Muslim Prayer Ends Invocation Policy: N. Carolina

Carrol Mitchem, Chairman of the Lincoln County (North Carolina) Board of Commissioners, in May had stated his opposition to any Muslim invocation at public meetings, but atheists' legal threats forced the Commission to pass an all-inclusive policy.  As Monday's meeting began with a Muslim prayer, Mitchem walked out; later in the meeting, the Commission revised the policy to eliminate all prayers, of any kind.

“From the comments I got from (the other commissioners), saying that they were impressed with the all-embracing statements that were made in my invocation, that the recitation from the Quran was something that everyone could relate to, (that’s a win).”
-- Duston Barto, Foothills Interfaith Assembly (created to deliver non-Christian prayers at government meetings)

For background, read Muslim & Atheist Prayers OKd in Lincoln County, North Carolina

UPDATE 9/20/15: Only Christian Prayers Allowed by Arizona City

Click headlines below to read previous articles:

Florida Battles Satanic 'Prayer' City-by-City

Christian Prayer Outrages California City Council

Texas Sharia Tribunal Judge Gives Muslim Prayer at Rodeo

Pennsylvania School Staff to Mosque for Islamic Training

Students Required to Pretend Being Muslim in Wisconsin

Muslims in Washington, D.C. Force Christmas Off School Calendar

Also read Pseudo Prayer Mandatory at School in San Francisco



-- From "County commissioners end invocations after chair walks out" by The Associated Press 8/4/15

Local media outlets report commission chairman Carrol Mitchem left Monday's meeting after the leader of an interfaith group began his prayer. After the prayer, the commissioners took their action, replacing prayers with a moment of silence.

Commissioner Cecelia Martin first suggested the moment of silence in May, but the motion was defeated. A prayer policy was adopted that allowed any local religious leader or representative of that denomination to deliver an invocation.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Commissioners opt for moment of silence after Muslim prayer" by Adam Lawson, Staff Writer, Lincoln Times-News 8/5/15

. . . After chastising Board of Commissioners Chairman Carrol Mitchem for walking out of the chamber prior to Barto’s speech, Commissioner Alex Patton motioned to scrap the county’s barely two-month-old all-inclusive invocation policy for a moment of silence.

Members of the Foothills Interfaith Assembly, which Barto formed along with Wiccan priest Tony Brown, questioned the timing of the decision — which occurred only after a non-Christian delivered a prayer — and the fact that it occurred without allowing public comment. Hickory Humanist Alliance member William Keener was set to give the invocation at the Aug. 17 meeting, but that has now been effectively canceled.

Patton said the decision came as a result of a lack of participation from area churches.

“The problem is there is 102 churches in Lincoln County, plus these that have popped up recently from other religions,” Patton said. “(County clerk Amy Atkins) can’t advertise, so there’s no real way to get them in.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Governing bodies take notice of Supreme Court ruling on prayer at public meetings" by Elizabeth Heffner, Staff Writer, Lincoln Times-News 5/12/14

The U.S. Supreme Court has given [last year] limited approval to public prayers at a New York town’s board meeting, citing the country’s history of religious acknowledgement in its legislature.

“There was a ruling today by the Supreme Court, if I understand this correctly, that now any government can pray to the Lord, to Jesus — however you want to pray, you can pray,” [Carroll] Mitchem said.

“I hope in the future that we, as commissioners, go back to our original way of having prayers and saying what we want to say. Now, if somebody don’t like it, they get up, walk out and leave so we can pray the way we want to pray. If they don’t like it, they can leave and then come back in afterwards. I hope to continue that as long as I have a mind and body…at the next commissioner meeting, I expect us to pray the way we want to pray.”

Commissioner Alex Patton agreed with Mitchem’s request.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Atheist Prayer Complaint Costs Mississippi School $7500+

And read Texas School Supt. Tells Atheists to Go Fly a Kite

Florida School Teaches Islam Including Prayer Rugs

Ron Wagner, a parent of Lyman High School in Longwood, FL who says he's "not religious," complained that his 10th grade son was forced to make an Islamic prayer rug and recite “There is no god, but [Allah]. Muhamad is the messenger of [Allah].”  The school's curriculum director stood by the assignment, and claimed that a printing error was to blame for omitting 100 pages of Christian and Jewish history while including portions of the Koran.

“The Pillars of Islam are benchmarks in the state curriculum.”
-- Dr. Michael Blasewitz, Seminole County Schools

“We see how radicals have kidnapped this religion and presented it as their own version of Islam. We need something that . . . will dispel these horrendous and malicious distortions of one of the great world religions.”
-- Daniel Alvarez, Department of Religious Studies, Florida International University

UPDATE 11/21/15: U.S. Schools Force Islamic Terrorist Singing, ISIS Recruiting Poster Drawing

UPDATE 9/7/15: Tennessee Students Taught Muslim Prayer of Conversion

UPDATE 4/18/15: Students Required to Pretend Being Muslim in Wisconsin

UPDATE 4/19/15: Celebrate Islam Day Canceled at Ohio School

UPDATE 6/11/15: School Staff to Mosque for Islamic Training in Pennsylvania

For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:

Massachusetts Students Forced To Learn Muslim Conversion

Colorado School Visits Mosque, Enforces Sharia Law for Girls' Dress

Islamic Group Caught Converting Students in Seminole County

And read myriad examples of public schools favoring Islam.

Atheists, Satanists Force Bible Ban in Florida

Christian Behavior Banned from Seminole County School Football

Seminole County Teacher Forbids Kindergartner from Bowing Head Over Lunch

Click for FOX News report

-- From "School district under fire for Islamic teachings" by George Brown, WREG-TV3 (Memphis, TN) 2/10/15

It’s isn’t so much that Wagner is against Islam that the district was focusing on one religion, heavily.

“There’s a difference between teaching of the significance or the impact of a religion and teaching the specific tenets of a religion,” Wagner said.

Dr. Blasewitz said the missing pages about Judaism and Christianity are the result of a manufacturing defect, but did not say whether the district will request new books.

Before walking out on the interview, Dr. Blasewitz said students learn about other religions in earlier grades.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Dad protests Islamic lessons at school" posted at WFTV-TV9 (Orlando, FL) 2/9/15

"Students were instructed to recite this prayer as the first Pillar of Islam, off of the board at the teacher's instruction," Wagner claims.

Wagner, who is not religious, said he had no idea the public school was teaching so extensively about religion until he spotted a text on his son's phone from a teacher reminding him to complete a prayer rug assignment and study an Islam packet.

Inside of the book is a chapter dedicated to the "Rise of Islam," including prayers and scriptures from the Quran. What's more disturbing for Wagner is that the first 100 pages discussing Judaism and Christianity are missing. The district blames a manufacturer defect in 68 books that are only a year old.

[Dr.] Blasewitz got frustrated and stormed out when 9 Investigates asked whether the district is considering changes to the curriculum. [See full raw video interview.]

"You're just going to walk away from our interview when we're trying to get information," said investigative reporter Daralene Jones.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "FIU unveils its Center for Muslim World Studies at COSMOS [fifth annual Coalition of South Florida Muslim Organizations’ community appreciation] dinner" by Paradise Afshar, Special to the Miami Herald 2/9/15

“I think we all agree that it’s now time to go beyond the Middle East, as a focus of our current scale program, and to look at Islam on a global scale,” said Florida International University Provost Kenneth Furton. “And so I’m pleased to announce that we’re launching an initiative to establish the Center for Muslim World Studies.”

“This new center will explore the diversity and complexity of Islam worldwide, and will also highlight the interconnections between Islam and globalization,” Furton said.

The intention is for the Center to address three main themes: the global Muslim diaspora, interfaith dialogue, and Islam and security.

The Center for Muslim World Studies is in the initiative phase as it seeks the minimum $5 million endowment required by the university to establish a new center. The money is intended to ensure that the center will continue in perpetuity, according to David Skipp, associate director for advancement for FIU’s School of International and Public Affairs.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read President Obama Compares Christians to Islamic Terrorists

Surviving a Terrorist Attack: Deny Christ or Die

The objective of worldwide jihadist terrorism is on full display, but how will American elected leaders portray it? In this week's Kenyan mall attack, as the al-Shabaab jihadists quizzed shoppers of their knowledge of Islam, they killed those who failed the test -- the Christians.  Will Americans now be advised to memorize Koranic verses in order to survive terrorist attacks?

"The extremists are gaining ground rapidly. It is not just the poor but the rich as well who are rapidly coming under the influence of extremist ideology or becoming latent-radical."
-- Ayesha Siddiqa, a defense and security analyst, based in Islamabad, Pakistan

For background, read President Obama's Army Says Christians are Worst Terrorists and also read President Obama on Jihad: Islam is a Great Religion as well as American Public School Textbooks Teach "Jihad" means "Doing Good Works"

-- From "Analysis: Nairobi mall attack strikes at Africa's boom image" by Pascal Fletcher, Reuters 9/23/13

From Mali to Algeria, Nigeria to Kenya, violent Islamist groups - tapping into local poverty, conflict, inequality or exclusion but espousing a similar anti-Western, anti-Christian creed - are striking at state authority and international interests, both economic and political.

They "called on all Muslims to leave the shopping center," Israeli businessman Yariv Kedar wrote in an eyewitness account published by the Tel Aviv daily Yedioth Ahronoth.

Other survivors told reporters that those who identified themselves as Muslims were ordered to recite a verse from the Koran, or to name the Prophet Mohammed's mother. Those who could do so were allowed to go; those who failed the test were killed.

This religious factor is a common denominator of nearly all of the insurgencies and conflicts across the Sahel, northern Nigeria and the Sudans, into east Africa and the Horn of Africa. It follows the historical faultlines of where the mostly Islamicised north of the continent meets the predominantly Christian and non-Muslim south below the Sahara.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Former L.I. University Instructor Among Kenya Mall Attack Victims" by The Associated Press and CBS News New York 9/23/13

[Nairobi mall shopper Dorcas Mwangi of Athens, Ga.] said terrorists were shooting hostages who could not recite a Muslim prayer. Her brother texted her crucial information.

“My brother sent me the Muslim Shahad prayer to memorize,” she said.

Mwangi was never spotted and made it out.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Pakistan Christians take to the streets after bombing" by Naila Inayat, Special for USA TODAY 9/23/13

In the wake of the worst ever attack on Pakistan's Christian minority . . . Critics worry that the government is only allowing the Islamists time to get stronger.

More than 85 people were killed at the All Saints Church in Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday after a pair of suicide bombers targeted the Christian building, injuring hundreds of worshipers. A wing of the Tehrik-i-Taliban claimed it launched the attack.

Hundreds of Christians all over the country took to the streets. . . . In the southern port city of Karachi, a few hundred demonstrators chanted "Stop killing Christians!" and demanded that those who attacked their community be held accountable.

The bombing of the church was just the latest act of terrorism to set off a crisis in Pakistan over the Taliban [and al-Qaeda].

Earlier this year, a mob in Lahore burnt down two churches and more than a hundred Christian houses, and dozens of other attacks have taken place since June.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Dying Nigerian Pastor: 'I Will Never Deny My Savior'" by Katherine Russell, Christian Post 8/2/13

On May 14, in plain view of his wife and one daughter, suspected Boko Haram Islamic terrorist members gunned down Rev. Faye Pama Musa, general overseer of the Rhema Assembly International Church and secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Borno state.

“Today you are a dead man. Call your Jesus to help you, Mr. CAN man,” one of the terrorists shouted.

Musa did not give up without a fight. While wrestling with the three men, he continually called upon Jesus [saying] “I will never deny my Savior.”

According to the Associated Press, since 2010 the Boko Haram network is responsible for the killings of more than 1,600 people, many of them Christians.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Christians, Extinct in Middle East, as Islam Wins

In addition, read Muslim Beheads Christians in New Jersey per Koran

Tennessee School Visits Mosque, No Time for Church

After Sumner County, Tennessee parents adamantly complained, the new Hendersonville High School policy forbids any field trips, of any kind, to religious sites.  As part of a World Studies class, students were taken to the Islamic Center of Nashville and given Korans.  Students who refused an alternate indoctrination lesson were given a "zero grade."

“Someone needs to be held accountable. They are our children – not theirs.”
-- Mike Conner, parent

For background, read Public School Trip to Mosque in Massachusetts, Students Pray and also read Islam Favored over Christianity in Florida Textbook

In addition, read Allah Worshiped in Memphis Church and also in Virginia Methodist Church



-- From "School receives backlash after student field trip to mosque" by Nadia Ramdass, WATE-TV6 (Knoxville) 9/18/13

. . . parents were outraged that the trip did not include stops at a Christian church or a Jewish synagogue for a better understanding of each religion.

Following the backlash, Sumner County Schools spokesman Jeremy Johnson released a statement which said, in part, "After receiving a parent complaint regarding field trip locations, our district has reviewed the practice and decided to eliminate field trips to religious venues from this class, as it does not provide equal representation to all the religions studied in the course unit."

It continued, "This decision was made due to the fact that equal representation in regards to field trips for all religions studied in the course is not feasible. Per our district policy, the student who requested to not participate in the field trip was given a suitable alternative assignment that was agreed upon by both the teacher and parent."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Students Take Field Trip to Mosque, Receive Koran" by Todd Starnes, FoxNews.com 9/17/13

“If you can’t go to all five [local religious sites], why are you going to any?” asked parent Mike Conner. “We sent the principal an email and voiced our concerns. She sent back a reply and told us they could not afford to go to all five.”

Children were given punch and cookies at the mosque where they listened to readings from the Koran, Conner said. They were also given copies of the Islamic holy book – which some students took and others declined.

During their visit to the Hindu temple, students engaged in meditation.

“Our kids are being indoctrinated and this is being shoved in their face,” Conner told Fox News. “It tells me they are pushing other religions and they want Christianity to take a back seat. They want our children to be tolerant of everything except Christianity.”

Conner told Fox News his 14-year-old stepdaughter Jessica decided not to attend the trip. So her teachers instructed her to write a paper comparing and contrasting the Christian, Hindu and Islamic faiths. That’s when his daughter noticed something strange.

“There was one page on the sayings of Jesus, two-thirds of a page on the sayings of Gandhi, and five pages on Muhammed,” Conner said.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Hollywood, Cure for Islamophobia: Katie Couric

Muslim Beheads Christians in New Jersey per Koran

After months of gun violence stories flooding the nation-wide airwaves, the story of two Christians being gunned down by a Muslim has received little coverage.  The killer severed the heads and the hands of his victims in the manner prescribed in the Koran -- the holy book of Islam.

UPDATE 5/10/15: FBI Director Says Satan Leads Islamic Terrorists

For background, read Muslim Prayer in Wisconsin School and also read Teaching Islam in Georgia Schools Challenged as well as Public School Teaching Islam Closed by Minnesota

Also read how the mainstream media views Americans as Islamophobic (along with extensive background links).



-- From "Police: Yusuf Ibrahim cut off heads, hands of 2 men" posted at News 12 New Jersey 2/11/13

According to police, Yusuf Ibrahim was arrested Sunday in a Bayonne apartment after an extensive search across multiple locations.

State police say Ibrahim shot and killed two men he knew during an argument in a parked car sometime after Feb. 3. Police say Ibrahim cut off the men's heads and hands, and then buried the body parts separately in the woods in South Jersey.

Ibrahim faces two counts each of murder and desecration of human remains.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Jersey City man accused in decapitation murders makes court appearance" by Michaelangelo Conte, The Jersey Journal 2/14/13

. . . Police have said both victims were foreign nationals.

On Feb. 7, troopers received a report of suspicious activity at a home in Buena Vista Township. A search located the bodies in a shallow grave, officials said, adding that their heads and hands were nearby.

New Jersey State Police are conducting the investigation into the murders and they have released no information on a possible motive for the killing and few details on the investigation and allegations.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "2 Jersey City slaying victims' bodies flown home to Egypt after Coptic funeral" by Michaelangelo Conte, The Jersey Journal 2/16/13

On the same day their accused killer appeared in court on a shooting and robbery charge, the bodies of two Jersey City men were shipped home to Egypt yesterday via Egypt Air.

A funeral service for Hanny F. Tawadros, 25, and Amgad A. Konds, 27, was held at noon Wednesday at St. George & St. Shenouda Coptic Orthodox Church on Bergen Avenue in Jersey City. Their remains departed from Kennedy Airport in New York yesterday and were flown to Cairo, Egypt.

St. George and St. Shenouda Pastor Rev. David Bebawy said the men attended services at the church, but he did not know for how long or how often. Bebawy said as far as he knew, the men had no family members in the United States.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Muslim accused of beheading 2 Christians in U.S." by Bob Unruh, World Net Daily 2/19/13

Pamela Geller, who blogs about Islam at Atlas Shrugs, said it “appear have been a ritual killing, religious in nature.”

“The victims were Coptic Christians and the murderer was Muslim (and we are painfully aware of the status and treatment of Coptic Christians under Muslim rule in Egypt),” she wrote.

“The killing evokes this passage in the Quran: ‘When thy Lord was revealing to the angels, ‘I am with you; so confirm the believers. I shall cast into the unbelievers’ hearts terror; so smite above the necks, and smite every finger of them!” – Quran 8:12.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Obama Honors 9/11 Muslim Heroes at White House as well as U.N., Muslims to Strip U.S. of Religious Liberty

Public School Teaching Islam Closed by Minnesota

A Minneapolis-area publicly-funded charter school led by two Muslim imams, sharing the address of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, has been shut down by the Minnesota Education Department due to unlawful Islamic proselytizing.

For background, read Muslim Public School in Minnesota and also read Hollywood is the Cure for Islamophobia, says Katie Couric (see article list at bottom)

-- From "TiZA ponders legal options after state moves to shut down school" by Tom Weber, Minnesota Public Radio 7/5/11

[Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy] director Asad Zaman said the state's rejection of its request for a new authorizer raised issues that were brought up in a two-year old lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota that's still pending.

For example, the ACLU claims the curriculum used to teach the Arabic language is sectarian, and illegally brings religion into a public school. Most of the school's students are Muslim.

Leaders of Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy, which was established eight years ago, acknowledge their prospects of reopening are gloomy. As of now, the state no longer considers TiZA a public school.

TiZA also filed for bankruptcy last week, a move Zaman said was made to protect its financial obligations.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "TiZA charter school tells judge it's considering 'options'" by Sarah Lemagie, Minneapolis Star Tribune 8/3/11

TiZA's board decided Tuesday night that it will proceed with closure and dissolution in bankruptcy court. At a hearing Wednesday morning, however, the school's bankruptcy attorney told a judge that, while the board agreed to cease operations as a Minnesota charter school, TiZA is still "considering other options."

The position surprised many in the Minneapolis courtroom of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Kressel. "I'm not sure what the other options are," Kressel said, pressing for a clearer indication of TiZA's plans.

Three key potential creditors -- the state Education Commissioner, former authorizer Islamic Relief USA and the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota [a $250,000 judgment for ACLU's legal fees] -- have called for a trustee to oversee TiZA's assets. They have cited "fraud and dishonesty" by the school and raised concerns that money will be funneled to Islamic groups and participants in the school's operations.

ACLU attorney Peter Lancaster said after the hearing that the group is concerned "about any effort to use public money to set up a private Islamic school."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "TiZA parents may be trying to start a school" by Sarah Lemagie, Minneapolis Star Tribune 8/12/11

TiZA director Asad Zaman, who has denied that the charter school promoted Islam, said this week that he knows little about what the parents are planning. "I have nothing to do with them," he said, adding that "TiZA has not paid for anybody's efforts to open a school."

"We have always supported the rights of groups to form private schools," said ACLU attorney Teresa Nelson, adding that "the one concern that we have is just to make sure that TiZA resources and basically government, state resources are not being used to help the school form."

. . . TiZA's former students are scattering to neighborhood, charter and private schools such as the Islamic school Al-Amal in Fridley, according to several parents.

But some parents "came together and established the new private school called Blaine Academy," according to a message sent this month by a writer identified as Fayyaz Khan on a mailing group for Twin Cities Muslims.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Obama Honors 9/11 Muslim Heroes at White House and also read Schools Teach Sharia Law & Anti-Semitism

Liberal 'christians' Praise Allah June 26th

Christian clergy at churches across the country will host readings from the Qur’an and other sacred religious texts as they welcome their Muslim and Jewish colleagues on Sunday, June 26, 2011 for Faith Shared: Uniting in Prayer and Understanding.

UPDATE 6/2/11: Priest says it's a “good thing for the church” to publicly recognize the existence of Islam.

-- From "Clergy plan Qur’an readings to combat anti-Muslim bigotry" by Jeff Kunerth, Orlando Sentinel 5/17/11

Faith Shared is a project of Interfaith Alliance and Human Rights First, which seeks to send a message both here at home and to the Arab and Muslim world about our respect for Islam. The National Cathedral in Washington, DC, along with 50 churches in 26 states have committed to participating in this effort.

[Interfaith Alliance President Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy said,] “Appreciation for pluralism and respect for religious freedom and other human rights are at the core of our democracy.”

A full list of participating houses of worship can be found at faithshared.org.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Christians, Muslims, Jews to share sacred texts" by Bob Allen, Associated Baptist Press 5/17/11

Contrary to highly publicized anti-Islam statements from some U.S. Christian leaders . . . churches involved in the Faith Shared project “want to read each other’s scriptures instead of burn them.”

[National Cathedral Dean Sam Lloyd said,] “As Americans and people of faith, we must use our great traditions to come together for mutual enrichment and understanding.”

By coming together to read from and hear each other’s sacred texts, organizers believe Christian, Jewish and Muslim clergy will model respect and cooperation in ways that create concrete opportunities to build and strengthen working ties between their faiths.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Allah Worshiped in Virginia Methodist Church

Britons Burn Koran, Face Jail for Hate Crime

Six men [have been arrested, and] could face charges of inciting racial hatred after a video of them burning copies of the Koran on the anniversary of 9/ 11 was posted on YouTube. . . . charges carrying a maximum sentence of seven years in jail.

-- From "'We are English nationalists acting out of frustration': Defiance of yobs who set fire to the Koran" by David Williams, Paul Sims and Nick Fagge, UK Daily Mail 9/24/10

The video shows the men – wearing tea towels around their heads – setting the Muslim holy book ablaze after dousing it with fuel behind a pub in Gateshead, Tyneside.

At one point, a laughing man kicks what appears to be a Koran while his friends shout: ‘This is for the boys in Afghanistan. September 11, international burn a Koran day, for all the people of 9/11.

[Officials are considering] whether to bring charges under the 1986 Public Order Act – charges carrying a maximum sentence of seven years in jail.

The men said they should not have been arrested because ‘ Muslims are allowed to burn British flags’. One man, a 37-year- old unemployed father, said: ‘It wasn’t so much planned as more we were driven to do it.

‘Now there seems to be one law for them and one law for us. They can burn a Union Flag and the Stars and Stripes, but we get arrested for burning a few sheets of paper.’

To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.

Hauled into Court for Expressing Opinion on Religion

A Dutch court has ordered prosecutors to put a right-wing politician on trial for making anti-Islamic statements.

-- From "Islam film Dutch MP to be charged" BBC News 1/21/09

Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders made a controversial film last year equating Islam with violence and has likened the Koran to Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf.

The opening scenes of Fitna - a Koranic term sometimes translated as "strife" - show a copy of the holy book followed by footage of the bomb attacks on the US on 11 September 2001, London in July 2005 and Madrid in March 2004.

"In a democratic system, hate speech is considered so serious that it is in the general interest to... draw a clear line," the court in Amsterdam said.

Mr Wilders said the judgement was an "attack on the freedom of expression".

"Participation in the public debate has become a dangerous activity. If you give your opinion, you risk being prosecuted," he said.

The three judges said that they had weighed Mr Wilders's "one-sided generalisations" against his right to free speech, and ruled that he had gone beyond the normal leeway granted to politicians.

"The court also considers appropriate criminal prosecution for insulting Muslim worshippers because of comparisons between Islam and Nazism made by Wilders," [the court said in a statement.]

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said at the time that the film wrongly equated Islam with violence and served "no purpose other than to offend".

To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.

Flush Koran Go to Jail - 'Hate' Crimes Arrest in NY

From "Hate-crime arrests in Quran desecrations at Pace University" by newsday.com, posted 7/27/07

A 23-year-old man was arrested Friday on hate-crime charges after he threw a Quran in a toilet at Pace University on two separate occasions, police said.

Stanislav Shmulevich of Brooklyn was arrested on charges of criminal mischief and aggravated harassment, both hate crimes, police said. It was unclear if he was a student at the school. A message left at the Shmulevich home was not immediately returned.

The Islamic holy book was found in a toilet at Pace's lower Manhattan campus by a teacher on Oct. 13. A student discovered another book in a toilet on Nov. 21, police said.

Muslim activists had called on Pace University to crack down on hate crimes after the incidents. As a result, the university said it would offer sensitivity training to its students.

The school was accused by Muslim students of not taking the incident seriously enough at first. Pace classified the first desecration of the holy book as an act of vandalism, but university officials later reversed themselves and referred the incident to the New York Police Department's hate crimes unit.

The incidents came amid a spate of vandalism cases with religious or racial overtones at the school. In an earlier incident on Sept. 21, the school reported another copy of the Quran was found in a library toilet, and in October someone scrawled racial slurs on a student's car at the Westchester County satellite campus and on a bathroom wall at the campus in lower Manhattan. Police did not connect Shmulevich to those incidents.

While we cannot approve of this man's actions, an arrest seems pretty extreme does it not?

After all, 'artists' are given awards and TAX DOLLARS for submerging crucifixes in urine...

Read the rest of this story.