HRS International

They delightedly applauded the chopping off of hands and feet. And they didn’t raise an eyebrow when executions committed by family agreement were defended as a reasonable ”human right in Islam.” Thus wrights Hege Storhaug.

I hope Charlie Hebdo recovers swiftly, as I'm sure it will. France's political and secular culture repeatedly shows itself more robust than that of most other societies, including our own. But when people wonder why it is that cultures go awry we will be able to point to moments such as this: when the foundations of your values are under assault and the walls are manned by phonies and fools.

“If such a crime occurs and if there are no witnesses, then both men and women are supposed to keep it under wraps and not discuss it in public.” These are the words of one Munawar Hasan, Ameer of the Jamat-i-Islami Pakistan, regarding rape.

On the 22nd of July I received a message from my mother in Islamabad while shopping at a busy market: “Please call and check if our loved ones are safe. There have been terrorist attacks in Oslo.” The fear of harm to loved ones is inevitable in today’s world of violence, especially when one resides in Pakistan. In the recent decade, deadly terrorist attacks in many a peaceful part of my beautiful country have made sure of this. Therefore it did not take long to absorb the idea that such violence had occurred in Norway.

The Dutch politician and critic of Islam has been found not guilty. But he remains an unfree man – and the mainstream media continue to smear him and distort his message, writes Bruce Bawer.

An important new book contemplates the ways in which the Holocaust has been remembered – and the ways in which that memory had been distorted.

After five years, a new poll reveals a surprising, and gratifying, shift of opinion in Norway in regard to the cartoons that changed the world.

Multiculturalism stands for very different values depending upon the individual analysing it. Therefore there is no point really in debating what the term means; rather it will be pertinent to take a closer look at what it means to certain people in order to conclude upon its current affect on societies that have embraced it as a value.

I had the great privilege of filming an interview with Hege Storhaug, a Norwegian human rights activist and close friend of Bruce Bawer, scheduled to speak in Ottawa June 8 2011 for the Free Thinking Film Society.

15.05.11:In light of recent debates in Norway regarding religious schools, it is important to take a look at the madrassas of Pakistan. It is only when one thoroughly understands them that one can make an informed judgement as to what a purportedly “mainstream” Muslim education in Norway would be likely to entail.

Last month, the government of Punjab in Pakistan issued a cheque worth roughly USD 5800 to the parents of Shazia, a 12-year-old Christian girl who died early last year. Her original postmortem report made it obvious that Shazia had endured physical abuse. She had old scars and fresh bruises and even the telltale signs of blunt-force trauma; also, she suffered from malnutrition and a lack of hygiene. It was clear that this young child, who had lived and worked in a wealthy Lahore household, had not died of natural causes.

Is it absurd to hope that the British royal wedding might help, in some small way, to bring about the massive change of mindset that Britain so desperately needs at this moment in history?

(Islamabad): Let’s start with a stark fact: most data indicates that the world’s Muslim populations are growing while the number of Christians worldwide is on the decline. Though it is difficult to make firm demographic projections about such matters, it is important to recognize that the growth of Islam in northern Europe may well result eventually in Muslim-majority societies governed by Islamic law.

On the 12th of April, France officially banned the face veil in public places and on public transport. Muslim women are still allowed to wear the veil inside their homes, at places of worship (where, ironically enough, they can’t wear it, as the face must be visible during prayer) and in their own private vehicles. For all the outrage this ban has caused, it’s important to look closely at the politics at play here.

Women are fighting in the streets of Paris. Alas, they are not fighting against Islamic gender apartheid—they are not protesting arranged marriage or honor killings. Instead, they are fighting for the right to veil their faces.

"As Muslims, we are not encouraged to discover, to interpret, and to gauge our own feelings. We are told that you can either follow Islam as a strict code, predefined by your elders, or you can declare yourself a non-Muslim and live in exile from your community. This will not work, and it is not working. The need for freedom in religion is an important catalyst for basic human evolution."

My own beautiful mother was told time and again by my father that she was lucky he married her, because she was dark-skinned. Racism, in short, is a stark reality of day-to-day life in Pakistan.

The man known as Raymond Davis (it is not his real name, as American authorities point out) was acquitted last week by a court in Lahore on charges of murdering two Pakistani men. The question that needs to be asked is this: has Pakistan become so poor that the lives of men are worth money in return for murder?

An article in the Oslo student newspaper puts a grotesquely cheery spin on terribly grim tidings.

I can honestly say that sexual abuse is actively hidden in Pakistani society, and in Muslim society generally. I also know that a large percentage of the people I have grown up with have experienced some form of it.

Pakistan’s minister for minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti, a man with a family, was murdered Wednesday last week. He was shot outside his home, in a relatively secure residential area of Islamabad, a relatively secure city in Pakistan. He is the second high government official to be murdered for fighting the human-rights violations contained in Pakistan’s blasphemy law.

In terms of values, 2010 was a red-letter year for Norway. Our innocence was destroyed. From one end of the country to the other, and in no uncertain terms, Islamists proclaimed their sinister message.

“Until now,” writes Giulio Meotti, “there was not one book devoted to Israel’s dead.” Now, thanks to Meotti, there is. And it doesn’t shrink from pointing out that Europe, where the Holocaust was carried out, is no innocent bystander at today’s systematic slaughter of the Jews.

As my ancient forefathers, the Vikings would have said: It is always good to fight. It is better to win.