This Is Despicable
When Canadian pastor Mark Harding's local school started giving special treatment to Islamic students - such as handing out Qurans in school and setting aside a prayer room for Muslim students to pray - that weren't afforded to students of other religions, he protested against it, and started handing out leaflets about it.
He was taken to court in October 2002 and found guilty of "wilfully promoting hatred." He was sentenced to undergo two years probation and 340 hours of community service at the Islamic Society of North America in Ontario.
So for making a perfectly valid protest he, a Christian leader, was ordered to serve Islam for 340 hours.
But that isn't all, in addition to putting leaflets promoting Islam into envelopes, his punishment included Islamic indocrination under Mohammad Ashraf, the general secretary of the Islam center. Under penalty of going to jail, Harding was forced to undergo Islamic "re-education," which included reading a book called "Towards Understanding Islam," by Sayyid Abul A'la Maududi, which provided a description of one who does not follow Islam, referred to as an infidel or a "kafir":
"Such a man ... will spread confusion and disorder on the earth," the book says. "He will, without the least compunction, shed blood, violate other men's rights, be cruel to them, and create disorder and destruction in the world. His perverted thoughts and ambitions, his blurred vision and disturbed scale of values, and his evil-spelling activities would make life bitter for him and for all around him."
"It was obvious that he intended to make sure I understood that I was a kafir," said Harding, who was forbidden from voicing any objections or saying anything negative about Islam or its prophet, Muhammad. "He was my supervisor and if I didn't do what he said he'd send me back to jail!"
Harding was also forbidden to speak publicly about his case.
This is utterly despicable. As a leader of his faith it is Harding's responsibility to speak up in its defense - yet the result is forced labour serving one of the religions he warns against! And not only that, he is forcefully indoctrinated by that very same religion!! And then he is forbidden to speak of it!!
Harding claims that he was not motivated by hate in making the protests. As an evangelical Christian he says he was motivated by love for the Muslims - attempting to save them from their sinful ways. That would make sense - it is not out of selfishness that someone risks persecution for delivering an unpopular message that they honestly believe will help those who hear it.
Compare that to some of the responses he got:
He received more than 3,000 hate-filled calls – many of them death threats. He said, "I had a call from someone who said they were from [Louis] Farrakhan's [Nation of Islam] group, and they were going to break my legs." Adding, "Another caller said he would rip out my testicles." Some people motioned by running their finger across their neck from ear to ear. Upon entering court for his trial, he required police protection from a large crowd of Muslims who were chanting, "Infidels, you will burn in hell."
Because that isn't promoting hatred.
Read the article about halfway down this page.
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In other news the Hoyts induction was today. I went in early with a couple of work mates from Berkeley to help set up and then stayed after to help pack down so I got to see quite a bit of the complex. It really is awesome! A good way to describe it would be to say that as Berkeley is to Village, so Hoyts is to Berkeley. They can boast the biggest 35mm film screen in the world (35mm film is standard film) and are getting the Guinness Book of World Records in to hopefully prove it.
It was cool - because it's still a construction site to move around freely you need a fluoro vest and a hard hat. So I got to wear a fluoro vest :) (I like fluoro vests).
It was also the first time I've ever been inside Sylvia Park.
It's going to be mean working there.
Night~
He was taken to court in October 2002 and found guilty of "wilfully promoting hatred." He was sentenced to undergo two years probation and 340 hours of community service at the Islamic Society of North America in Ontario.
So for making a perfectly valid protest he, a Christian leader, was ordered to serve Islam for 340 hours.
But that isn't all, in addition to putting leaflets promoting Islam into envelopes, his punishment included Islamic indocrination under Mohammad Ashraf, the general secretary of the Islam center. Under penalty of going to jail, Harding was forced to undergo Islamic "re-education," which included reading a book called "Towards Understanding Islam," by Sayyid Abul A'la Maududi, which provided a description of one who does not follow Islam, referred to as an infidel or a "kafir":
"Such a man ... will spread confusion and disorder on the earth," the book says. "He will, without the least compunction, shed blood, violate other men's rights, be cruel to them, and create disorder and destruction in the world. His perverted thoughts and ambitions, his blurred vision and disturbed scale of values, and his evil-spelling activities would make life bitter for him and for all around him."
"It was obvious that he intended to make sure I understood that I was a kafir," said Harding, who was forbidden from voicing any objections or saying anything negative about Islam or its prophet, Muhammad. "He was my supervisor and if I didn't do what he said he'd send me back to jail!"
Harding was also forbidden to speak publicly about his case.
This is utterly despicable. As a leader of his faith it is Harding's responsibility to speak up in its defense - yet the result is forced labour serving one of the religions he warns against! And not only that, he is forcefully indoctrinated by that very same religion!! And then he is forbidden to speak of it!!
Harding claims that he was not motivated by hate in making the protests. As an evangelical Christian he says he was motivated by love for the Muslims - attempting to save them from their sinful ways. That would make sense - it is not out of selfishness that someone risks persecution for delivering an unpopular message that they honestly believe will help those who hear it.
Compare that to some of the responses he got:
He received more than 3,000 hate-filled calls – many of them death threats. He said, "I had a call from someone who said they were from [Louis] Farrakhan's [Nation of Islam] group, and they were going to break my legs." Adding, "Another caller said he would rip out my testicles." Some people motioned by running their finger across their neck from ear to ear. Upon entering court for his trial, he required police protection from a large crowd of Muslims who were chanting, "Infidels, you will burn in hell."
Because that isn't promoting hatred.
Read the article about halfway down this page.
---------
In other news the Hoyts induction was today. I went in early with a couple of work mates from Berkeley to help set up and then stayed after to help pack down so I got to see quite a bit of the complex. It really is awesome! A good way to describe it would be to say that as Berkeley is to Village, so Hoyts is to Berkeley. They can boast the biggest 35mm film screen in the world (35mm film is standard film) and are getting the Guinness Book of World Records in to hopefully prove it.
It was cool - because it's still a construction site to move around freely you need a fluoro vest and a hard hat. So I got to wear a fluoro vest :) (I like fluoro vests).
It was also the first time I've ever been inside Sylvia Park.
It's going to be mean working there.
Night~
posted by David | 9:50 pm
1 Comments:
Pastor Mark Harding will be blessed for this total injustice. He will of course have eternity with the true living God, Jesus Christ while his tormenters........well eternity will be thiers as well, forever seperated from God.
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