I've not written about what appears to be the organized, ritual abuse of young girls by the FDLS cult near San Angelo and in other parts of the country. My horror at the stories of sexual abuse knows no bounds -- but I have more questions than answers on the story, and so I have held back from commenting.

That said, I've got a problem with this detail released by Texas officials -- I find it unreasonably prejudicial and not particularly illuminating.

Although Cockerell didn’t elaborate on the broken bones, a report by his department’s Child Protective Services division said medical exams and interviews indicated “that at least 41 children have had broken bones in the past.”

“We do not have X-rays or complete medical information on many children so it is too early to draw any conclusions based on this information, but it is cause for concern and something we’ll continue to examine,” the CPS report said.

Maybe i'm nuts, but 41 kids out of 464 with broken bones AT SOME POINT in their childhood doesn't seem all that outrageous to me. It is less than 10%, which would probably be about the rate my classmates and I suffered growing up. Heck, I can remember one summer in which one of my closest friends fractured his skull when fell riding up a steep hill on his bicycle and another broke her arm falling out of a tree in her yard -- and there weren't 20 school-aged kids on our street. The raw statistics on the broken bones tell us nothing -- and until we learn more about the types of breaks and possible causes, we can't no that these 41 broken bones really mean anything. CPS should have waited to disclose the information until they could determine more conclusively whether these injuries were from normal childhhood accidents or from abuse.

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A Torah survived the camp at Auschwitz due to the dedication of the doomed Jews of Oswiecim.

It is the story of a sexton in the synagogue in the Polish city of Oswiecim who buried most of the sacred scroll before the Germans stormed in and later renamed the city Auschwitz. It is the story of Jewish prisoners who sneaked the rest of it — four carefully chosen panels — into the concentration camp.

It is the story of a Polish Catholic priest to whom they entrusted the four panels before their deaths. It is the story of a Maryland rabbi who went looking for it with a metal detector. And it is the story of how a hunch by the rabbiÂ’s 13-year-old son helped lead him to it.

This Torah, more than most, “is such an extraordinary symbol of rebirth,” said Peter J. Rubinstein, the rabbi of Central Synagogue. “As one who has gone to the camps and assimilates into my being the horror of the Holocaust, this gives meaning to Jewish survival.”

If you want a story of faith and devotion in the face of absolute evil, this is it. If you want a story of dedication to the sacred that will put a lump in your throat, here it is. And if you want the story of a mystery solved after decades, this is the story for you.

May it inspire you as the words of the Torah inspired those faithful Jews who were responsible for safeguarding it even when they could not safeguard their own lives.

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Yesterday I commented on a situation in New York – today I am drawn to London.

“Stop being crusader.”

That was the directive of British police to a Christian convert from Islam in the UK. His unacceptable conduct? Seeking police intervention after his life was threatened and a vacant house next to his was burned. Rather than protect his fundamental human rights, the police lamed the victim and suggested that he move to a new neighborhood.

A British citizen who converted to Christianity from Islam and then complained to police when locals threatened to burn his house down was told by officers to “stop being a crusader”, according to a new report.

Nissar Hussein, 43, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, who was born and raised in Britain, converted from Islam to Christianity with his wife, Qubra, in 1996. The report says that he was subjected to a number of attacks and, after being told that his house would be burnt down if he did not repent and return to Islam, reported the threat to the police. It says he was told that such threats were rarely carried out and the police officer told him to “stop being a crusader and move to another place”. A few days later the unoccupied house next door was set on fire.

Shocking – but not surprising any more.

Sadly, this happened in the kand that gave birth to any of the concepts that undergird out notion of unalienable rights. Today a higher value is placed upon not offending Muslim sensisbilities than upon the human rights of the rest of society.

And I cannot help but be struck by the word choice of the directive by the police.

"Crusader."

That is the word of choice for Islamists in justifying their attacks upon the civilized world. We are “crusaders” when they fly airplanes into buildings, “crusaders” when they set IEDs to maim and kill our soldiers, “crusaders’ when they behead their hostages in the name of Allah. For the police to dare to use that word to describe a victim of Islamist threats is disgusting.

And let us be clear – now they are threatening us with violence and death in our own cities for the crime of worshipping the one who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life instead of following Muhammad’s path of darkness. But somehow we who acknowledge this conflict is based upon the fundamental incompatibility of Islam with Western Civilization are presented as the bad buys by those who claim to be forces of tolerance.

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Are the authorities in New York City aware that a religious group is unlawfully abducting citizens from public streets and holding them hostage for engaging in legal activity? And would anyone care to guess the “peaceful religion” engaged in this activity?

Don’t snap a photo of the Masjid At-Taqwa in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn unless you want to be hauled away by a group of angry Muslims in Islamic attire to the basement of the facility where a group of twenty “security guards” in karate suits will interrogate you.
This might sound preposterous.

But it happened on Saturday, April 24, at 3:00 in the afternoon.

Ali Kareem, the head of security for Siraj WahajÂ’s mosque, conducted the grilling. A small, muscular man with a wispy black beard that has been dyed red with henna, Kareem demanded to know the reason why a trio of kafirs had dared to photograph the building on a public street without securing his permission.

He further insisted on securing our identities and obtaining our motives for such a violation of Islamic space.

Being surrounded by a group of militant guards in a mosque basement from which there is no means of escape is not a comforting place to be for a Wall Street financier.

We tried to explain that we found the neighborhood with its halal meat vendors and food stores; Islamic dress shops, featuring the latest styles in burqas and hijabs; Muslim souvenir outlets, replete with bumper stickers stating “Don’t Be Caught Dead Without Islam”; and Middle Eastern restaurants offering a variety of goat dishes to be rather quaint and interesting.

This explanation was not sufficient.

Kareem was impatient and did not want a detailed explanation of the reason for our excursion (simple sight-seeing) or a graphic account of the sights we had seen and photographed.

“I ask the questions here,” he said, “and you provide the answers.”

Realizing that we were in a bit of a pickle, my companion explained that we were interested in various religions and knew Siraj Wahaj, the imam of the mosque, was a prominent Muslim figure whom we would like to interview for a news outlet.

This didnÂ’t work too well since we could not produce a business card from a wacko blog, let alone credentials from a national publication.

At last, we blurted out that we were admirers of Islam and the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings Be Upon Him) and wanted to obtain information about conversion. We were even knowledgeable enough to blurt out “Salaam” and “Allahu akbar.”

The last utterance seemed to be the “Open Sesame” that got us out of the basement and back to Bedford Street, where we managed to take a picture of the mosque before hailing a cab and making a getaway.

The experience was disconcerting. Surely, anyone who takes a picture of St. PatrickÂ’s Cathedral or the Riverside Church is not hauled off to a basement for questioning by a threatening figure in a karate uniform and a band of Ninjas.

What we have here is CRIMINAL ACTIVITY being conducted by representatives/employees of the mosque in question. Being that this is the United States, any person of any religion is permitted to be on a public sidewalk in any neighborhood. They are even permitted to take photographs on a public street under virtually all circumstances.

But apparently the folks of Masjid At-Taqwa don’t think that they are in America – or that the rights of citizens in this country rank somewhere below their Islamic sensibilities. After all, what legal authority did Ali Kareem and his band of 20 kidnappers have to detain Bos Smith and Paul Williams? What legal authority did they have to question them, demanding identification and the justification for their legal actions on a city street? Could you imagine the outrage if a local synagogue or church did this to a group of Muslims or ethnic minorities? The forces of tolerance and multi-culturalism would be waxing hysterical about the hate crime that had been committed!

I appreciate Smith and Williams being willing to document this crime. I’d like to encourage them to report the offenses in question to the New York Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation – and to take their story to the local and national media.

After all, a bias crime is a bias crime, isnÂ’t it?

H/T Jawa Report

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Talk about a guy with an inflated opinion of himself!

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright says criticism surrounding his fiery sermons is an attack on the black church.

Barack Obama's longtime pastor says he hopes the controversy will have a positive outcome and spark an honest dialogue about race in America. Wright says black church traditions are still "invisible" to many Americans, as they have been throughout the country's history.

Excuse me, but IÂ’d like to take issue with the contention that criticism of Wright constitutes an attack on the African-American religious tradition.

Unless, of course, the African-American religious tradition is built upon lies and hatred.

Like claims that the government invented AIDS to wipe out black people (he implicitly reaffirmed his support for that patently false theory today) and supplied drugs to the ghetto as a means of keeping the black man down.

Like such deep contempt for one’s country that shouts of “God Damn America” are mainstream and claims that America and the Klan are one and the same.

Wright claims to be quoted out of context, and from only one or two sermons. Yet Trinity UCC took down all links to his sermons, and quit selling all of them through their bookstore, as soon as these “out of context” excerpts became controversial. Why? What more is there to hide? Why not make them more widely available. To prove the “attacks” are scurrilous in nature?

And then there is the association with “black liberation theology” (a topic I was introduced to 15-20 years ago during my seminary days), a controversial school of thought that goes beyond merely interpreting the Christian faith from a black perspective and instead teaches something else. Today Wright embraced both the theology and its originator in their entirety.

But what does that theological construct teach? That whites are intrinsically racist and evil and that “whiteness” must be rejected and destroyed. It is, indeed, a separatist creed every bit as much as the racist ideology of Christian Identity – and as such needs to be equally rejected by Christians who accept Paul’s declaration in Galatians 3:28.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (NKJV)

Now Jeremiah Wright is perfectly welcome to claim to be a Christian while rejecting the clear voice of Scripture by embracing Black Liberation Theology – but those of us who cling to the Bible and our faith are also entitled to critique the theological construct that he preaches from his pulpit. After all, Wright does not have a corner on what it means to be a Christian, nor does he have the exclusive franchise on calling for repentance and returning to fidelity to Christ.

To the degree that our doing so means repeating over and over again that there are elements of Black Liberation Theology that are fundamentally at odds with Scripture, then we must say that and that its purveyors are false teachers who tickle the ears of their hearers with false doctrine – and if saying it constitutes, as Wright claims, an attack on the black church, then such an attack is our duty as Christians. But the reality is that Wright, Cone, and other Black Liberation theologians are not the black church -- and that today's claim by Wright is nothing more than the playing of the race card by one more hate-mongering race-baiter of the Jackson-Sharpton-Farrakhan school orf racial division..

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I’ve never been a fan of the specialty license plates that so many states offer. I didn’t like it when alumni associations began selling them. I was disturbed when sports teams and special events got to market them. And all of the “special funds” that benefit just seem to be a bit silly.

But this one disturbs me in a special way.

Florida drivers can order more than 100 specialty license plates celebrating everything from manatees to the Miami Heat, but one now under consideration would be the first in the nation to explicitly promote a specific religion.

The Florida Legislature is considering a specialty plate with a design that includes a Christian cross, a stained-glass window and the words "I Believe."

Rep. Edward Bullard, the plate's sponsor, said people who "believe in their college or university" or "believe in their football team" already have license plates they can buy. The new design is a chance for others to put a tag on their cars with "something they believe in," he said.

If the plate is approved, Florida would become the first state to have a license plate featuring a religious symbol that's not part of a college logo. Approval would almost certainly face a court challenge.

The problem with the state manufacturing the plate is that it "sends a message that Florida is essentially a Christian state" and, second, gives the "appearance that the state is endorsing a particular religious preference," said Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.

Now I don’t necessarily agree with the reasoning behind the ACLU’s opposition – but I agree with their opposition. There is just no need to put a crosses and stained glass on a license plate to display your faith.

Get a bumper sticker. Put a couple of the silver “fish” logos on your trunk. Have the vehicle painted up like the Sistine Chapel for all I care. Just not this.

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This will certainly not do any good in healing the divisions within the Episcopal Church -- or the worldwide Anglican community.

Bishop Gene Robinson, the openly gay Episcopal prelate whose consecration led conservatives to split from the church, said in an interview on Thursday that he and his partner of 20 years were planning a civil union ceremony to be held in his home church in the diocese of New Hampshire in June.

Bishop Robinson said that by scheduling the ceremony for June, he did not intend to further inflame conservatives just before the Anglican Communion gathers in August in Cambridge, England, for the Lambeth Conference, which happens only once every 10 years.

He planned his civil union for June, he said, because he wanted to provide some legal protection to his partner and his children before he left for England for the conference. Bishop Robinson has received death threats, and he wore a bulletproof vest under his vestments at his consecration in 2003.

“We could have, I suppose, just gone to the town clerk and had that signed,” he said, “but, you know, I’m a religious person, and every major event in my life has been marked with some kind of liturgy and giving thanks to God.”

Robinson, whose selection as bishop despite living in flagrant disregard of biblical standards of morality, has been a key flash-point in the conflict between traditionalists and modernists within Anglicanism -- to the point that the Archbishop of Canterbury excluded Robinson from the gathering of Anglican bishops this summer. This deliberately provocative move on Robinson's part -- having what amounts to a gay marriage ceremony in one of his churches -- will only serve to bring that issue to a head. It certainly serves a a sign that the Episcopal Church is out of step with the overwhelming consensus of worldwide Anglicanism. Will it be the cause of the final separation of the two?

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Remember -- religious tolerance only runs one way when it comes to Islam.

Muslims converting to Christianity is a thorny issue almost anywhere in the world, but recently U.K. media attention has focused in on the persecution of former Muslims not in foreign land but in its own backyard.

Former Muslims who convert to Christianity are threatened with disownment and violence at the hands of their own family members – much like in parts of the Middle East. But the difference is these families don’t reside in a theocratic society, but in a western country that upholds religious freedom – including the right to convert to another faith.

BBC, U.K.Â’s leading news network, featured several stories and programs in recent months devoted to the issue of persecution of Christian converts from Islam. In its latest feature on Monday, it highlighted real cases of England-based Muslims who convert to Christianity and the consequences that follow.

Sophia (not her real name) is from a Pakistani background but lives in east London. Her family has put extreme pressure on her to return to Islam since she converted to Christianity.

“They kept saying, ‘The punishment is death, do you know the punishment is death?” she recalled to BBC.

She ended up running away from home, but her mother found her and showed up at her baptism.

“I got up to get baptized, that’s when my mother got up, ran to the front and tried to pull me out of the water,” Sophia said.

“My brother was really angry. He reacted and phoned me on my mobile and just said, ‘I’m coming down to burn that church,’” she remembered.

Physical assault -- threats of arson and murder. Not in one of the third world backwaters that constitutes the bulk of the Islamic world, but in a civilized country like Great Britain.

I'd love to know -- were Sophia's family members charged or convicted over any of these offenses? After all, terroristic threats and the assault during her baptism are crimes. Or do Muslims get a pass when these are directed against someone who leaves the falsehood of Islam for the truth of Christianity?

But in the end, the answer to that question is not nearly so relevant as the truth revealed by Sophia's story. Religious persecution of Christians continues today -- outside the Christian world and within it -- and it is incumbent upon us to pray for those who take fearlessly take that step into the light of Christ.

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Starting with how we all tell time and measure our position on the planet.

Muslim scientists and clerics have called for the adoption of Mecca time to replace GMT, arguing that the Saudi city is the true centre of the Earth.

Mecca is the direction all Muslims face when they perform their daily prayers.

The call was issued at a conference held in the Gulf state of Qatar under the title: Mecca, the Centre of the Earth, Theory and Practice.

And we then get some of the most absurd claims -- Mecca is the only place on earth perfectly aligned with true north, and that all scientific truths are contained in the Qu'ran. Oh, yeah -- there was the obligatory swipe at Western imperialism because the British (who perfected the method of measuring longitude) for setting the prime meridian through their country and imposing it on the rest of the world.

So instead Islam once again seeks to impose itself on the rest of the world instead.

Setting aside the arrogance of the claims and demands put forward at the conference, there is no need to make the change. The prime meridian is an arbitrary concept, and making the change demanded would be every bit as expensive as it is silly.

But that such a demand would be made is one more sign of Islam's ultimate goal of imposing itself on the rest of the world -- whether we want it or not.

H/T Malkin, Snapped Shot

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Gee -- they made arrangements for people to be able to eat in before the papal mass at Yankee Stadium.

Can I get fries with that Mass?

One of the oddest sites inside the grungy concourses at Yankee Stadium was the long concession stand lines of priests and nuns, teenagers and adults waiting to buy chicken fingers, French fries, soda, hot chocolate, popcorn and hotdogs before Mass.

Just imagine how she would have responded to the site at World Youth Day in Denver back in 1993 -- McDonald's was the official food supplier for the event, and had booths set up all around the site of the final mass by Pope John Paul II. Those of us there were making purchases of food and water while we were there -- for some 18 hours before the mass began.

Of course, we did camp out overnight at the mass site, too.

But then again, maybe Jessica Fargen was expecting Benedict CVI to perform a repeat of the miracle of the loaves and fishes.

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Seems that some Muslims are still stewing over the pontiff's decision to use an apropos quote about Islam in a speech in 2006 -- and don't seem very willing to consider that the problem is their's not Pope Benedict's.

At the time, the pope’s remarks prompted violence and expressions of outrage from Muslims abroad. Reactions in the United States were muted, but many Muslims today — even those closely connected to a Roman Catholic institution — remain troubled by the remarks. Their feelings are often complicated, a mixture of respect for the church and wariness about this pope, who will meet with Muslim and other religious leaders in Washington on Thursday.

While many say they continue to feel welcome at Catholic schools and hospitals, the popeÂ’s speech has left an indelible, often negative impression.

“It reflects on him as an intolerant person at that moment,” said Dr. Yusuf Mamdani of Englewood Cliffs, N.J., who is affiliated with St. Vincent’s Hospital Manhattan. “The pope should be beyond these things. I believe a person should respect me.”

Sorry, Dr. Mamdani, but you've got it dead wrong.

The role of the pope is to speak the truth of the Christian faith. He did that, even if that truth makes you uncomfortable.

And if you want to talk about indelible negative impressions, there is a hole in the ground in New York City that I'd like to call your attention to -- as well as a host of other terrorist-related artifacts -- that have left an indelible negative impression of Islam in a way much more striking than the Holy Father's use of an old quote.

And let's remind everybody exactly what was said.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

Seems to me that this is a legitimate point of view for those of us who reject Islam as a religious innovation not inspired by God.

To the degree that the false scriptures of the false prophet Muhammad lifted long-venerated teachings of Judaism and Christianity and incorporated them into his new faith, there is good contained in Islam. To the degree that Muhammad taught conquest by the sword and violence against non-Muslims, his teachings were undeniably evil and inhuman -- and are indeed properly labeled as Satanic.

Unless, of course, you want to praise 9/11, car bombs, and suicide vests.

In which case we really have nothing further to talk about.

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As the imam preaches a typical sermon of love, peace and tolerance to the followers of the Religion of Peace.

Following are excerpts from an address by Hamas MP and cleric Yunis Al-Astal, which aired on Al-Aqsa TV on April 11, 2008.

Yunis Al-Astal: Allah has chosen you for Himself and for His religion, so that you will serve as the engine pulling this nation to the phase of succession, security, and consolidation of power, and even to conquests thorough da'wa and military conquests of the capitals of the entire world. Very soon, Allah willing, Rome will be conquered, just like Constantinople was, as was prophesized by our Prophet Muhammad. Today, Rome is the capital of the Catholics, or the Crusader capital, which has declared its hostility to Islam, and has planted the brothers of apes and pigs in Palestine in order to prevent the reawakening of Islam – this capital of theirs will be an advanced post for the Islamic conquests, which will spread through Europe in its entirety, and then will turn to the two Americas, and even Eastern Europe.

I believe that our children or our grandchildren will inherit our Jihad and our sacrifices, and Allah willing, the commanders of the conquest will come from among them. Today, we instill these good tidings in their souls, and by means of the mosques and the Koran books, and the history of our Prophets, his companions, and the great leaders, we prepare them for the mission of saving humanity from the hellfire on the brink of which they stand.

And let me remind you about the conquest of Constantinople. The many people sold into slavery -- men, women, and children. The churches, including the beautiful Hagia Sophia, desecrated and turned into mosques. The second-class citizenship imposed upon non-Muslims. All in the name of the same Religion of Peace preached by this latter-day jihadi.

When will we in the West declare that the threats and violence in the name of Islam must stop? When will we declare that further attacks upon the civilized world in the name of Islam will result in massive retaliation in response? In other words, when will we finally open our eyes and recognize that we are fighting a war unlike any we have fought in modern times, against an enemy that will not respond to our normal overtures for peace? If we do not win, we in the civilized world will die or (in the words of Star Trek's Borg) be assimilated. The survival of civilization as we know it depends upon our victory.

H/T Jawa Report, Israel Matzav

UPDATE -- 4/142008, 6;25 CDT: Looks like maybe this effort is beginning.

ISN Security Watch reports: "Bosnia and Herzegovina's Federation Anti-Terror Unit on 20 March arrested five men: Rijad Rustempasic, Muhamed Meco, Abdulah Handzic and Edis Velic, all in their early thirties and from Sarajevo, along with Muhamed Ficer, from the central Bosnian city of Bugojno, who was released from custody after questioning.

"The four arrested in Sarajevo were members of the local Wahhabi movement -- the Saudi-based and financed order following a strict interpretation of Islam. Some of the suspects were already well known to the police for their radical activities. The group had been under surveillance for several months by the Federation Anti-Terror Unit and the State Prosecutor's Office.

"Federation Anti-Terror Unit and the State Prosecutor's Office have strong evidence that Rustempasic's group was planning attacks on Catholic Churches and international forces within the country during the Easter holidays." (LINK 1)

The ISN report includes several details that are hugely important:

the suspects were very well armed, having "anti-tank mines, laser sights, electronic equipment, topographic maps and bomb-making manuals".

Gotta love the the boys from the Religion of Blow Your Enemies to Pieces.

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And so tolerant!

A primary school in Amsterdam wished to provide its pupils with an understanding for other cultures. But during a visit to a mosque, the children were told they were dogs.

With a view to developing understanding and respect for other cultures among children, primary school De Horizon regularly organises outings to various religious organisations. The chairman of the El Mouchidine mosque told the children from group 7 (aged 10) and their chaperones however that non-Muslims are dogs.

In a letter to the children's parents, the school expresses its regret at the incident: "We are shocked that during the guided tour, the mosque's chairman told the children and chaperoning parents that non believers were dogs. We consider this statement as unacceptable since we allow our children to partake in this project to develop respect for freedom of religious choice".

I have regularly stated that most Muslims are wonderful, decent people.

I have also stated that some, on the other hand, are nothing more than Islamist swine.

I think it is pretty clear which sort are in charge at the El Mouchidine mosque in Amsterdam.

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IÂ’d encourage he Pope to make sure that he has plenty of bodyguards when he has that interreligious dialogue with Muslims at the Vatican.

Otherwise he might have a problem with an incident like this one.

KARACHI: Dozens of Muslim workers at a factory in Karachi beat to death a Hindu colleague on Tuesday for alleged blasphemy, officials said.

Jagdish Kumar, 25, was tortured and killed at the garments factory after a debate on religion became heated, police and hospital officials said.

“About 1,500 workers at the factory in the Korangi industrial area beat to death the Hindu worker over [allegations of] blasphemy,” police superintendent Farrukh Bashir said.

And of course, we all know that the appropriate response to someone challenging your religious beliefs is to torture and kill them.

So be careful, anyone who tries to have a debate or discussion with Muslims – you could really lose your head if they lose theirs!

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Whatever theological, cultural and political issues I may have with Islam, I can never countenance the desecration of the graves of war heroes.

Vandals desecrated 148 graves in the Muslim section of a military cemetery in northern France, hanging a pig's head on one of the headstones, police said on Sunday.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy called the attack "a hateful act" and around 100 police were sent to the Notre-Dame de Lorette cemetery near Arras to hunt for clues.

State prosecutor Jean-Pierre Valensi said the vandals struck overnight, daubing insults on the graves.

"They directly referred to Islam and there were also insults directed at the justice minister," Valensi said, referring to Rachida Dati, whose parents came from North Africa.

The desecration came almost exactly a year after youths daubed Nazi inscriptions and swastikas on Muslim tombs in the same cemetery in Ablain Saint-Nazaire.

The role of Muslims in France's military is one often overlooked. During World War I, more than 10% of all Muslim colonial troops who served gave their lives in defense of France. For anyone -- especially any Frenchman -- to now desecrate their graves over current tensions is to dishonor their sacrifice and the history of France.

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Has the West allowed accommodation of Islam to go so far that common sense is out the window? I'd have to argue that this case shows that it has.

When it comes to avoiding a ban for speeding, the courts hear every excuse in the book.

But yesterday one motorist offered what must be a unique reason why he should keep his licence.

Mohammed Anwar said a ban would make it difficult to commute between his two wives and fulfil his matrimonial duties.

His lawyer told a Scottish court the Muslim restaurant owner has one wife in Motherwell and another in Glasgow - he is allowed up to four under his religion - and sleeps with them on alternate nights.

He also needed his driving licence to run his restaurant in Falkirk, Stirlingshire.

Airdrie Sheriff Court had heard that Anwar was caught driving at 64mph in a 30mph zone in Glasgow, fast enough to qualify for instant disqualification.

Anwar admitted the offence, but Sheriff John C. Morris accepted his plea not to be banned and allowed him to keep his licence.

Instead, he was fined £200 and given six penalty points.

In other words, Scotland's speeding laws do not apply to Muslims -- provided they are going to take advantage of marital prerogatives of a marriage that would be illegal for a non-Muslim.

Will the courts be so accommodating of a non-Muslim business-owner who is headed home to shag his wife on his lunch break? What about someone who is going to get a quickie from his mistress?

One would think that speeding laws would be the last place that islamic exceptionalism would intrude -- but I guess not.

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The path to recognizing someone as a saint can take decades of centuries, but the cause of John Paul II is well underway three years after his death -- and even his successor seems to have a soft spot for it, as the text of his sermon at yesterday's memorial mass would seem to indicate.

Catholics around the world on Wednesday marked the third anniversary of Pope John Paul's death and Vatican officials said they were receiving a steady stream of pleas from the faithful convinced he was a saint.

Pope Benedict, John Paul's successor, presided at a solemn Mass before tens of thousands of people in St Peter's Square, from the same spot on the steps of the basilica where John Paul's simple wooden coffin lay three years ago.

"For many days, the Vatican basilica and this very square were really the heart of the world," Benedict said in his sermon as members in the crowd waved flags of the late pope's Polish homeland and banners bearing his image.

Benedict did not use the word "saint" in his sermon but said John Paul had "many human and supernatural qualities" and was a mystic endowed with exceptional spiritual sensitivities.

Why the rush on sainthood for the late pontiff? Partly because there is a sense of the faithful on this one -- a general belief among Catholics that the holiness with which the man lived out his life and ministry demonstrates the sanctity of his life. A second reason is the fact that John Paul II lived out his pontificate in the public spotlight like none of his predecessors. It seems his every word and deed was somehow recorded, and so doing the sort of research on those areas is relatively easy compared to looking at the life of some seventeenth century nun in a convent in South America or a missionary in Africa during the 1800s.

I expect we will see his canonization in my lifetime -- a quick response to the call of Santo Subito that arose at his funeral.

Posted by: Greg at 10:04 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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