Police arrested 10 young men and the owners of the house, reports say.
Correspondents say curbs on building churches have been one of the main grievances among Copts, although these restrictions have been eased recently by presidential decree.

The Coptic Christian community is believed to make up 10% percent of Egypt's population of about 70 million.

It doesnÂ’t say, but typical Egyptian practice would be to arrest only the Christians, whose right to assemble, worship, and open or repair churches remains sharply limited.

Maybe those of us in the civilized world should impose similar restrictions on Muslim freedom until the Muslim world grants basic human rights to Christians. After all, what would they do -- declare jihad and start a worldwide campaign of terrorism? Oh, that's right -- they already did that, despite having more freedom in our society than they have in their own.

MORE AT: Free Copts

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Of all the unmitigated gall! A Muslim group is attempting to make a Catholic school to operate according to Muslim principles.

AN ISLAMIC campaign group has called for a Catholic primary school to be based on the Muslim faith.

The Campaign for Muslim Schools said 90 per cent of pupils at St Albert's Primary, in the Pollokshields area of Glasgow, are Muslim, yet children are having to take part in Catholic rituals like saying the Lord's Prayer and attending mass.

Osama Saeed, co-ordinator of the alliance of Glasgow's main mosques and Muslim organisations, said he could see no reason why the main faith of the school should not change.

He said: "Clearly the parents of that area find a faith school, even if it is of another denomination, preferable to a secular one. But surely it should be possible for them to have one that is relevant to their own faith.

"To move towards this would be a fantastic example of good faith - in more ways than one - on the part of the Church."

The call came just days after Scotland's most senior Catholic, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, sparked controversy by stating that Scotland's core faith was Christianity and that other faiths should recognise they were "living in Scotland as a Christian country". A spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland was not available for comment tonight.

Listen up, Osama -- it is a Catholic school. If you want a Muslim school, go out and start one of your own. Don't demand that some other religious body show you some "good faith" by apostasizing to your false religion. You are one arrogant bastard, and I suggest you remember that you ae in a predominantly Christian country where you have rights that no Christian would ever be allowed in a country dominated by Islam.

And to the bishops of Scotland, might I suggest that you get a herd of these and turn them loose in the school yard of every Catholic school in the country?

Then again, perhaps what Osama and the Campaign for Muslim Schools need are a visit from a few Scots like this one, voicing their opposition to dhimmitude of the type that Osama and the rest propose.

You know -- just to remind them that Christians, not Muslims, control Christian institutions.

Posted by: Greg at 05:31 PM | Comments (20) | Add Comment
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1 Couldn't have said it better myself. Wait a minute, I did http://jibtrim.blogspot.com/2006/01/islamic-group-wants-catholics-to-step.html

Posted by: Jibtrim at Sun Jan 15 17:43:35 2006 (CNjAm)

2 If non-Muslims, not JUST Christians, but ALL non-Muslims, keep giving in to this evil *sect*, we're not going to have a place left to hang our hats...

It's time for the Islamics to learn, it's OK to be Islamic, for them, I won't deny ANYONE their right to THEIR religion, but if they try to force it on ME, I'm gonna give them the opportunity to find out if that *72 virgins* BS is true or not...

Posted by: TexasFred at Sun Jan 15 21:53:26 2006 (qX3iX)

3 Thanks for post this fine example of what happens when state and religion intertwine. If you read carefully, you'll see that this is NOT a "Christian institution", it is a state institution. This is a good example of why I oppose school vouchers, too.

Posted by: Dan at Mon Jan 16 00:38:31 2006 (aSKj6)

4 Where the heck do you get that, Dan -- the article says nothing of the kind. I realize that you are not one to let the facts get in the way of your ideology, but making up stuff like that is pretty outrageous. It is a Catholic institution, not a state one.

And by the way, vouchers would be exactly the solution to this problem -- the Muslim community could go set up the Osama bin Laden Improvised Explosives Academy and the parents could choose -- or not choose -- to use the voucher there, based upon their decision on the values they seek to pass on to their kids.

Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Mon Jan 16 01:15:50 2006 (r/X6b)

5 This is absolutely disgusting. We don't care if they're Muslims, but I wish to heavens they would stop asking us to change who we are to fit their needs!

This is typical liberal caca! "I have a need so YOU have to fill it!"

Idiocy!

BTW - Dan...why do you care if parents use a voucher to send their child to a school that espouses the beliefs of the parents and the child? Does it somehow mean that YOU are forced to go to the school? Does it somehow mean that YOUR CHILDREN are forced to go to the school?

Oh...no...it doesn't?

Then get out of my face.

-Bart

Posted by: Bartleby at Mon Jan 16 02:04:34 2006 (r/FBF)

6 Dan: I read carefully. Where do you get that this is a state institution? Please show us.

Posted by: Hube at Mon Jan 16 02:32:37 2006 (JWx7R)

7 There are two ways to take over a nation. It appears that Islam intends to populate and then take over many nations.
If the Christians and Catholics don't wake up it will be too late to stop them....
This passive turn the other cheek is not going to work.

Posted by: Patty aka Redneck Granny at Mon Jan 16 04:05:49 2006 (RRgls)

8 I attempted to trackback to you but it doesn't show up.
What I said on my own blog is these Muslims talk about good faith and all they are doing is a good old-fashioned land grab with an eye toward desecration. they knew it was a Catholic school when they enrolled. If they don't like the religious training there, they are free to start their own school...period.

Posted by: J Rob at Mon Jan 16 05:24:41 2006 (Ftskz)

9 Here's an article that discusses the issue in the context of St. Albert's being a state-funded school: http://www.sovereignty./siteinfo/newsround/mozz.html
For some reason, the commenting will not allow me to post the link without deleting org dot uk which should follow the period after sovereignty.

Posted by: Dan at Mon Jan 16 07:57:36 2006 (aSKj6)

10 Islamification, bit by bit. The infiltration is insidious. As the number of Muslim immigrants grows, we'll see more of this kind of objecting on the part of Muslims.

And once a school is Muslim, does it tolerate Christianity? Have a look at Saudi.

Thanks, Greg. I hat-tipped you and posted this information at Infidel Bloggers Alliance.

Posted by: Always On Watch at Mon Jan 16 09:26:26 2006 (y6n8O)

11 In other words, it was not in the article I cited at all. You had to go out and find another article, ovr two years old, to cite. And that one doesn't even make the claim that you do -- rather it points out that religious schools can receive funding from the government.

Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Mon Jan 16 11:42:46 2006 (777OA)

12 RWR, don't go having a hissy fit. You didn't know that Scotland has publicly funded religious schools, but I did. That's okay - it doesn't mean I'm better than you or that I'm "cheating" by knowing more. But it's true.

Posted by: Dan at Mon Jan 16 13:23:07 2006 (aSKj6)

13 Actually, i did know -- but it was not relevant to the issue at hand.

And as i point out, there is nothing in my article that says what you claim it does.

The Church controls the school, but the government subsidizes the education of all children, not just those who attend a state-run school. Sounds much more respectful of freedom to me.

Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Mon Jan 16 15:21:39 2006 (4ITUG)

14 You're forgiven for posting a misleading and incomplete article. This time. But don't let it happen again.

Posted by: Dan at Mon Jan 16 16:28:34 2006 (aSKj6)

15 (Kidding, BTW. Of course.)

Posted by: Dan at Mon Jan 16 16:30:28 2006 (aSKj6)

16 Glad you came back with that -- i had a rather sharp response in mind.

Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Mon Jan 16 16:46:33 2006 (Ht3Iz)

17 It would have been richly deserved if I had meant it! If I get to the point where I think I can tell people what they can post on their blogs, feel free to track me down and swat me upside the head.

Posted by: Dan at Mon Jan 16 17:22:00 2006 (aSKj6)

18 On the subject of incomplete information, Dan forgot to mention Scotland's church tax. There is a Church of Scotland, over here we know it as Presbyterian. Revenues from the church tax go to the Church of Scotland. Same is true with England and the Church of England. In all likelihood, the subsidies Dan referred to are part of a leveling out of the playing field.In other words, schools that religious receive the subsidies are no more "state run" than the mom-and-pop farm over here who receives a farm subsidy are state farms. No more than Notre Dame is a government school because it admits students receiving federal aid or on the GI Bill.
I am sure the omission of that information was just an oversight.

Posted by: J Rob at Tue Jan 17 00:00:17 2006 (Ftskz)

19 J Rob -

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but, as I understand it, "church schools" in Scotland are funded by the government, and under the control of the local authorities, though they are allowed to select teachers based on religion, and are allowed to have religious services and unpaid religious instructors. I'll admit it's been a couple years since I've looked at this in any detail, but it's not at all like a family farm or Notre Dame, unless both were under the control of the state.

Posted by: Dan at Tue Jan 17 00:37:58 2006 (aSKj6)

20 That all depends. What you describe is government control, not "public funding". From what I have been able to find they provide funding but have limited control as Scotland has no national curriculum.
By the way, a number of MP's in the Labor Party have been calling for an end to that funding at least since 2004.
http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=27859
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Industry_insights/Education/As_it_is/p!emklid

That said, I think my analogy is valid, or at least as valid as your claim that the Catholic schools are government controlled.

Posted by: J Rob at Tue Jan 17 16:03:19 2006 (Ftskz)

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The latest Justice Sunday was sharply criticized by the advocates of a strict separation of church and state on the American Left. They have sued over Intelligent Design, have demanded that the Ten Commandments come down and insisted that "under God" be stripped from the Pledge of Allegiance. They have demonized Falwell and Dobson, and have a history of going after any religious leader who dares to speak on political issues.

So why the silence on this intrusion of religious leaders into public policy issues? Could it be that their alleged "principles" don't extend to include religious leaders who urge LIBERAL positions.

Declaring that the United States was at a crossroads in Iraq, the nation's Roman Catholic bishops said Thursday the time had come to withdraw U.S. troops as fast as responsibly possible and to hand control of the country to Iraqis.

"Our nation's military forces should remain in Iraq only as long as it takes for a responsible transition, leaving sooner than later," said Bishop Thomas G. Wenski of Orlando, Fla., speaking for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Wenski, chairman of the bishops Committee on International Policy, said recent statements by the Bush administration that troop levels would be reduced were not enough. He said the U.S. must send an unmistakable signal that the goal was not to occupy Iraq "for an indeterminate period," but to help Iraqis assume full control of their government.

The eight-page statement, in the works for months and delivered to the White House and members of Congress on Thursday, was candid in its assessment of the war, which U.S. bishops and the late pope, John Paul II, had opposed from the start.

Now I've checked the homepage for Americans United For Separation of Church and State and found nary a mention of this statement on Iraq. American Atheists is also silent, though they have plenty to say on Abramoff. I cannot find a mention at the Freedom From Religion Foundation. The ACLU trashes Judge Alito but not the bishops. Dito the anti-religion activists at People For the American Way. I wonder why they are all "silent as a church mouse" on the issue.

I think we all know what would have happened if, for example, the Southern Baptist leadership had issued a statement supporting the war. And we remember what happened when some bishops acted to stop the sacrilege of John Kerry receiving communion.

But since this statement coincides with the opinions of the Leftist elite, they'll let this one slide.

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Sometimes there needs to be a little common sense exercised when it comes to free exercise of religion. After all, that right is guaranteed under the First Amendment -- and is a basic human right.

That's why I am glad to see that Wayne State University is going to change its policies to protect the religious rights of Sikhs.

Wayne State University is reviewing its public safety policies after a Detroit judge ruled a Sikh student shouldn't have been arrested on campus for carrying a 10-inch knife, known as a kirpan.

Sukhpreet Singh Garcha, a 23-year-old senior and a baptized Sikh, was arrested in August by campus police for carrying the knife on his hip and another 5-inch knife concealed in his waistband. Garcha was charged with violating the city's knife ordinance, which prohibits carrying knives with blades longer than 3 inches.

Garcha said carrying the knife was necessary under Sikhism, a monotheistic religion founded in India. The smaller knife was worn in case the other had to be removed.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the religious group United Sikhs protested Garcha's arrest, saying the kirpan isn't a weapon, but rather an ornamental article of faith that baptized Sikhs must wear at all times.

Bravo to the ACLU for taking this case, and to Judge Rudy Serra of the 36th District Court for making the ruling that the city ordinance cannot restrict the wearing of this item of great religious significance.

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As I point out on a regular basis, such an attack on the religious symbols or display of another religious faith would bring the harshest response from community activists and the mavens of tolerance. Why do I suspect that there will be no such outcry in this case -- and probably even smug satisfaction on the part of those individuals, who are usually worshippers at the altar of "choice".

About 600 crosses memorializing aborted fetuses were pulled from ground at the Catholic Life Center and thrown into bushes and onto a parking lot overnight Sunday, church officials said.

Twenty of the crosses were broken, said Sgt. Don Kelly, a spokesman for the Baton Rouge Police Department. Kelly said police are investigating the incident.

Volunteers with the Knights of Columbus and Louisiana Right to Life put up about 800 crosses Saturday at the Catholic Life Center at 1800 S. Acadian Thruway in preparation for the BishopÂ’s Life Rally scheduled Jan. 15.

Each year the church puts up the display of crosses, said Julie Orr, Respect for Life coordinator for the Marriage and Family Department of the Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge.

“We generally leave the crosses up all month as a reminder of the day, Jan. 22, 1973, that Roe v. Wade was enacted,” Orr said.

The BishopÂ’s Life Rally will be from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. Jan. 15.

Shame on the vandals. And when they are caught, throw the book at them, including maximum enhancement for committing a hate crime.

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I think this one speaks for itself.

An Egyptian cleric's controversial fatwa claiming that nudity during sexual intercourse invalidates a marriage has uncovered a rift among Islamic scholars.

According to the religious edict issued by Rashad Hassan Khalil, a former dean of Al-Azhar University's faculty of Sharia (or Islamic law), "being completely naked during the act of coitus annuls the marriage".

UhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhÂ… yeah. One more reason not to join the Cult of Muhammad.

Not that everyone agrees on this one.

The religious decree sparked a hot debate on the private satellite network Dream's popular religious talk show and on the front page of today's Al-Masri Al-Yom, Egypt's leading independent daily newspaper.

Suad Saleh, who heads the women's department of Al-Azhar's Islamic studies faculty, pleaded for "anything that can bring spouses closer to each other" and rejected the claim that nudity during intercourse could invalidate a union.

During the live televised debate, Islamic scholar Abdel Muti dismissed the fatwa: "Nothing is prohibited during marital sex, except of course sodomy."

That is reserved for little boys, prisoners, goats, and camels.

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Or is atheism mental illness?

That is my question after reading a synopsis of a program being run by the taxpayer-funded BBC in England, hosted by "scientist" Richard Dawkins.

CONTROVERSIAL scientist Richard Dawkins will assert tomorrow evening that religion is a “virus” that amounts to child abuse.

The new two-part series, to be shown on Channel 4, will compare Moses to Hitler and claim that God is racist. It will also argue that religion is a “backward belief system” responsible for terrorism.

The controversial films, which were produced by IWC creative director Alan Clements and written by Dawkins, are a polemic against faith and a stout defence of science.

Entitled The Root Of All Evil, the series shows Dawkins visiting theological hot-spots in Lourdes, Colorado Springs, the al-Axa mosque and an English faith school. In each case the presenter, who is an atheist, attempts to show that religion is an “elephant in the room” trying to subvert reason.

In the first film, The God Delusion, Dawkins claims that Lourdes, a Catholic pilgrimage destination in France, symbolises a belief system based on “delusion”. “If you want to experience the mediaeval rituals of faith, the candle light, the incense, music, important-sounding dead languages, nobody does it better than the Catholics,” he says.

Dawkins then travels to the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, where he hits out at the influence of “Christian fascism” and “an American Taliban”.

This is followed by an interview with Yousef al-Khattab, an American-born Jew turned fundamentalist Muslim, who clashes with Dawkins after saying he hates atheists.

So what we get here are hate-filled rhetoric, generalization from a handful of examples, and caustic ridicule of people who dare disagree with this so-called scientist who excludes the positive data about religion from his study and conclusion.

And then there is the second half of this atheistic "Mein Kampf".

In the second film, The Virus of Faith, Dawkins turns his attention to the effect he believes religion has on young people. “Innocent children are being saddled with demonstrable falsehoods,” he says.

More controversially, he states “sectarian religious schools” have been “deeply damaging” to generations of children. “It’s time to question the abuse of childhood innocence with superstitious ideas of hellfire and damnation ,” he says. “Isn’t it weird the way we automatically label a tiny child with its parents’ religion?”

Dawkins also questions the fundamental tenets of Christianity. On the idea of a spiritual creator, he says: “The God of the Old Testament has got to be the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous, and proud of it, petty, vindictive, unjust, unforgiving, racist.”

The author of The Selfish Gene then criticises Abraham, compares Moses to Hitler and Saddam Hussein, before calling the New Testament “St Paul’s nasty, sado-masochistic doctrine of atonement for original sin”.

Yeah, that sure sounds like an objective look at religion.

And yet somehow this man is taken seriously in the intelligent design/blind evolution debate. If his work here is any indication, he is clearly incapable of engaging in neutral, objective study of anything -- and is motivated by a blind, unreasoning faith that his ideology is correct.

It seems to me that passing this ideology along to children would be every bit as abusive as raising them a Nazi, Kluxer, or an Islamist. And it seems that Dawkins has a worldview that is pathological -- indeed, that is so xenophobic as to constitute a mental illness.

MORE AT: Boys Wear Pants, All Things Beautiful, The Paragraph Farmer

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Later this year, in Turkey.

The spiritual leader of the world's 200 million-plus Orthodox Christians said Thursday that he is eager to meet with Pope Benedict XVI sometime in the coming year in an effort to heal the long-standing rift between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches.

Visiting this heavily Greek community northwest of Tampa for the annual Feast of the Epiphany celebration, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I told reporters that the pope plans an official visit sometime this year to his headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey.

"We are in very good relationships with the present pope, Benedict XVI, and I'm in the very happy position to announce to you that we are going to restart the dialogue on the international global level between the Orthodox church and the Roman Catholic church," Bartholomew said in Greek through an interpreter, Archbishop Demetrios, who is primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America.

The last official talks between the two churches five years ago broke off without an agreement on theological issues that have divided them for almost 1,000 years.

Bartholomew had received a warm reception from the Vatican after inviting the pope to Turkey for the Feast of St. Andrew in November. But they were subtly rebuffed when the government of 99 percent Muslim Turkey, instead of approving the visit, issued its own invitation to Benedict for an unspecified date in 2006.

Because Benedict is also the head of state of the Vatican, any visit to Turkey would need to be coordinated with the Turkish government.

Bartholomew said Thursday that "within this year that has already begun, the new pope is going to visit officially the ecumenical patriarchy."

May this meeting heal the rift that divides the most ancient seats of the Christian faith.

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Nah -- they were just bored. So even though the engaged in an assault on the religious symbols, beliefs and sentiments of the community, they will only get lesser charges.

Four teenagers charged yesterday in the destruction of a 15-foot crucifix at a borough cemetery and the theft of more than 25 infant Jesus figures from manger scenes "wanted to see the baby Jesuses burn," police said.

Police were still digging for information yesterday, but two of the suspects told them they did it out of boredom.

"They were looking for things to do. They told us, "We were going to have a baby-Jesus-burning party,' " said Detective Ken Kelly of the Sayreville Police Department. "The reason they picked (the Jesus figures) was because they looked real."

He recalled another statement by one of the suspects: "We just wanted to see their heads burning."

Nope, no hate there.

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Police are investigating this act of vandalism against a controversial Catholic religious community.

A religious order's plans to build a community in rural McHenry County were greeted with heated opposition from neighbors before approval was granted last summer.

But even they were shocked by what vandals did to statues of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary at the Fraternite Notre Dame monastery on New Year's Eve.

Someone spray-painted "Killer," "KKK," "666," "Go away" and "Leave" on the figures. They wrote an obscene message in snow at the base of one statue and stole an American flag.

"It breaks our heart," Sister Mary Valerie said Monday. She is one of a half-dozen priests and nuns who moved into the monastery on the 65-acre site near Marengo last August.

But please notice the downplaying of the incident – whereas if this had been a mosque or synagogue we would be reading about FBI involvement and probable hate crime charges. The same would be true if such vandalism happened at a black church

Bu since this is only an assault on white Christians, I guess it just doesn’t merit such serious treatment.

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Police are investigating this act of vandalism against a controversial Catholic religious community.

A religious order's plans to build a community in rural McHenry County were greeted with heated opposition from neighbors before approval was granted last summer.

But even they were shocked by what vandals did to statues of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary at the Fraternite Notre Dame monastery on New Year's Eve.

Someone spray-painted "Killer," "KKK," "666," "Go away" and "Leave" on the figures. They wrote an obscene message in snow at the base of one statue and stole an American flag.

"It breaks our heart," Sister Mary Valerie said Monday. She is one of a half-dozen priests and nuns who moved into the monastery on the 65-acre site near Marengo last August.

But please notice the downplaying of the incident – whereas if this had been a mosque or synagogue we would be reading about FBI involvement and probable hate crime charges. The same would be true if such vandalism happened at a black church

Bu since this is only an assault on white Christians, I guess it just doesnÂ’t merit such serious treatment.

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Are we Western infidels supposed to close our eyes while young girls are beaten and abused to force them into unwanted arranged marriages?

DERBY, England -- Lina, a wide-eyed 18-year-old, is still trying to get the hang of freedom in 3-inch heels.

Until a month ago, Lina had never worn Western clothing. Her parents, immigrants from Pakistan, insisted she wear the jilbab, a head-to-toe covering favored by conservative Muslims.

When she turned 16, her parents informed her that she was "engaged" to her first cousin, a 21-year-old man she detested. When she balked, she said, her parents withdrew her from school and locked her in her room, where they told her she would remain until she consented.

"They put two padlocks on the door and they locked the windows," she said. They also installed spikes along the top of the backyard fence so she couldn't climb over.

Lina's imprisonment lasted nearly two years. The only time she was allowed out of her room was to do housework. There were frequent beatings, she said, and endless mental cruelties.

"My mom threatened me with a knife. They also cut my hair off."

One day, Lina saw an article in a women's magazine about a shelter in Derby for women who were victims of forced marriage. She called, and Jasvinder Sanghera, who runs the shelter, helped her plan an escape.

Lina's story is not unusual. Each year, hundreds of South Asian women living in Britain are forced into marriages. It is a growing problem that authorities have only recently begun to tackle.

This is not new, and happens all the time in the United States. I remember a classmate in college, an attractive Muslim girl who was born and raised in this country, facing a similar situation. After semester break, she simply did not come back to school. Some months later I ran into her again, working as a desk clerk at a local motel. She told me that her family had taken her to visit her father’s brother in Central America. She though nothing of allowing her father to carry her passport and tickets, and he always handled the money. When she arrived at the family home, she was informed that it was agreed she would marry her cousin and stay behind. When she refused, she was marooned by her parents in a foreign country with instructions to marry her cousin if she wished to ever see the United States again. Fortunately, the American Embassy was able to help her get home – but her parent’s refusal to allow her to retrieve any belongings from the house meant she had to drop out of school and take the hotel job.

There must be some way to stop such traffic in unwilling brides – in the western world, if not in countries where such barbaric customs remain.

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