Jesus and Mo Author was on Newsnight talking to Jeremy Paxman an hour ago – which I didn’t know until it was over, so I missed it, because the BBC doesn’t let people watch outside the UK. He was incognito of course, with the shadow thing and the spooky voice thing.

What we can see, though, is a segment from Channel 4 (yes them again) in which Mo Shafiq and his bully friends meet with the LibDems but are disappointed in their attempt to get Maajid Nawaz deselected.

On a happier note, they also talk to Mohammed Amin of the Conservative Muslim Forum, who says the threateners and shouters are the ones who are giving Muslims a bad name and … Read the rest

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From the Onion – Woman Takes Short Half-Hour Break From Being Feminist To Enjoy TV Show.

Oh yes, I know how that goes.

Jenkins, 29, told reporters that after a long and tiring day at her office, all she wanted to do was return home, sit down on her couch, turn on an episode of the TLC reality show Say Yes To The Dress, and treat herself to a brief half hour in which she could look past all the various and near constant ways popular culture undermines the progress of women.

“Every once in a while, it’s nice to watch a little television without worrying about how frequently the mainstream media perpetuates traditional gender roles,” Jenkins said

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Author has his response.

Damn right. By doing that stupid, stupid, stupid thing yesterday Channel 4 simply re-enforced the stereotype that all Muslims are enraged bullies who demand the power to silence anything they dislike.… Read the rest

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The Guardian has more detail on the suppression of Malala’s book launch.

Malala Yousafzai’s book was due to be launched at an event on Monday at Peshawar University but organisers were forced to scrap it after the intervention of two senior members of the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province (KP).

The episode underlines the antipathy among many Pakistanis towards the 16-year-old who campaigned for education in the face of Taliban opposition.

While she has been hailed in the west for her campaign against extremism, in Pakistan she is widely regarded with suspicion, with many people believing conspiracy theories that the story of the Taliban attempt to assassinate her as she travelled to school in October 2012 was untrue or

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Another PBUH from Gnu Atheism.

 … Read the rest

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Meanwhile, in Peshawar – there was going to be an event to launch Malala Yousafzai’s book today, but it got canceled because some bullies demanded that it should be.

The book launch had been organised by Peshawar University’s Area Study Centre in collaboration with the Bacha Khan Education Trust (BKET), a non-profit education network set up by the secular Pashtun ANP party, and a civil society NGO called Strengthening Participatory Organisation (SPO).

Dr Hussain of BKET said that police had informed organisers they could not provide security for the programme. But he added that political pressure had also been put on the university administration to suspend the event.

“Two ministers of the KP government put pressure on the university

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Says Joe, “But I ain’t dead.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_yC4ffyGiw… Read the rest

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We’re women and men together, we shall not be moved.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt7soE8gVf8… Read the rest

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Now we stand outcast and starving, ‘mid the wonders we have made.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly5ZKjjxMNM… Read the rest

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Pete Seeger.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b24Ewk934g… Read the rest

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More tunnel-visioned dogma-drunk hate-mongering for your enlightenment.

University of Plymouth Islamic Society

Plymouth ISoc

ATTENTION ALL STUDENTS!! …… MASS DEMONSTRATION ALERT!

The university has decided NOT to listen to the concerns of hundreds of it’s British & international students regarding banning the Quilliam Foundation event this Wednesday!

Maajid Nawaz (the chairman of QF) has recently posted offensive cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad and Jesus (peace be upon them) from a comic strip called “Jesus and Mo” which features them drinking at the bar, in bed together and other filthy behaviors. This is as offensive, if not more than the Denmark cartoons which caused a worldwide response in 2005. The Chaplaincy have invited Usama Hasan a senior lecturer who is due

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A joint statement in the Liberal Democrat Voice by Maajid Nawaz and Mohammed Shafiq.

We wish to make a statement about the recent concern expressed over issues related to conflicting views on depictions of Prophet Muhammad.

We recognise that, when it comes to this question, some Muslims of various persuasions may take different views. However, we also recognise that there are many Muslims who have taken offence, and we assert that images of the spiritual leaders of all religions should be deemed to be respectful.

Stop right there.

No.

No.

No. Your religion is your religion, and it is not binding on me or on anyone else who does not choose to be bound by it. I don’t have … Read the rest

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Via Monte Albert -

Yes. That.… Read the rest

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Hmm. Meral Hussein Ece – she’s a LibDem peer. She’s not very liberal. She had this to say last week on Stephen Tall’s post about Maajid at LibDem Voice:

I condemn anyone issuing death threats, and of course this should be reported to the Police. Im all for a mature ‘debate’ on any religion, but using a cartoon is unhelpful and trivial. This cartoon is part of a cartoon strip which depicts the Prophet Mohammed in bed with Jesus drinking beer. Clearly offensive to even the most moderate Muslims, and even many Christians who will be aware of this. I believe in living and let living, and would not want to offend Jews, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, or any other

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Tunisia’s assembly passed a new constitution yesterday. It’s better than it might have been but it’s still flawed.

Parliament agreed the text on Friday after the governing Ennahda party granted a number of concessions, including dropping references to Islamic law.

It guarantees freedom of worship but says Islam is the state religion. It also forbids “attacks on the sacred”, which analysts say is open to interpretation.

That. Very good that references to sharia were dropped, but not good that any religion is the state religion, and bad that it forbids attacks on “the sacred,” whatever the hell that is when it’s at home.

The text also recognises equality between men and women for the first time.

Well that is … Read the rest

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All right – a bad decision withdrawn. The councillors of Newtownabbey have thought better of it.

Newtownabbey Borough Council’s artistic board last week cancelled the Reduced Shakespeare Company’s The Bible: The Complete Word of God (Abridged).

The comic play was due to run at the council’s Theatre at the Mill from Wednesday, 29 January, for two nights.

But on Monday the artistic board decided to put the play back on and the full council ratified that decision.

The play will now go ahead as scheduled on Wednesday and Thursday.

Reduced Shakespeare Company vindicated!

Mayor of Newtownabbey Fraser Agnew, who is an Ulster Unionist councillor, said there was a “need to defend Christian values”.

“If it was a play to do

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