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| Europe |
| Muslim wins Italian court ban on crucifixes in classroom |
| 2003-10-27 |
| EFL, this’ll play real well in Italy: A Muslim rights advocate has scored a victory over the Catholic Church and conservative Italians, winning a court ruling that will remove crucifixes from the state primary school his children attend. A concordat with the Vatican confirmed in 1984 that Catholicism was no longer the state religion. And laws introduced in 1920s fascist Italy, making crucifixes mandatory in classrooms, have been interpreted loosely since then, though not revoked. The cross is still a permanent fixture in many government offices and hospitals. The judge argued that the 1920s norms were out of date and that the crucifix culture in schools showed that the state had "not the slightest respect" for the role of other religions. Unlike those open and tolerant muslim states. The court case was brought by Adel Smith of the Union of the Muslims of Italy. Of a Scots family, Mr Smith converted to Islam in 1987. Converts are always the most zealous. In public, he termed the crucifix a "small body on two wooden sticks". He wanted Koran prayers displayed at his children’s school and lobbied to have an "offensive" 15th century Giovanni di Modena fresco removed from Bologna cathedral and Dante’s Divine Comedy deleted from the school syllabus. He said both showed the prophet Mohammed cast into hell. So he’s for the separation of church and state, but mosque and state are different, of course. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #17 Figures a Brit would start this crap... since they developed anti-Catholicism to an art form. Now the Islamonutz have art approval in a Catholic Church? Over MY DEAD BODY This explains a lot. Poor "persecuted" li'l Mikey... |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2003-10-28 5:02:03 AM |
| #16 Jarhead---twice in one day!? The icing on the cake is having a religious painting removed from a cathedral-->?! Now the Islamonutz have art approval in a Catholic Church? Over MY DEAD BODY |
| Posted by: NotMikeMoore 2003-10-28 12:45:56 AM |
| #15 Twice in one day?? Not possible, but true! I agree w/NMM. |
| Posted by: Jarhead 2003-10-27 11:41:05 PM |
| #14 Figures a Brit would start this crap... since they developed anti-Catholicism to an art form |
| Posted by: NotMikeMoore 2003-10-27 10:44:05 PM |
| #13 Sloppy reporting by al-Guardian? That's nothing new. |
| Posted by: Korora 2003-10-27 10:29:50 PM |
| #12 Amazing. Shame on the Guardian for very sloppy reporting. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-10-27 9:52:23 PM |
| #11 Bomb-a-rama> I first read the story here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3215445.stm "The president of a Muslim group, Adel Smith, initially suggested that a symbol from the Koran should be displayed alongside the crucifix in his children's classrooms. When this was denied, he took his complaint to the courts." |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2003-10-27 7:29:48 PM |
| #10 Actually, AFAIK, he asked for *either* the former or the latter. Either remove *all* religious symbolism, or include both Christian and Muslim items. I don't know where you're reading that, but the Guardian article pointed to by the original link gives no such details. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-10-27 5:09:47 PM |
| #9 "Suing to have one kind of religious symbolism removed only to have his own brand installed." Actually, AFAIK, he asked for *either* the former or the latter. Either remove *all* religious symbolism, or include both Christian and Muslim items. Which I can quite agree with. |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2003-10-27 4:08:21 PM |
| #8 Suing to have one kind of religious symbolism removed only to have his own brand installed. You're not seeing the positive side of this. In other regions of the world it's done through the barrel of an AK47 (and explosives if they're in a hurry). |
| Posted by: Rafael 2003-10-27 12:28:31 PM |
| #7 When are people going to realise that they are having their roots "Pulled out". What better way than to demoralise a population before going for the "jugular"? |
| Posted by: Barry 2003-10-27 11:41:10 AM |
| #6 My church will take the offending fresco, if the Italians will deliver it. What's up with this? "The judge argued that the 1920s norms were out of date and that the crucifix culture in schools showed that the state had "not the slightest respect" for the role of other religions. " Is somebody from the Ninth Circuit vacationing in Roma? |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-10-27 11:22:47 AM |
| #5 Agent Smith has kind of betrayed his true intentions by asking for the introduction of Koranic prayers. |
| Posted by: Atrus 2003-10-27 11:02:37 AM |
| #4 He wanted Koran prayers displayed at his children’s school and lobbied to have an "offensive" 15th century Giovanni di Modena fresco removed from Bologna cathedral and Dante’s Divine Comedy deleted from the school syllabus. Well this is interesting, to say the least. Suing to have one kind of religious symbolism removed only to have his own brand installed. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-10-27 10:51:35 AM |
| #3 lobbied to have an "offensive" 15th century Giovanni di Modena fresco removed from Bologna cathedral and Dante’s Divine Comedy deleted from the school syllabus. I'm not gonna hold my breath waiting for someone on the left to call this guy a censor. He said both showed the prophet Mohammed cast into hell. Which, quite honestly, is where a Catholic would expect to see Mohammed. But freedom of belief is just not something Muslims get, is it? |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2003-10-27 10:45:42 AM |
| #2 Judges! You gotta love em! |
| Posted by: John 2003-10-27 10:36:23 AM |
| #1 We got Pledge of Allegiance guy and the Italians got this guy. There's always one in every neighborhood. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-10-27 10:26:24 AM |