"The meeting also reviewed what has been described as a Mecca watch, the brainchild of a French Muslim.The watch is said to rotate anti-clockwise and is supposed to help Muslims determine the direction of Mecca from any point on Earth."BBC, 21 April 2008
"A 53-year-old Waterbury woman has pleaded guilty to stealing more than 150 paintings reportedly after God told her the end of the world is near.Diane Catalani was arrested last year. According to court documents, Catalani told a psychologist that she hoarded what she stole to show God before the Apocalypse that there are still good people in the world.The prosecutor says it's clear that Catalani was suffering from mental illness at the time she stole the paintings.She's to be sentenced June 13 to 2 1/2 years in prison.Catalani has been in the mental health unit at the state's women's prison and the prosecutor says the court will request she finish off her term there."Fox News, April 22, 2008
"A 30-year-old woman caused quite a commotion Wednesday evening when she decided to direct traffic at a DeLand intersection.
Rather than keeping traffic flowing through the intersection of W. Euclid and S. Orange avenues, the woman was creating a bit of a hazard, police said, because she was topless. The DeLand Police Department received a number of calls about 7 p.m. and responded to find the woman "foaming at the mouth and talking to herself," according to a police report.
The DeLand woman told police that God told her to direct traffic.
She was taken to an area hospital for a mental evaluation
Orlandosentinel.com, April 17, 2008
"A father and his five-year-old son were turned away from their local swimming pool because they were the wrong religion.
David Toube, 39, and his son Harry were told that the Sunday morning session was reserved for Muslim men only.
[...]
A leisure centre spokesman said staff were wrong to refuse entry to Mr Toube.
He added: "The member of staff the user spoke with at the time was mistaken when referring to the session as Muslim-only.
"The men's modesty session is not a private hire and is, therefore, open to the public.
"Staff cannot ask your religion on entrance and you won't be refused entry if you don't appear to be Muslim."
A spokesman for the Equality and Human Rights Commission said: "Segregating services may amount to unlawful discrimination and could create a sense of unfairness, inadvertently increasing community tension."
Daily Mail, 18th April 2008
"A journalist, or one of those lowlifes, wants to... These people are a mixture of Western, local, and imported ideologies, but they want to express their views with regard to religious rulings. This is the prerogative of religious scholars, not of ignorant people, the prerogative of knowledgeable people, not of fools or heretics.Hehe, this really cracks me up.
[...]
The problem is that they want to open a debate on whether Islam is true or not, and on whether Judaism and Christianity are false or not. In other words, they want to open up everything for debate. Now they want to open up all issues for debate. That's it. It begins with freedom of thought, it continues with freedom of speech, and it ends up with freedom of belief. So where's the conspiracy? They say: Let's have freedom of thought in Islam. Well, what do they want? They say: I think, therefore I want to express my thoughts. I want to express myself, I want to talk and say, for example, that there are loopholes in Islam, or that Christianity is the truth. Then they will talk about freedom of belief, and say that anyone is entitled to believe in whatever he wants... If you want to become an apostate – go ahead. Fancy Buddhism? Leave Islam, and join Buddhism. No problem. That's what freedom of belief is all about. They want freedom of everything. What they want is very dangerous."
Al-Majd TV on March 30, 2008, Memritv.org (Transcript)
"A senior priest in Florence is under investigation for fraud after allegedly amassing £3 million by performing fake exorcisms. Prosecutors said that Father Francesco Saverio Bazzoffi would "stage shows" at the House of the Sainted Archangels, an organisation he founded. During the events, which regularly attracted crowds of over 400 people, a number of associates would "pretend to be possessed by demons" and Fr Bazzoffi would allegedly exorcise them using ancient and obscure rites. He would then offer to "heal" members of the audience who were sick, and solicit donations to his organisation. One witness told police: "During Mass, the priest spoke in Aramaic, and strange things happened. I do not know if it was group hysteria or our suggestibility, but I remember one old woman screaming in a man's voice while five big guys held her down."I think this is fairly easy to solve. They can make a contest between Father Francesco Saverio Bazzoffi and an authorised exorcist, and whoever exorcises the most demons (take names!) win the right to be an exorcist!
Prosecutors, who have also put 13 of his associates under investigation, started monitoring Fr Bazzoffi in 2005. His house was raided last month, and several documents were seized that showed the priest had £3 million in his bank account.
Fr Bazzoffi, who heads the matrimony office of the diocese of Florence, was publicly cautioned against performing exorcisms last October by the Archbishop of the city, Cardinal Ennio Antonelli.
In a letter, the cardinal wrote: "I would like to make clear the following: any sort of special rite of benediction, such as the laying on of hands, is forbidden. Exorcisms are also prohibited." Only priests authorised by the diocese are permitted to carry out exorcisms."
Telegraph.co.uk, 07/04/2008
"The following exchange between atheist activist Rob Sherman of Buffalo Grove and Ill. Rep. Monique Davis (D-Chicago) took place Wednesday afternoon in the General Assembly as Sherman testified before the House State Government Administration Committee.[...]She's a Democrat, so I guess that she's the moderate type that Atheists are supposed to cooperate with instead of criticizing.
Davis: I don’t know what you have against God, but some of us don’t have much against him. We look forward to him and his blessings. And it’s really a tragedy -- it’s tragic -- when a person who is engaged in anything related to God, they want to fight. They want to fight prayer in school.
I don’t see you (Sherman) fighting guns in school. You know?
I’m trying to understand the philosophy that you want to spread in the state of Illinois. This is the Land of Lincoln. This is the Land of Lincoln where people believe in God, where people believe in protecting their children.… What you have to spew and spread is extremely dangerous, it’s dangerous--
Sherman: What’s dangerous, ma’am?
Davis: It’s dangerous to the progression of this state. And it’s dangerous for our children to even know that your philosophy exists! Now you will go to court to fight kids to have the opportunity to be quiet for a minute. But damn if you’ll go to [court] to fight for them to keep guns out of their hands. I am fed up! Get out of that seat!
Sherman: Thank you for sharing your perspective with me, and I’m sure that if this matter does go to court---
Davis: You have no right to be here! We believe in something. You believe in destroying! You believe in destroying what this state was built upon."
Eric Zorn, Chicago Tribune, April 3, 2008
"The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession.
-- Abraham Lincoln, quoted by Joseph Lewis in "Lincoln the Freethinker""
"Mohammed Anwar said a ban would make it difficult to commute between his two wives and fulfil his matrimonial duties.The real nut here is of course the sheriff.
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.
Lorna Jackson, from the road safety charity Brake, called the decision "astonishing".
She said: "Regardless of the number of wives or businesses this man drives to, he broke a law which is there to protect everyone. "Travelling just a few miles over the limit in a 30mph zone can be the difference between life and death if you hit someone, let alone driving at more than twice the speed limit.
"Drivers know the law, and they know the punishment they could face when they break it.
"For the courts to allow someone to keep their licence when they have so blatantly flouted the law and put peoples' lives at risk, on the basis of an excuse such as this, is astonishing."
Anwar, wearing a suit and an open-neck shirt, had made no comment during his five-minute court appearance, apart from confirming his identity.
But last night, speaking from his restaurant Sanam, he said: "It is true I have two wives.
"Muslim men are allowed up to four. But I am not a religious leader and it is not my place to comment.
"As a matter of respect to my wives I would not comment on my home life.
"The sheriff did not ban me because I need my licence to run my business, although my wives were also part of the decision."
Daily Mail, 5th April 2008
"Chad Farnan, a 16-year-old sophomore, says the teacher, James Corbett, told his students that “Jesus glasses” obscure the truth and suggested that Christians are more likely than other people to commit rape and murder.Yes, you can throw it out of the window.
Farnan recorded his teacher telling students in class: “What [part of the] country has the highest murder rate? The South! What part of the country has the highest rape rate? The South! What part of the country has the highest rate of church attendance? The South!” Farnan said he took the tape recorder to class to supplement his class notes.
“It was very hard for me because it’s like basically telling me all this stuff that I’ve believed my whole entire life — it’s just basically trying to throw it out the window,” Farnan told FOX News."
Fox, April 02, 2008
"An 11-year-old girl died from diabetes after her parents prayed for her recovery rather than calling for medical assistance. Madeline Neumann died on Sunday in Wisconsin, from an undiagnosed but treatable ailment.
Dan Vergin, the local police chief, said she had been ill for a month, suffering symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, excessive thirst, loss of appetite and weakness.
"She just got sicker and sicker until she was dead," he said.
Even after her death, her parents, Dale and Leilani Neumann, who did not belong to any organised faith, prayed over her body in the hope that she might be resurrected.
Mr Vergin said the couple, who run a coffee shop in Wausau, had blamed her death on their lack of faith.
"They have a little Bible study of a few people," said Mr Vergin. "These are not bizarre people."
Police are now preparing a report for prosecutors. However, legal action against the parents may be prevented by a Wisconsin state statute against failing to act to protect children from bodily harm. The statute contains an exemption for what it refers to as "treatment through prayer". Mrs Neumann, whose husband is a former policeman, said they had never expected her daughter to die. She suffered from diabetic ketoacidosis, which left her with too little insulin.
She said her family believed in the Bible and that healing came from God. But she insisted that they were not "crazy religious people" and had nothing against doctors.
She said their daughter had been tired over the past two weeks but the day before she died, her bad health "went into a more serious situation". She explained: "We stayed fast in prayer. We believed that she would recover. We saw signs that - to us - it looked like she was recovering."
Mr Neumann said he started trying artificial resuscitation "as soon as the breath of life left" his daughter's body.
However, Madeline's aunt said she pleaded with the dead girl's parents to take her to a doctor in the last few days of her life. As Madeline went into a coma, Ariel Gomez telephoned the emergency services from her home in California. But they were too late to save her.
She told the ambulance control room that Mrs Neumann had "explained to us that she believes her daughter's in a coma now and she's relying on faith".
The parents, who have three older children, told police that Madeline last saw a doctor when she was three to get some injections. The state law that allows healing through prayer became an issue in 2003 when a two-year-old autistic child in Milwaukee was crushed to death during an attempted exorcism. The "exorcist" was convicted on a far lesser charge than many people believed was appropriate. The local district attorney urged legislators to remove the exemption but they failed to act on his advice.
Daily Telegraph, 29/03/2008
"A MUSLIM bus driver told stunned passengers to get off so he could PRAY.The white Islamic convert rolled out his prayer mat in the aisle and knelt on the floor facing Mecca. Passengers watched in amazement as he held out his palms towards the sky, bowed his head and began to chant. One, who filmed the man on his mobile phone, said: "He was clearly praying and chanting in Arabic."We thought it was a wind-up at first, like Jeremy Beadle."The 21-year-old plumber added: "He looked English and had a London accent. He looked like a Muslim convert, with a big, bushy beard."Eventually everyone started complaining. One woman said, 'What the hell are you doing? I'm going to be late for work'."
After a few minutes the driver calmly got up, opened the doors and asked everyone back on board.But they saw a rucksack lying on the floor of the red single-decker and feared he might be a fanatic. So they all refused.The passenger added: "One chap said, 'I'm not getting on there now'.
"An elderly couple also looked really confused and worried."After seeing that no-one wanted to get on he drove off and we all waited until the next bus came about 20 minutes later. I was left totally stunned. It made me not want to get on a bus again."The bizarre event unfolded on the number 81 in Langley, Berkshire, at around 1.30pm on Thursday."The Sun, 29 Mar 2008 (H/T Islamineurope.blogspot.com)
"2. Freedom to manifest one's religion or beliefs shall be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of public safety, for the protection of public order, health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Rome, 4.XI.1950"
