Of the 76 countries that persecute people for their sexual orientation, Iran will let an Islamic judge put them to death; Mauritania and Yemen will kill by public stoning; Saudi Arabia and parts of Nigeria and Somalia will do it based on their interpretation of Sharia law; Sudan will kill their citizens; and Iraq will sit passively as rogue militias hunt, torture and kill LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) persons.
If we have learned anything from all this brouhaha surrounding Park51, it's that there is a need to elevate the voices of moderate Muslim thinkers. These eight countries offer eight reasons that emphasize the importance of these efforts. In many societies with Muslim majorities, there is a violent attitude towards homosexuals that goes far beyond general condemnation into promoting coercive laws that imprison and kill.
When I spoke this August with Ali Hili, an exiled Muslim from Iraq now living in London, it was evident that he has seen and heard it all when it comes to persecution of homosexuals. Ali explained how the death of one of his friends who was doused in gasoline and burned alive prompted him to advocate for Iraq's gay community through an organization that he co-founded, called Iraqi LGBT.
On a daily basis Ali's group receives information about the dangerous plight of gays back home. "I get information about people getting rounded up and stopped at check points ... people stopped by police and arrested and taken into custody and questioned." He believes that violence towards gays prospers in Iraq because "religious fundamentalists are preaching and urging their followers to target, attack and kill homosexuals."
Since the start of the Iraq war, sectarian divisions have been ripped into the fabric of Iraqi culture, and so extremist militias who are already targeting minority faith communities have absorbed this issue and are using murder and torture as a tool to enforce their morality. The Human Rights Watch released a chilling report last fall, "They Want Us Exterminated," which underscores this point. It describes how LGBT Iraqis have been held in captivity for their orientation, tortured, raped and killed by members of these groups who are propagating fear in the name of Islam. However in Iraq and beyond, there are individuals who have the power to change these draconian attitudes and systems.
Moderate spiritual voices, especially from the Muslim community, must stand up and speak out. Faith leaders must combat the radicalism that is attempting to dominate this issue. Given the hostile conditions in some countries, it is certainly a challenge to find the right forums for discourse, but it must happen on the local, national and global level. As Ali explained from his experience, "the average Iraqi person is quite tolerant towards gays and lesbians. The topic is still a taboo. It's still practiced in private." However, "the religious head-leaders are the major problem who are causing this huge wave of violence ... motivated by their personal agendas."
We have seen in recent days the scorn some moderate Muslim leaders, like Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, have faced in their attempt to promote a positive direction for Islamic thinking in their communities and around the world. But if moderate Muslim leaders do not receive the support they need, and if they do not continue to challenge this extreme behavior, these same problems to varying degrees will persist in society.
There are fundamentalist Christians, Jews and secular individuals who are similarly guilty for institutionalizing or promoting prejudicial laws and harmful behavior towards LGBT persons. However what is happening inside these eight Muslim-majority countries and states is far more extreme and radical. We cannot sit back while spiritual and government leaders continue to promote the systematic killing or persecution of any individual for the sexual orientation that God gave him or her. People of all faiths must promote that familiar idea learned at an early age, "Love thy neighbor as you would love thy self," because when it comes to homosexuality, religion isn't the problem; it's only those who use it to promote violence and hate.
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...and who are so thoughtless as to follow the teachings of their religion.
Count on it: the bloodthirsty religious nuts of the world are those that follow their Holy Writ to the last letter!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QMcfSuJkMo&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7iLn8_8ZmI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUZiMCsNNcQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob2X7TXXVtk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arSOqhUngWw
All those people who belief it is genetic have bought in to LGBT activist-initiated myth.
It is much "easier" to "accept" homosexuality if one has been lead to believe it is genetic.
And that was the point of the myth.
A Conversation with Ruth Hubbard
Copyright © 1997 by Frank R. Aqueno. All rights reserved.
This conversation took place at the Cambridge, Massachusetts home of Ruth Hubbard on October 10, 1993, following the conclusion of the OutWrite '93 (Gay and Lesbian Writer's Conference) in Boston.
Ruth Hubbard (RH) is a professor emerita of biology at Harvard University. Author of The Politics of Women's Biology, among other books, she has worked and written on the politics of health care since the early 1970s. In 1993 Ruth Hubbard, and her son, Elijah Wald wrote Exploding The Gene Myth: How Genetic Information Is Produced and Manipulated by Scientists, Physicians, Employers, Insurance Companies, Educators, and Law Enforcers. (Beacon Press) An edition that includes an updated Afterword has been published in 1997.
Frank Aqueno (FRA) is a writer and performance artist. In 1987, he published his essay, "On Choosing a Homosexual Lifestyle". In 1992, Frank confronted Simon LeVay on the Donahue Show and again on CNBC's Real Personal. He was a panel member at OUTWRITE 93's discussion of 'Science and Politics'. In June 1997, Frank co:chaired a panel "Rejecting the Gay Brain - Queer Choice" at Emory University's "Queering the South". For further information about Frank's writing and performance work, visit FRANK'S PLACE.
http://gender.eserver.org/exploding-the-gene-myth.html
Francis collins, an evangelical chrstian and head of the national genopme project, has stated unequivocally that homosexuality may not be genetic, but is certainly hard wired.
muchg like being left handed.
Meanwhile, rleigion is certainly a choice. you can change your rleigion as often as you change your underwear. so, let's stop protecting rleigious minorites.
That's true. Religion is just a tool, a way to motivate people and control their behavior. In gentle hands it can be beneficial, and when controlled by hateful people, it is hateful.
So you're correct that Islam needs outspoken moderates, leaders with the vision to seek a peaceful path and the courage to call others to follow them. But where that's so desperately needed is NOT New York City. We need Islamic moderates in Iran, Afghanistan, Yemen and the other barbaric places you mentioned.
What is Imam Rauf's view on homosexuality? Surely he must support the Koran's unequivocal condemnation, at least for Muslims. Does he think it homosexual behavior should be legal? Should gays be able to adopt children? Does he support same-sex marriage? What about gays in the military? My bet is that on most of these questions Rauf will stand with anti-gay Christians. By Islamic standards he may be a moderate, but by American standards I suspect he's is a fundamentalist.
Gays have finally beaten fundamentalism back far enough that we're close to gaining equality in the USA. I'm afraid the growth of Islam amounts to last-minute reinforcements for those who think their bigotry, reinforced by their religion, should be the law of the land.
Several US senators including Nevada Senator John Ensign, Kansas Senator Sam Brownback, Oklahoma Senators Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley and Senator Mike Enzi of Wyoming are members of The Family.
For other religions, it seems to me that there is more room for personal reflection and choice so long as you do not fall under an orthodox sect, but does being a good muslim equate to how much you adhere to the Koran and what does it specifically say about some things such as treatment of women and homosexuals?
I understand how hard it can be for one to find their own path within their religion within their culture, but does the Koran make this easier or harder to do for some?
Just curious about some people's perspective on these things.
There are 5 cornerstones of Islam: Bearing witness that there is only one God, and that Mohammed (peace and blessings be upon him) is God's final witness/prophet to mankind, praying the 5 obligatory prayers every day, fasting the month of Ramadan, paying Zakaat, an obligatory charity, and performing Hajj at least once during your lifetime if you are financially and physically able.
Muslims should adhere to the Quran, and the Sunna, which are the sayings of Mohammed PBUH.
Sometimes going against the Quran is almost unavoidable in the world of today, eg. we are not allowed to pay usury/interest. Although there are Islamic Banks found in many places, sometimes it is difficult to adhere to that, but you have to make an effort.
Treatment of women is detailed clearly in the Quran - both their rights and duties.
This is in direct opposition to the poor treatment we see many women receiving today - this is cultural in origin, and due to poverty and ignorance - not due to the teachings of the Quran.
Even the rights of female babies killed through no fault of their own in pre-Islamic Arabia are laid out.
Homosexuality is considered a major sin in Islam, and different countries have their own penalties.
http://islam.about.com/od/islamsays/a/homosexuality.htm
http://www.suite101.com/content/islams-view-on-homosexuality-a213973
We are a tiny minority and I don't see the Muslim attitude towards homosexuals changing any time soon. They are not ready for it.
The best we can hope for is to strive for an end to the barbaric treatment of the homosexuals in some of the Muslim countries. But it cannot be done without the help and support of the United Nations and a lot of pressure from the UN and the Western countries, which need to denouce the Islamic regimes that have barbaric laws against the homosexuals.
I finally found a home in Paganism where God and Goddess accept all, "just as they are" so long as they do not harm others.
http://www.gayafghanistan.com/
Afghanistan as a prison for men.
Sadly the fundies do not see their views as hate. Talk about not being able to see the forest for the trees!
Some of us on the Left don't want any religious fundamentalism running or ruining anybody's life, anywhere on the planet, whether a majority votes for it or not.