By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
President Yahya Jammeh, who has for twenty-one years served as Gambia’s president, declared his nation an Islamic republic claiming this action would serve to break from the nations “colonial past.”
Though Gambia’s population is ninety percent Muslim and this would be in many ways seem an alignment with the culture of its people, the nation nevertheless has a very poor reputation for human rights, especially in its treatment of its homosexual citizens.
Jammeh is a vehemently and vocal anti-gay leader who told gays and lesbians in 2008 to leave the country or risk decapitation. Five women have now been arrested as accused lesbians in what human rights groups are calling a national campaign of terror and torture by the police.
The law criminalizes what it calls “aggravated homosexuality,” involving “serial offenders” and people living with HIV or AIDS. The law lumps such “repeat offenders” who engage in homosexual relations with people who engage in homosexual acts with someone who is under 18, disabled or who has been drugged or is under the “authority” of the homosexual. The accused face life in prison.
Amnesty International has charged that people are being tortured by police and forced to confess to homosexual acts or to accuse others of such acts.
Last year the European Union withheld aid packages to the small nation over its human rights record.
President Jammeh claimed in a television interview that no dress code would be enforced and promised that people of all religions would be allowed to practice their faith. He continued, “As Muslims are the majority in the country; the Gambia cannot afford to continue the colonial legacy.”
Jammeh withdrew Gambia from the British Commonwealth in 2013 claiming it was a neo-colonial organization.
By Darren Smith
Source: BBC News
The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.
Muslim spulled backwards is milsum.
God spulled backwards is Dog.
@God
1, December 12, 2015 at 9:39 pm
“Karen
“FGM is not demanded by Islam. A more accurate definition is that it is a cultural or traditional practice and is often imposed by the women of the family. Some reading is indicated.”
Some additional reading and thought may also be indicated with respect to male genital mutilation (MGM), which is quite widespread and deeply entrenched in Western cultures, as well.
When a German judge ruled against its practice on babies and children, Jewish reaction was swift and unequivocal:
“A poll for Focus magazine found that 56% of those polled thought the judgement was right, compared with 35% against and 10% undecided.
“But in the Jewish community, there is incredulity at the court’s decision. Jonah Sievers, the Chief Rabbi of Lower Saxony, told the BBC that when he first heard, he ‘thought it was just impossible.’
” ‘Not to perform an ancient ritual is beyond the imagination. From ancient times onward, there were certain times when there were decisions by rulers to harm Judaism or to forbid or to weaken the Jewish religion, and one of them was to disallow circumcision, so it’s not the first time and probably will not be the last time.’
” ‘Did the court know that circumcision is the most ancient ritual in the history of Judaism, dating back almost 4,000 years to the days of Abraham?’, he wrote in The Jerusalem Post.
” ‘Do judges in Cologne today really not know what happened the last time Germany went down that road?’
“He said the court was, in effect, telling Jews: ‘If you don’t like it, leave.’
” ‘Circumcision as the expression of the Covenant between God and his people is such an ancient and entrenched ritual. It’s more than just a ritual. It’s performed by Orthodox and Liberal Jews alike. It’s a core part of the religion.’ ”
“One Russian rabbi in Berlin [asked] to discuss the ban called it ‘perhaps the most serious attack on Jewish life in Europe since the Holocaust.’ ”
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-18793842
To add to that, Ken, Muslims too tend to circumcise their newborn boys (I bet you did not know that, bambam). Some ancients African cultures also did, but used it as a coming into manhood ritual where boys, around 15 to 18 are gathered together, circumcised together then trained into/taught the rituals of their people so as to make them the inheritors of their customs. Any two boys who go through the hut of manhood together become blood brothers, which means that along generations, most of the village would be bound into all kinds of relationships, the better to insure social cohesion. Something of a bat mitzah.
Funny thing is that while male circumcision is inked to the sunnah of the Prophet, as you say, female circumcision is neither in Quran nor in sunnah.
Philly T. The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan was in response to the 9-11 hijinks of BinLaden, Al Queda, and co. It was in fact a belated response, given Bin Laden and AL Queda’s known involvement on previous attacks (involvement in 1993 WTC bombing, African embassy bombings, Bin Laden’s Fartwah to kill Americans wherever and over they could, the U.S.S. Cole bombings,etc.
Bin Laden , the training camps, the planning, the financing etc. were all done in the relative comfort and security of Afghanistan. Their hosts, the Taliban, were in this up to their necks in their complicity.
If it makes you feel better to try to spin this as as “Christian terrorist” response, go ahead and keep spinning and keep believing.
PhillyT …Show me a centralized Christian terrorist organization with the objectives, capabilities and commitment of ISIS, for example.( I’ ll leave out Boko Harem, Al, Queda_ etc., and all of the other jv teams.
If you are trying to make some kind of case for equivilancy, especially with respect to national security threats to America_ then make it.
Hopefully, you are in in small minority of where Americans or German Sheperds stand on this issue….but I’m not positive.
the christian religion has about 700 years more time to mature than islam. The biggest problem with that is we don’t have time to wait for them to have a reformation and mature socially, given the nature of weapons available to the true believers. The world needs to help find a way for all to grow wiser faster.
But we have our own christian terrorists here, blowing up Oklahoma City, shooting doctors and folks in churches. Anyone who thinks the extreme christians in America are more than a step or two away from being able and willing to commit the very same acts of terror under slightly different circumstances is a fool.
Thousands of “good christians” signed up to go to Afghanistan and Iraq to kill muslims as religious assassins. Remember the rifles with the bible verse code stamped on them?
Yes we have another horrible dictator in Africa getting ready to do his worst. We should be doing our best to manage our own.
phillyT – Oklahoma City was not an act of Christian terrorism. It was payback for the dead children at Waco.
Karen S. -Take up Po’s offer on the autograghed Koran bet. If the autogragh is in Somali, Arabic, or Spanish, it should enhance its value.
If it’s all three, then you’ve hit the jackpot.
Tom, I won’t say too much, but it is signed in 3 different spots.
Ken
Quite right regarding point on Zionism, She is still entitled to defend Zionism but she should expect more opposition for that political position.
Karen
FGM is not demanded by Islam. A more accurate definition is that it is a cultural or traditional practice and is often imposed by the women of the family. Some reading is indicated.
karen?
please?
answer my questions above?
please?
I am willing to bet an original , autographed Quran that Karen won’answer my questions. And by answer i mean responding to the question asked without bifurcating into something else.
Karen S
1, December 12, 2015 at 9:01 pm
Also, apostasy is a capital crime in Muslim nations, so clearly she must remain in the West because . .. wait for it… her life would be in danger.
I enjoy listening to her speak. She spoke favorably of Islam in her village before the extremists came and ruined it all. Considering she was mutilated in the name of extremist Islam, I think she has a point when she declares it needs to be reformed so these things no longer happen in its name.
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Yep, karen jumps in with another set of fallacies:
1- What is a Muslim nation? rather vague a term I must say. it is a catch all term matter of fact, it is used when the person is being deceptive and is unable to support the intent in their statement.
Is it a nation with a majority muslim or a theocracy like Iran and Saudi Arabia?
I sure do hope you would answer this question, karen. Be brave, please. Be honest, please.
2- If she spoke favorably of islam before EXTREMISTS came and ruined it, I am tempted to believe then that the issue is not Islam, rather it is extremist islam? right?
If so, why would she state this:
Reason: Should we acknowledge that organized religion has sometimes sparked precisely the kinds of emancipation movements that could lift Islam into modern times? Slavery in the United States ended in part because of opposition by prominent church members and the communities they galvanized. The Polish Catholic Church helped defeat the Jaruzelski puppet regime. Do you think Islam could bring about similar social and political changes?
Hirsi Ali: Only if Islam is defeated. Because right now, the political side of Islam, the power-hungry expansionist side of Islam, has become superior to the Sufis and the Ismailis and the peace-seeking Muslims.
Reason: Don’t you mean defeating radical Islam?
Hirsi Ali: No. Islam, period. Once it’s defeated, it can mutate into something peaceful. It’s very difficult to even talk about peace now. They’re not interested in peace.
Reason: We have to crush the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims under our boot? In concrete terms, what does that mean, “defeat Islam”?
Hirsi Ali: I think that we are at war with Islam. And there’s no middle ground in wars. Islam can be defeated in many ways. For starters, you stop the spread of the ideology itself; at present, there are native Westerners converting to Islam, and they’re the most fanatical sometimes. There is infiltration of Islam in the schools and universities of the West. You stop that. You stop the symbol burning and the effigy burning, and you look them in the eye and flex your muscles and you say, “This is a warning. We won’t accept this anymore.” There comes a moment when you crush your enemy.
Reason: Militarily?
Hirsi Ali: In all forms, and if you don’t do that, then you have to live with the consequence of being crushed.
3- So if we go based on the following, karen :
So the countries in which female genital cutting is a practice are mostly Muslim, but they are not exclusively Muslim. Of the 29 countries tracked by UNICEF, 14 are home to more Christians than Muslims.
The two Middle Eastern, and predominantly Muslim, countries, Yemen and Iraq, have much lower rates of 23 percent and 8 percent, respectively. Other majority-Muslim countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, are not listed.
“It is extremely clear that in many countries that have a very high population of Muslims, female genital mutilation/cutting is not practiced,” said Francesca Moneti, the UNICEF senior child protection specialist who co-authored the report. …
Christianity should be reformed so that genital mutilation in Christian countries no longer happens.
HOW DO YOU ANSWER THAT?
Ken says:
“”islam and Judaism are religions, many aspects and expressions of which should be worthy of everyone’s respect.
Zionism is an animal of an entirely different species, and I suggest that the Zionist sympathies of “bam bam” are integral to her personal animosity toward “po,” qua Muslim.””
Good point, Ken.
Also, apostasy is a capital crime in Muslim nations, so clearly she must remain in the West because . .. wait for it… her life would be in danger.
I enjoy listening to her speak. She spoke favorably of Islam in her village before the extremists came and ruined it all. Considering she was mutilated in the name of extremist Islam, I think she has a point when she declares it needs to be reformed so these things no longer happen in its name.
Nick – You are completely right. Considering people are killed for drawing cartoons of Mohammad, criticizing the Prophet, and even little girls get shot in the head for daring to advocate for educating females, I find it absurd that anyone would doubt that Ayaan’s safety is at risk for speaking out for reform.
Considering she suffered greatly under extremist Islam, including female genital mutilation, she has earned the right to criticize.
Human rights in Gambia:
http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/countries/africa/gambia
“Enforced disappearances, torture, attacks on freedom of expression and perceived members of the of lesbian, gay bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community, a climate of impunity, and the death penalty are some of the significant human rights concerns in The Gambia.”
Sounds like a swell country.
Now that the country has been declared a Muslim theocracy, I wonder how non-Muslims will fair? Probably the same as in every single other Muslim theocracy. Already, it’s got a poor record on human rights. Will it improve or decline?
Nick Spinelli
1, December 12, 2015 at 8:26 pm
Lovely, Our resident Muslim, on whom “God” has heaped praise, slandered me by saying I abuse my wife. Just lovely. He represents his religion and culture perfectly.
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Nick, is Islam a religion or a culture?
Would you please answer that one question…since you won’t answer the previous ones?
@God
1, December 12, 2015 at 8:08 pm
“I am not so concerned with her zealous Zionism. She’s entitled. Just as po is entitled to defend Islam.”
Islam and Judaism are religions, many aspects and expressions of which should be worthy of everyone’s respect.
Zionism is an animal of an entirely different species, and I suggest that the Zionist sympathies of “bam bam” are integral to her personal animosity toward “po,” qua Muslim.
See what Miko Peled, son of Israeli General Matti Peled, has to say about Zionism, below. “Born in Jerusalem in 1961 into a well known Zionist family, his grandfather, Dr. Avraham Katsnelson was a Zionist leader and signer of the Israeli Declaration of Independence. His Father, Matti Peled, was a young officer in the war of 1948 and a general in the war of 1967 when Israel conquered the West Bank, Gaza, Golan Heights, and Sinai.”
Nick, you keep repeating that Ayaan has a fatwa after her, but so far she has yet to show who issued such fatwa.
By the way, she is a known liar, most of her story has been debunked!
The funny thing, she is trying to reform the faith from the outside, from a position of anti-islam! She allies herself with the like of Hitchens, Sam harris and Robert Spencer, all open islamophobes, being a mouthpiece to that movement and calling for open war against Islam. In that, she like Hamas trying to reform Judaism.
There are a great number of well educated, intelligent, beautiful women who are practicing Muslim, and who are fighting against Arab patriarchy from the inside.
Some of them have translated the Quran from a feminist perspective, showing that the patriarchy in it is the prominent voice of Arab culture, not divinely condoned behavior.
It says something about your aim that rather than listen to the ones in the trenches, you are supporting the one sitting in her chair, throwing rocks at them.
I tell ya, god is wise!
Glad to know my logic is not failing me after all 🙂
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a beautiful, intelligent, eloquent woman writes and speaks passionately @ how Muslim women are treated like slaves. For speaking truth, Muslim men have issued a fatwa. But, this courageous women will not be silenced by Muslim men. I read her seminal book, Infidel, about 5 years ago. It should be required reading in any Women’s Studies, theology, history, political science, or English class
Lovely, Our resident Muslim, on whom “God” has heaped praise, slandered me by saying I abuse my wife. Just lovely. He represents his religion and culture perfectly.
Having coached baseball for over 3 decades I often us plural pronouns . I find this blog a team, community, so”us” or “our” or “we” are words I often use. I know Karen from this blog as well as offline. I am confident she took no offense. Our “God” seems to be offended and angry @ virtually everything I say. Usually one prays to God. I am praying for our “God” that he gets into the Christmas or Hanukkah spirit. God bless you, “God.” I think I recognize your writing.