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Rory Bremner 'afraid' to joke about Islam

published by You on 17 June, 2010 - 12:23

Rory Bremner, the political impressionist, said he fears joking about Islam could lead to his death due to the "chilling" issue of fundamentalism.

Bremner said self-censorship was the biggest obstacle today for comedians addressing topical issues, due to fears of retribution by extremists.

His comments came as he discussed the future of satire with Sir David Frost on a BBC documentary, Frost on Satire, to be broadcast on Thursday.

He said: "The greatest danger now is that one of the toughest issues of our time is religion.

UK drug addict tells of Taliban recruitment

published by You on 15 June, 2010 - 11:54

BBC Asian Network's Sanjiv Buttoo explains how a Muslim man went from being a drug addict in the UK to a militant fighting for the Taliban.

"They just gave me an AK47 assault rifle and I was taught how to strip the weapon, clean it and fire it as well as how to carry out guerrilla activities - I could not believe this was happening."

Irfan, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, recalls his experience of going to Pakistan and inadvertently being recruited by the Taliban.

His story arose because some Muslim parents in the UK send their children to Pakistan for them to beat an addiction to drugs.

In Irfan's case, throughout his late teens and early 20s he had found himself in and out of trouble with the police, while also being hooked on heroin.

Afghans say US team found huge potential mineral wealth

published by You on 15 June, 2010 - 00:58

Afghanistan may have more than a trillion dollars worth of untapped mineral deposits, a spokesman for the ministry of mines has suggested.

A joint team from the Pentagon, US Geological Service and USAID has calculated Afghanistan's mineral deposits are worth at least $900bn.

Geological surveys discovered large quantities of iron and copper as well as valuable deposits of lithium.

But questions are being asked about the timing of the release of information.

Read more @ BBC News

Somali militants threaten World Cup TV viewers

published by You on 14 June, 2010 - 16:10

Somali militants have threatened football fans they will be publicly flogged - or worse - if they are caught watching the World Cup on TV.

Gangs of Islamists are reported to be patrolling the areas they control looking for people watching games.

Dedicated fans are watching matches in secret, or in the few areas controlled by government forces.

On Saturday militants killed two people as they attacked a house where people were watching a game.

Militant group Hizbul-Islam also arrested 10 others at the house north-east of the capital Mogadishu where fans were watching the game between Argentina and Nigeria.

Read more @ BBC News

Should the destruction of Israel be a goal that Muslims hold to?

published by You on 14 June, 2010 - 14:47

I am breaking this away from another topic where this was brought up, where anonymous1 was arguing about moderates and said:

They don't have a problem in relation to Israel and opposition to it on moral grounds and sending sticky plasters - they do have a problem against those who argue the govt is illegitimate and needs replacing militarily, ie the Islamic hukm of jihad! Moderates are already compromising on this and attacking those who call for a military solution via jihad - look at the posts on this site for example.

So is the destruction of Israel our goal?

How tolerant should we be of intolerance?

published by You on 14 June, 2010 - 12:43

This is about intolerance in both Muslims and Non Muslims.

The question can be phrased in many ways to speak about many specifics:

1. The EDL are intolerant of Muslims (or what they call "extremist Muslims" which seems to cover all Muslims). Should their views be discussed, argued against, their protests counter protested, or should they be ignored?

2. The same can be said of Muslims. When Muslims present views that seem to not fit with your understanding of Islam, when they show intolerance (often towards other Muslims too), should their views be challenged or should they simply be ignored?

The problem with ignoring is that it may embolden people to go further because their views are unchecked and have not been scrutinised by reality.

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