Last week, Jordan indicted a group of Danish publishers and cartoonists for daring to publish the Muhammad Cartoons -- claiming international jurisdiction over any act of alleged blasphemy against Islam. Now the Jordanians are actively stripping human and civil rights from their own citizens who turn away from Islam and embrace the truth that Jesus is the Savior.

The North Amman Sharia Court in April dissolved the marriage of Mohammad Abbad, on trial for apostasy, or leaving Islam. The 40-year-old convert fled Jordan with his wife and two young children in March after another Christian convert’s relatives attacked Abbad’s family in their home and his father demanded custody of Abbad’s children. “Marriage depends on the creed [religion], and the apostate has no creed,” a May 22 court document stated, detailing reasons for the April 22 annulment. According to the document, Judge Faysal Khreisat had “proven the veracity of [Abbad’s] apostasy.”

JordanÂ’s penal code does not outlaw apostasy, and the countryÂ’s constitution guarantees freedom of religion, as does the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that was given force of law in the country in June 2006. But Islam, JordanÂ’s official religion, forbids conversion to another faith. Jordanian sharia (Islamic law) courts that rule on family law have convicted converts of apostasy, stripping them of all legal rights.

“I can’t win this case as long as I insist that I converted to Christianity,” Abbad wrote after arriving in a European country where he has applied for asylum. Abbad and his 10-year-old son were violently attacked in their home on March 23, when relatives of another convert, staying with Abbad, stormed the house. Abbad suffered injuries to his head and chest and bleeding in his right eye, according to medical reports from Jordan University Hospital. When Abbad went to the police station the same day to file a complaint he found his father there, demanding custody of Abbad’s son and 11-year-old daughter.

By allowing the religious courts to take on civil jurisdiction, Jordan has placed itself in defiance of international human rights norms again, even as Kin Abdullah attempts to present his country as a moderate, modern nation that honors human rights. In the end, however, the reality shows that Jordan is still mired in the seventh century when Abdullah's ancestor, the false prophet Muhammad, first preached Islam.

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Here's hoping the EU and the rest of the civilized world tell the Pakistanis to bugger off!

Pakistan will ask the European Union countries to amend laws regarding freedom of expression in order to prevent offensive incidents such as the printing of blasphemous caricatures of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) and the production of an anti-Islam film by a Dutch legislator, sources in the Interior Ministry told Daily Times on Saturday.

They said that a six-member high-level delegation comprising officials from the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Law would leave Islamabad on Sunday (today) for the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium and explain to the EU leadership the backlash against the blasphemous campaign in the name of freedom of expression.

The delegation, headed by an additional secretary of the Interior Ministry, will meet the leaders of the EU countries in a bid to convince them that the recent attack on the Danish Embassy in Pakistan could be a reaction against the blasphemous campaign, sources said.

They said that the delegation would also tell the EU that if such acts against Islam are not controlled, more attacks on the EU diplomatic missions abroad could not be ruled out.

Notice that little threat at the end -- "Dhimmify or face more terrorism with our approval!"

We in the West cannot accept such demands -- or the threat that goes with them. If I want to mock the false prophet Muhammad (May He Burn In Hell For All Eternity) then I have an absolute right to do so, both based upon freedom of speech and freedom of religion. For a government to seek to restrict that right goes against the entire thrust of Western Civilization since the Enlightenment -- and violates provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

H/T American Thinker, Ezra Levant

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At least as regards perceived slights against the false prophet Muhammad.

Eleven Danes have been summoned to appear before the Jordanian pubic prosecutor to answer charges of blasphemy and threatening the national peace. They include the cartoonist who drew one of the Mohammed cartoons and editors from 10 of the 17 newspapers that reprinted them.

The group behind the announcement is called The Prophet Unites Us, a union of Jordanian media organisations, organisations and private individuals.

'The public prosecutor decided to summon the Danes for a series of criminal offences. Now the Danes have to meet in Jordan,' said Zakaria al-Sheikh, the group's general secretary, to Politiken newspaper.

He explained that the public prosecutor will ask the Danish embassy for help in contacting Danish officials to arrange the meeting of the editors.

Osama al-Bettar, the group's lawyer, said that if the Danes do not appear, the next step will be to inform Interpol and seek their arrest.

The public prosecutor confirmed to Politiken that the editors have been summoned.

The Danish government has made it clear that the actions of the eleven is not criminal in Denmark, and that they will not be deported to the realm of the Islamo-censors as a result.

Somebody needs to inform King Abdullah of Jordan that there is no basis for prosecution for printing the cartoons because doing so is merely the exercise of fundamental human rights recognized by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Also, I have repeatedly published the cartoons on my site and expressed my contemptuous opinion of the 43rd generation ancestor of King Abdullah, the Christ-blaspheming false prophet Muhammad. I therefore demand an indictment by the Jordanian government!

H/T Jawa Report, Edge of Reason

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I've intentionally kept out of the FLDS saga, not blogging upon it because it so quickly became so complicated and convoluted that I ceased being able to tell what was true, what was conjecture, and what was outright lies. And while I initially supported the raid, I also understood the importance of returning some -- but not necessarily all -- of the children to their parents. Taking that many kids could not be justified.

But one striking point through all of this is the claim made by the FLDS members that no underaged girls were married off as part of the cult's practice of "spiritual marriage". How, then, can they now make this statement?

The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints made the startling announcement Monday that it will no longer allow underage girls to marry adults within their sect.

* * *

As the transfers were taking place, Willie Jessop, an FLDS member and the group's Texas spokesman, said: "In the future, the church commits that it will not preside over any marriage of any woman under the age of legal consent in the jurisdiction in which the marriage takes place."

The announcement applies to both the group's "spiritual" unions and legal marriages. The minimum age to marry in Texas is 16, but only with parental permission.

"The church believes in purity, cleanliness and innocence, and our children and families are the cornerstone of our lives and religion," Willie Jessop said. "We hope this modest clarification will alleviate recent concerns and allow this church and its families to reside in peace among its neighbors."

Now hold on -- I thought they already didn't allow such marriages. Doesn't this constitute an admission that they did -- and the initial move to protect young girls from sexual exploitation by older men was, in fact somewhat justified (even if the initial phone call was a hoax)?

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