The international trend toward criminalizing any insulting of religion has reached Austria, which has now convicted far-right legislator Susanne Winter for making anti-Muslim statements, including the oft-stated charge that Mohammed was a pedophile for marrying an underaged girl. Winter is an obvious wingnut and her statements obnoxious. However, the first amendment is being sharply curtailed by a movement to criminalize insults to religion, including a United Nations resolution.
The 51-year-old politician was sentenced to a fine of 24,000 euros (31,000 dollars) euros and a suspended prison term of three months. In addition to the Mohammed insult, Winter suggested that Muslim men commit bestiality rather than having relations with underaged girls.
Bestiality seems to be a dominant theme in the Winter house. Her son Michael, a former youth leader in the Freedom Party, was also convicted recently of humiliating religion by suggesting that Turkish Muslims often commit bestiality.
Neither are redeeming characters to be sure. However, free speech demands that all such speech be protected. Popular speech does not need protection. Religion is one of the most important topics of free speech. To criminalize the criticism of religion is an alarming trend around the world.
In the meantime, the Pope has reinstated four bishops who were excommunicated 20 years ago, including British-born Richard Williamson who made a number of statements denying the full extent of the Nazi Holocaust of European Jews.
For the full Winter story, click here.
Point well taken. Lot and Mohammed were pedophiles in their respective fairy tales. But telling the truth about Lot won’t get you arrested in “free Austria”. The lady was simply repeating a verse out of the Koran, which all of you could quickly find if you so desired. There is nothing radical about this. If this is such a sore verse to Muslims, maybe they need to “revise” the Koran and remove it along with a lot of other garbage.
The statute (I assume it is a statute) which Ms. Winter was charged with violating is essentially no different from the legislation proposed by Sen. Ford in South Carolina. It is part of an alarming trend toward prohibiting speech offensive to sensibilities, whether religious, cultural, ethnic or racial. As a naive college student in the ’60s, I actually believed that we would have moved beyond such nonsense by the end of the century. The sad truth is that colleges and universities, which should serve as bastions of free speech, were among the first institutions to promote this absurdity. It appears that there is truly nothing new under the sun. It is simply that collective memory appears to be erased with the emergence of each new generation.
Since this blog runs on WordPress, there is a free spam blocker plugin or three out there which allows blocking IP addresses and/or adding spammers to internet blacklists.
One I’ve heard about (haven’t tried) is Spam Karma 2. Installation is “easy.” Just drop the SK2 folder into the WordPress Plugins directory and configure from the WP Admin panel. Here’s a link:
http://unknowngenius.com/blog/wordpress/spam-karma/
Maybe someone knows of another/better one out there?
“24,000 euros (31,000 dollars) euros”
Double Euros!
Also, this seems like an extremely well adjusted family. I wonder what conversation at the dinner table was like in that house.
Frau Winter and her family must have missed the Biblical account of the action between Lot and his own daughters, Genesis 19:30-38.
Mojo
Obsession is most certainly the correct word choice.
And for someone who “bends over for Islam”, I guess you haven’t read what you criticize, have you? That’s laughable on it’s face. How very typically Christian. If you think I bend over for Islam (or any organized religion), you obviously have not read any of my prior posts.
Thank you for proving once again that zealots are ignorant and uninformed.
Remorse –
Thanks for coming here again, and again, and again, and again.
Like the Christian Right who constantly preach about their hatred of homosexuality. It’s sort of their personal fixation. It’s kind of like they can’t really stop thinking about it. They hate it so much, and yet they can’t stop thinking about it …
It’s sort of an obsession for you, isn’t it?
I have nothing against gay people, I’m not myself, perhaps you’re not either, but I do find it amusing how people who hate something so much can’t stay away from it, stop thinking about it, and often times wind up engaged in it. Sort of like you being here.
Are you a latent democrat?
Islamic
I also target zealous psychosis in Buddhists, Hindus, Jainist, Zarathustrists, and worshipers of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Being a zealot isn’t a sign of piety or devotion. It’s mental illness at worst and ignorance at best.
No, I call Ismalic zealots zealots as well. You’re the piece of work, giving up your free will. Stupidity is where you find it.
Turely & Buddha is laughing:
You two are a piece of work. I pity those around you that your actions, statements, and thought impact, such as children. You continually berate Christians, calling them right wing zealots, etc. then you bend over for Islam.
Commentary: Obama breaks his own rules already
By Campbell Brown
January 23, 2009
CNN
(CNN) — Just a couple of nights ago, we heaped praise on the new president for announcing what he called a new era of openness, where in his administration, transparency would rule the day.
And the lobbyists that he was so critical of during the campaign? Well, he told us they will now face even tougher new restrictions.
President Obama: “The executive order on ethics I will sign shortly represents a clean break from business as usual. As of today, lobbyists will be subject to stricter limits than under any other administration in history. If you are a lobbyist entering my administration, you will not be able to work on matters you lobbied on, or in the agencies you lobbied during the previous two years. When you leave government, you will not be able to lobby my administration for as long as I am president.”
Well, anyway that’s what President Obama said two days ago. But as we first told you Thursday Obama already wants and will get an exception to his own new rule.
You see, what happened is, there is this former lobbyist for a big defense contractor called Raytheon. Obama wants him to be deputy defense secretary. So, he wants a waiver to his own rule – now.
That means Obama is saying he will put tough new restrictions on lobbyists, except when he won’t.
Really? Is this how it is going to be? Just three days into this administration?
Good luck with that, zealots. You should be able to find many recruits among the crazies like Bron.
BTW, I know I’m feeding it’s compulsion, but sometimes I find that amusing when the crazy person also happens to be a cheerleader for evil.