The two seem inextricably linked. It isn’t very often that this blog gets to abuse Islam (mainly because it is still very much a minority religion where we live) but this week has produced two wonderful examples of who religion and rationality are still very much apart.
First off we had the breath-taking madness in which an English woman (foolishly) teaching in Sudan has been arrested because she allowed her class to name a teddy bear Mohammed (see nullifidian’s post on the matter). Despite the fact this teddy was apparently named after one of the boys in the school, this has been seen as a vile insult to Islam for which she faces either a year in a Sudanese jail or 40 lashes. What a wonderful, rational, modern-thinking religion this is.
Oddly, the radio news today had some voice clips of various officials in Sudan saying it was a minor offence and she would be released without charge “in a few hours.” As the radio presenter pointed out, she is still locked up awaiting her trial and punishment. Religion really is not a force for the good of the world.
Next, hot on the heels of the Sudanese lunatics we get Turkey. Turkey is often thought of as being a more secular Islamic nation, and indeed has lots of secular-style laws. Obviously in this day and age, it is losing credibility with the other holy book waving nutjobs and feels the need to prove it is actually just as insane as the next Islamic nation. Well done Turkey.
It seems that some one in Turkey has read the God Delusion and has been offended by it. Not being the type of person to simply stop reading, this person has complained to the state. I am tempted to call the police on a daily basis as a result of being offended by pretty much every tabloid newspaper in the country. Sadly, unlike the backward UK, Turkey has some wonderful legislation (Article 301) and this has been enacted. I am not fully sure how the religious offence caused by the wonderful God Delusion has been equated to this part of the article:
A person who, being a Turk, explicitly insults the Republic or Turkish Grand National Assembly, shall be punishable by imprisonment of between six months to three years
It remains possible that this whole issue is a publicity stunt, so I will refrain from any real vitriol over it for a while
Publicity stunt or otherwise, it does highlight the barking madness which results from allowing religious authorities to exercise power in a secular manner. Pretty much every country I can think of has laws based on the teachings of the national religion, and while lots of these are acceptable by a secular standard there are more than a few which are insane.
While it is funny to mock religions (and nations) that we in the west think of as being a little “rural,” we have to remember that modern, 21st century, secular, Britain still has Blasphemy on its statute books.
Religion + Law = Idiocy + Madness.