Leaving Islam

Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer have quite a tale to tell: they contracted with Miami-Dade Transit to put ads on buses offering help to those who want to leave Islam. Traditionally, leaving Islam - apostasy - merits the death penalty. Only by threatening to sue Dade-Transit were they able to run the ads, which had been opposed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

And this, folks, is the land of freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Time indeed to wake up!

(Thanks to Jihad Watch.)

Maternal love

The blog Smooth Stone reports about the fate of a young Moroccan man who converted from Islam to Christianity in Canada. His mother arranged for two young men to throw him off the fourth floor balcony of a mall; he survived but will probably be in a wheelchair the rest of his life.

Obama and apostasy

This is a theoretical question, but it's one that keeps nagging me: Obama was definitely born a Muslim, and definitely converted to Christianity as an adult. Americans, myself included, consider him to be a Christian - but what do Muslims think he is?

In principle the punishment for apostasy, for leaving Islam, is death. This is hardly ancient history. Jihad Watch reports here the recent beheading in Somalia of a Muslim apostate. If Obama is elected President, he'll have a very fine security detail, so the risk of beheading is presumably nil. But will Muslim leaders bring up his apostasy if Obama backs some policy that they don't like?

Muslim apostates in the West

David Rusin of Islamist Watch has produced a short report on the dangers facing Muslim apostates in the West, including in the United States. It's sobering and should be required reading for all. Among other things, it demonstrates the need to shine the light of day on what Muslim authorities here are saying.

That is the approach taken by UK Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali. He has challenged prominent Muslim leaders to affirm the right of all individuals to change their faith; so far none has volunteered to do so. Meanwhile, opinion polls report that some 36% of young British Muslims think the penalty for apostasy should be death.

Qaradawi blasts Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI was on the receiving end of a blast from Islamic spiritual leader Sheikh Yousuf al-Qaradawi (who heads up the European Council for Fatwa and Research, among other things). What bothered Qaradawi? The Pope's very public baptism of former Muslim and outspoken anti-Islamist Majdi Allam. See this report on Jihad Watch for details. It's getting harder and harder to classify Qaradawi as 'moderate.'