Saturday 31 May 2014

Good news, hopefully - and some sharp words for the BBC


Damian Thompson in the Telegraph has a sharp word or two for the BBC - and others too:
There are reports that Meriam Ibrahim, the Sudanese woman sentenced to death by a Muslim judge for refusing to abandon her Christian faith, is to be freed. The BBC announced it thus: 
Mother facing death penalty in Sudan for abandoning religious faith to be freed
No! That is a lie. Meriam was sentenced to death (as the Telegraph correctly reports) "for refusing to recant her Christian beliefs, and on Tuesday she gave birth to a daughter while she was in prison, and with her legs shackled".
This young mother is – and always has been – a member of the ancient Ethiopian Orthodox Church, an institution centuries older than Islam. The thuggish Sudanese ruled that she was an "apostate" because her father was a Muslim. What rubbish. It was her Christian mother who raised her in her faith. And even if she had chosen to leave Islam and become a Christian, then she would have had every right to do so.
Her ordeal, coupled with the continuing atrocities of Boko Haram, have finally alerted the international community to the fact that the malign influence of Islamism extends far beyond its terrorist aggression towards the West. It is directed at Christians in Islamic countries and is not confined to "apostates".
The wider global Muslim community (if one can speak of such a thing) does not believe in putting into practice the extremists' homicidal agenda. But if it's been campaigning furiously against the slaughter of Christians then I must have missed it.
That original BBC headline now reads Meriam Ibrahim: Sudan 'to free' death row woman.

4 comments:

  1. News 24 has just told me that Meriam is in trouble because she has yet to "renounce her Muslim faith".
    That`s one phrase for it-big fat grub of a lie might be another.
    She`s a Christian...and is only under the death sentence because she has not renounced her Christian faith and joined Boko Haram(Sudan Franchise).
    Lying BBC as ever...indefensible.

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  2. Is it true that Edward Stourton asked her husband whether it might not all be sorted if his wife would only "embrace Islam"?
    If so-a complaints going in, and I will pray to my God that he gets sacked....utterly despicable if true.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, he did ask that.
      I was going to transcribe the quote for you but the BBC i-Player is down. (According to Twitter, it's down for lots of other people too.)

      Delete
    2. It's back up now, Chris.

      Edward Stourton asked this:

      "Do any of you ever think that it might just be easier to accept Islam just as a way of getting out of the position she's in?"

      Delete

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