Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
A Holiday Message from Ricky Gervais: Why I’m An Atheist By Ricky Gervais
The Wall Street Journal
Speakeasy
December 19, 2010, 9:00 AM ET
Why don’t you believe in God? I get that question all the time. I always try to give a sensitive, reasoned answer. This is usually awkward, time consuming and pointless. People who believe in God don’t need proof of his existence, and they certainly don’t want evidence to the contrary. They are happy with their belief. They even say things like “it’s true to me” and “it’s faith”. I still give my logical answer because I feel that not being honest would be patronizing and impolite. It is ironic therefore that “I don’t believe in God because there is absolutely no scientific evidence for his existence and from what I’ve heard the very definition is a logical impossibility in this known universe”, comes across as both patronizing and impolite.
Arrogance is another accusation. Which seems particularly unfair. Science seeks the truth. And it does not discriminate. For better or worse it finds things out. Science is humble. It knows what it knows and it knows what it doesn’t know. It bases its conclusions and beliefs on hard evidence -‐ evidence that is constantly updated and upgraded. It doesn’t get offended when new facts come along. It embraces the body of knowledge. It doesn’t hold on to medieval practices because they are tradition. If it did, you wouldn’t get a shot of penicillin, you’d pop a leach down your trousers and pray. Whatever you “believe”, this is not as effective as medicine. Again you can say, “It works for me”, but so do placebos. My point being, I’m saying God doesn’t exist. I’m not saying faith doesn’t exist. I know faith exists. I see it all the time. But believing in something doesn’t make it true. Hoping that something is true doesn’t make it true. The existence of God is not subjective. He either exists or he doesn’t. It’s not a matter of opinion. You can have your own opinions. But you can’t have your own facts.
Why don’t I believe in God? No, no no, why do YOU believe in God? Surely the burden of proof is on the believer. You started all this. If I came up to you and said, “Why don’t you believe I can fly?” You’d say, “Why would I?” I’d reply, “Because it’s a matter of faith”. If I then said, “Prove I can’t fly. Prove I can’t fly see, see, you can’t prove it can you?” You’d probably either walk away, call security or throw me out of the window and shout, ‘’F—ing fly then you lunatic.”
This, is of course a spirituality issue, religion is a different matter. As an atheist, I see nothing “wrong” in believing in a god. I don’t think there is a god, but belief in him does no harm. If it helps you in any way, then that’s fine with me. It’s when belief starts infringing on other people’s rights when it worries me. I would never deny your right to believe in a god. I would just rather you didn’t kill people who believe in a different god, say. Or stone someone to death because your rulebook says their sexuality is immoral. It’s strange that anyone who believes that an all-‐powerful all knowing, omniscient power responsible for everything that happens, would also want to judge and punish people for what they are. From what I can gather, pretty much the worst type of person you can be is an atheist. The first four commandments hammer this point home. There is a god”, I’m him, no one else is, you’re not as good and don’t forget it. (Don’t murder anyone, doesn’t get a mention till number 6.)
When confronted with anyone who holds my lack of religious faith in such contempt, I say, “It’s the way God made me.”
But what are atheists really being accused of?
The dictionary definition of God is “a supernatural creator and overseer of the universe”. Included in this definition are all deities, goddesses and supernatural beings. Since the beginning of recorded history, which is defined by the invention of writing by the Sumerians around 6000 years ago, historians have cataloged over 3700 supernatural beings, of which 2870 can be considered deities.
So next time someone tells me they believe in God, I’ll say “Oh which one? Zeus? Hades? Jupiter? Mars? Odin? Thor? Krishna? Vishnu? Ra?…” If they say “Just God. I only believe in the one God”, I’ll point out that they are nearly as atheistic as me. I don’t believe in 2,870 gods, and they don’t believe in 2,869.
I used to believe in God. The Christian one that is.
I loved Jesus. He was my hero. More than pop stars. More than footballers. More than God. God was by definition omnipotent and perfect. Jesus was a man. He had to work at it. He had temptation but defeated sin. He had integrity and courage. But He was my hero because He was kind. And He was kind to everyone. He didn’t bow to peer pressure or tyranny or cruelty. He didn’t care who you were. He loved you. What a guy. I wanted to be just like Him.
One day when I was about 8 years old, I was drawing the crucifixion as part of my Bible-‐studies homework. I loved art too. And nature. I loved how God made all the animals. They were also perfect. Unconditionally beautiful. It was an amazing world.
I lived in a very poor, working-‐class estate in an urban sprawl called Reading, about 40 miles west of London. My father was a laborer and my mother was a housewife. I was never ashamed of poverty. It was almost noble. Also, everyone I knew was in the same situation, and I had everything I needed. School was free. My clothes were cheap and always clean and ironed. And mum was always cooking. She was cooking the day I was drawing on the cross.
I was sitting at the kitchen table when my brother came home. He was 11 years older than me, so he would have been 19. He was as smart as anyone I knew, but he was too cheeky. He would answer back and get into trouble. I was a good boy. I went to church and believed in God – what a relief for a working-‐class mother. You see, growing up where I did, mums didn’t hope as high as their kids growing up to be doctors; they just hoped their kids didn’t go to jail. So bring them up believing in God and they’ll be good and law abiding. It’s a perfect system. Well, nearly. 75 percent of Americans are God-‐fearing Christians; 75 percent of prisoners are God-‐fearing Christians. 10 percent of Americans are atheists; 0.2 percent of prisoners are atheists.
But anyway, there I was happily drawing my hero when my big brother Bob asked, “Why do you believe in God?” Just a simple question. But my mum panicked. “Bob” she said in a tone that I knew meant, “Shut up.” Why was that a bad thing to ask? If there was a God and my faith was strong it didn’t matter what people said.
Oh … hang on. There is no God. He knows it, and she knows it deep down. It was as simple as that. I started thinking about it and asking more questions, and within an hour, I was an atheist.
Wow. No God. If mum had lied to me about God, had she also lied to me about Santa? Yes, of course, but who cares? The gifts kept coming. And so did the gifts of my new found atheism. The gifts of truth, science, nature. The real beauty of this world. I learned of evolution – a theory so simple that only England’s greatest genius could have come up with it. Evolution of plants, animals and us – with imagination, free will, love, humor. I no longer needed a reason for my existence, just a reason to live. And imagination, free will, love, humor, fun, music, sports, beer and pizza are all good enough reasons for living.
But living an honest life – for that you need the truth. That’s the other thing I learned that day, that the truth, however shocking or uncomfortable, in the end leads to liberation and dignity.
So what does the question “Why don’t you believe in God?” really mean. I think when someone asks that; they are really questioning their own belief. In a way they are asking “what makes you so special? “How come you weren’t brainwashed with the rest of us?” “How dare you say I’m a fool and I’m not going to heaven, f— you!” Let’s be honest, if one person believed in God he would be considered pretty strange. But because it’s a very popular view it’s accepted. And why is it such a popular view? That’s obvious. It’s an attractive proposition. Believe in me and live forever. Again if it was just a case of spirituality this would be fine.
“Do unto others…” is a good rule of thumb. I live by that. Forgiveness is probably the greatest virtue there is. Buts that’s exactly what it is -‐ a virtue. Not just a Christian virtue. No one owns being good. I’m good. I just don’t believe I’ll be rewarded for it in heaven. My reward is here and now. It’s knowing that I try to do the right thing. That I lived a good life. And that’s where spirituality really lost its way. When it became a stick to beat people with. “Do this or you’ll burn in hell.”
You won’t burn in hell. But be nice anyway.
Speakeasy
December 19, 2010, 9:00 AM ET
Why don’t you believe in God? I get that question all the time. I always try to give a sensitive, reasoned answer. This is usually awkward, time consuming and pointless. People who believe in God don’t need proof of his existence, and they certainly don’t want evidence to the contrary. They are happy with their belief. They even say things like “it’s true to me” and “it’s faith”. I still give my logical answer because I feel that not being honest would be patronizing and impolite. It is ironic therefore that “I don’t believe in God because there is absolutely no scientific evidence for his existence and from what I’ve heard the very definition is a logical impossibility in this known universe”, comes across as both patronizing and impolite.
Arrogance is another accusation. Which seems particularly unfair. Science seeks the truth. And it does not discriminate. For better or worse it finds things out. Science is humble. It knows what it knows and it knows what it doesn’t know. It bases its conclusions and beliefs on hard evidence -‐ evidence that is constantly updated and upgraded. It doesn’t get offended when new facts come along. It embraces the body of knowledge. It doesn’t hold on to medieval practices because they are tradition. If it did, you wouldn’t get a shot of penicillin, you’d pop a leach down your trousers and pray. Whatever you “believe”, this is not as effective as medicine. Again you can say, “It works for me”, but so do placebos. My point being, I’m saying God doesn’t exist. I’m not saying faith doesn’t exist. I know faith exists. I see it all the time. But believing in something doesn’t make it true. Hoping that something is true doesn’t make it true. The existence of God is not subjective. He either exists or he doesn’t. It’s not a matter of opinion. You can have your own opinions. But you can’t have your own facts.
Why don’t I believe in God? No, no no, why do YOU believe in God? Surely the burden of proof is on the believer. You started all this. If I came up to you and said, “Why don’t you believe I can fly?” You’d say, “Why would I?” I’d reply, “Because it’s a matter of faith”. If I then said, “Prove I can’t fly. Prove I can’t fly see, see, you can’t prove it can you?” You’d probably either walk away, call security or throw me out of the window and shout, ‘’F—ing fly then you lunatic.”
This, is of course a spirituality issue, religion is a different matter. As an atheist, I see nothing “wrong” in believing in a god. I don’t think there is a god, but belief in him does no harm. If it helps you in any way, then that’s fine with me. It’s when belief starts infringing on other people’s rights when it worries me. I would never deny your right to believe in a god. I would just rather you didn’t kill people who believe in a different god, say. Or stone someone to death because your rulebook says their sexuality is immoral. It’s strange that anyone who believes that an all-‐powerful all knowing, omniscient power responsible for everything that happens, would also want to judge and punish people for what they are. From what I can gather, pretty much the worst type of person you can be is an atheist. The first four commandments hammer this point home. There is a god”, I’m him, no one else is, you’re not as good and don’t forget it. (Don’t murder anyone, doesn’t get a mention till number 6.)
When confronted with anyone who holds my lack of religious faith in such contempt, I say, “It’s the way God made me.”
But what are atheists really being accused of?
The dictionary definition of God is “a supernatural creator and overseer of the universe”. Included in this definition are all deities, goddesses and supernatural beings. Since the beginning of recorded history, which is defined by the invention of writing by the Sumerians around 6000 years ago, historians have cataloged over 3700 supernatural beings, of which 2870 can be considered deities.
So next time someone tells me they believe in God, I’ll say “Oh which one? Zeus? Hades? Jupiter? Mars? Odin? Thor? Krishna? Vishnu? Ra?…” If they say “Just God. I only believe in the one God”, I’ll point out that they are nearly as atheistic as me. I don’t believe in 2,870 gods, and they don’t believe in 2,869.
I used to believe in God. The Christian one that is.
I loved Jesus. He was my hero. More than pop stars. More than footballers. More than God. God was by definition omnipotent and perfect. Jesus was a man. He had to work at it. He had temptation but defeated sin. He had integrity and courage. But He was my hero because He was kind. And He was kind to everyone. He didn’t bow to peer pressure or tyranny or cruelty. He didn’t care who you were. He loved you. What a guy. I wanted to be just like Him.
One day when I was about 8 years old, I was drawing the crucifixion as part of my Bible-‐studies homework. I loved art too. And nature. I loved how God made all the animals. They were also perfect. Unconditionally beautiful. It was an amazing world.
I lived in a very poor, working-‐class estate in an urban sprawl called Reading, about 40 miles west of London. My father was a laborer and my mother was a housewife. I was never ashamed of poverty. It was almost noble. Also, everyone I knew was in the same situation, and I had everything I needed. School was free. My clothes were cheap and always clean and ironed. And mum was always cooking. She was cooking the day I was drawing on the cross.
I was sitting at the kitchen table when my brother came home. He was 11 years older than me, so he would have been 19. He was as smart as anyone I knew, but he was too cheeky. He would answer back and get into trouble. I was a good boy. I went to church and believed in God – what a relief for a working-‐class mother. You see, growing up where I did, mums didn’t hope as high as their kids growing up to be doctors; they just hoped their kids didn’t go to jail. So bring them up believing in God and they’ll be good and law abiding. It’s a perfect system. Well, nearly. 75 percent of Americans are God-‐fearing Christians; 75 percent of prisoners are God-‐fearing Christians. 10 percent of Americans are atheists; 0.2 percent of prisoners are atheists.
But anyway, there I was happily drawing my hero when my big brother Bob asked, “Why do you believe in God?” Just a simple question. But my mum panicked. “Bob” she said in a tone that I knew meant, “Shut up.” Why was that a bad thing to ask? If there was a God and my faith was strong it didn’t matter what people said.
Oh … hang on. There is no God. He knows it, and she knows it deep down. It was as simple as that. I started thinking about it and asking more questions, and within an hour, I was an atheist.
Wow. No God. If mum had lied to me about God, had she also lied to me about Santa? Yes, of course, but who cares? The gifts kept coming. And so did the gifts of my new found atheism. The gifts of truth, science, nature. The real beauty of this world. I learned of evolution – a theory so simple that only England’s greatest genius could have come up with it. Evolution of plants, animals and us – with imagination, free will, love, humor. I no longer needed a reason for my existence, just a reason to live. And imagination, free will, love, humor, fun, music, sports, beer and pizza are all good enough reasons for living.
But living an honest life – for that you need the truth. That’s the other thing I learned that day, that the truth, however shocking or uncomfortable, in the end leads to liberation and dignity.
So what does the question “Why don’t you believe in God?” really mean. I think when someone asks that; they are really questioning their own belief. In a way they are asking “what makes you so special? “How come you weren’t brainwashed with the rest of us?” “How dare you say I’m a fool and I’m not going to heaven, f— you!” Let’s be honest, if one person believed in God he would be considered pretty strange. But because it’s a very popular view it’s accepted. And why is it such a popular view? That’s obvious. It’s an attractive proposition. Believe in me and live forever. Again if it was just a case of spirituality this would be fine.
“Do unto others…” is a good rule of thumb. I live by that. Forgiveness is probably the greatest virtue there is. Buts that’s exactly what it is -‐ a virtue. Not just a Christian virtue. No one owns being good. I’m good. I just don’t believe I’ll be rewarded for it in heaven. My reward is here and now. It’s knowing that I try to do the right thing. That I lived a good life. And that’s where spirituality really lost its way. When it became a stick to beat people with. “Do this or you’ll burn in hell.”
You won’t burn in hell. But be nice anyway.
the search for truth
revolution for the freedom of the mind ~ mind blowing indie film that has met much resistance. reportedly being banned from the sundance film festival 2011.
http://www.jesusofmalibu.com/
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
MLK jr
Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time: the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Belgian report shows that hundreds of abusive priests went unpunished
Only 16% of priests involved in 134 cases of child abuse in the Belgian Catholic Church have been prosecuted, a new report shows.
The report, which was handed to the Government in December, was reported in the daily Le Soir this week. It details 134 cases of alleged abuse by priests over several decades.
The report, compiled by the secretary of Belgium’s episcopal conference, Etienne Quintiens, indicated that ninety priests are still alive involved with 134 cases of alleged child sex abuse. A further 50-odd complaints not yet on the list have been lodged since a church-backed commission last September revealed nearly 500 cases of abuse by priests and church workers since the 1950s, including 13 victims who committed suicide.
The church document shows either the church or the judiciary received complaints in 70 per cent of the cases.
“Globally, less than one abuser out of six was inflicted the maximum penalty available to the bishop: definitive suspension. And even fewer, 16 per cent, were effectively condemned by the judiciary,” Le Soir said.
The situation differed from one part of the country to another, with no judicial action at all in the Hasselt diocese, though the church transmitted 90 per cent of alleged cases to prosecutors, while in Ghent, 73 per cent of alleged cases were prosecuted and sentenced.
The largely Catholic country of 10 million is still reeling from the 2010 revelations as the new year begins, with fresh allegations of abuse in institutions run by nuns.
The former head of Belgium’s Roman Catholic Church last month denied before a parliamentary panel that top bishops “consciously” covered up abuse cases. Cardinal Godfried Danneels, who was quizzed for hours by Belgian MPs, expressed his “horror” at the reports but said “there was no drive to consciously cover up the sexual abuse or deny it”.
Daneels, who led the Church between 1979 and 2009, said perpetrators should “pay damages as established by justice” but refused to say if the church itself should pay victims.
His successor, Archbishop Andre-Joseph Leonard, on Tuesday opened the door to possible compensation. “It’s not excluded that we voluntarily show solidarity with these people,” he said in an interview on the Flemish television network VTM.
http://www.secularism.org.uk/belgian-report-shows-that-hundre.html
How many massacres will it take for gutless politicians to stand up to gun nuts?
before you read the blog below, pls understand that i have very mixed feelings about gun control and gun ownership. i do think that the majority of guns on the street were obtained illegally and are un-registered. in addition, i think that most shootings are not by a homeowner defending his property. i cannot imagine what it feels like to fire a gun with the intention of killing or stopping someone from killing me or someone close to me. but i also have been in some scary situations where i thought i would have felt better if i had a gun in my possession. so i don't know. but i think this blog is a good read.
By John Horgan | Jan 12, 2011 08:00 AM |
It's happened again. A deranged American male has gone on a rampage with a semiautomatic weapon, shooting down a score of people—this time at a political gathering in Tucson, Ariz. If past experience is any guide, gun lovers will trot out the familiar excuses: Guns don't kill people, people do. If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns. If more people at the meeting in Arizona had been packing heat, they could have shot the bad guy before he killed so many people.
Yes, that's what we need, more guns.
I blame these massacres on not only despicable pro-gun groups such as the National Rifle Association—which feed off and fuel Americans' childish obsession with firearms—but also on the cowardice of politicians. In 2008 the NRA warned that Barack Obama would be the most anti-gun president ever.
Actually, Obama, although he supported gun controls when he was an Illinois state senator, switched his stance during his presidential campaign. "I believe in the Second Amendment," he said. "I believe in people's lawful right to bear arms. I will not take your shotgun away. I will not take your rifle away. I won't take your handgun away."
He was true to his word: "Fears aside, gun rights thrive under Obama," The Washington Independent reported in July. President Obama signed a law permitting people to carry guns into National Parks. He did not protest when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states and local governments could not overrule citizens' federal right to bear arms or when legislators in Louisiana and Arizona passed laws allowing people to carry weapons into churches and bars, respectively. After a year in office, Obama received an "F" rating from the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
Here are some facts from the Brady Center: About 100,000 Americans are wounded or killed by firearms each year in the U.S.—which has the highest levels of gun ownership in the world—and more than a million Americans have been shot to death since 1968. Although gun supporters tout the benefits of self-defense, a gun is 22 times more likely to be used in a suicide attempt; criminal assault or homicide; or unintentional shooting death or injury than for self-defense. Higher household gun ownership correlates with higher rates of homicide, suicide and unintentional shootings.
The American fetish for guns hurts non-Americans, too. The U.S. is the world's leading source for small arms—defined as weapons that can be carried and operated by a single person—as it is for larger, more expensive weapons, such as tanks and jet fighters. Small arms, which range from pistols and rifles to rocket-launched grenades and shoulder-fired missiles, are the biggest killers in wars around the world. The International Action Network on Small Arms estimates that more than 600 million are in circulation.
The Action Network lobbies for tighter national and international controls on the manufacture and trade of small arms; urges a system of marking all firearms (perhaps with embedded computer chips, to allow easy tracking by law-enforcement officials); and promotes programs for collecting and destroying small arms. But the NRA has successfully blocked international as well as domestic gun control.
(Fun facts: By far the most lethal small arm in history is the AK-47, according to the technology historian Edward Tenner. The "A" stands for automatic; the "K" for Mikhail Kalashnikov, the Russian Army soldier who invented the gun; the "47" for 1947, the year of the gun's invention. The firearm's popularity stems from its lightness, reliability and the ease with which it can be repaired and manufactured. Lt. Gen. Kalashnikov, whose invention killed thousands of Americans in Vietnam and elsewhere, is a lifetime member of the NRA.)
Mexican drug thugs, who have killed more than 30,000 people in recent years, rely on guns from the U.S. "Drug cartels have aggressively turned to the U.S. because Mexico severely restricts gun ownership," the Washington Post reported in December. U.S. attempts to crack down on American dealers of arms to Mexico, the Post noted, are thwarted by "laws backed by the gun lobby that make it difficult to prove cases."
The gun lobby consists of people like Robby, whom I met while flying to Salt Lake City to attend a conference (on the evolution of aggression, of all things). Robby (not his real name) was a chatty fellow with a bad-boy chuckle: Heh heh.
I asked him what he did for a living and he replied, with a sly grin, "Recreational equipment." His wife insisted he give strangers this answer, because she worried that liberal pansies would get upset if Robby told them that he sold firearms. Heh heh. Robby had sold all sorts of guns to all sorts of people, including Italian and Russian mobsters. In fact, in a few days he was flying to Arizona to peddle his wares at a big gun show.
Robby had a conspiratorial view of illegal aliens. Young Latino men, he claimed, were joining the U.S. armed forces in huge numbers so they could get training for gang fights and possibly race wars. War was going to break out between Latinos and whites in the U.S. Southwest; it was only a matter of time. There has always been war, Robby chortled, and there always will be. And he will be there to supply the weapons! Heh heh.
Obama had been great for Robby’s business; as soon as it looked like Obama might become president, folks started stockpiling guns, because they figured Obama would favor stricter gun controls. When I said I believed in gun control, Robby replied that he did, too: Hold onto your gun with two hands; that's gun control. Heh heh.
Shutting down gun dealers like Robby may not have prevented the Tucson massacre, but it would be a step toward a saner world.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm
Monday, January 10, 2011
i was going to comment on the Phelps reaction to the shootings in AZ. but, really, there is nothing to say about them. and i do not want to give them anymore press. i will say that the westboro baptist church is an atrocity to humanity, religion, christianity, to the people of america and the state of kansas.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
The Conservative Constitution of the United States
By David Cole
House members opened the 112th Congress on Thursday by reading aloud the Constitution, presumably as a first step toward fulfilling the tea party's goal of "restoring" our nation's founding document. However, an alternative constitutional text, obtained by this author via WikiLeaks, has reportedly begun circulating in secret among incoming GOP lawmakers, representing the Constitution they hope to read aloud when the 113th Congress begins. Here, revealed in public for the first time, is the Conservative Constitution of the United States of Real America:
We, the Real Americans, in order to form a more God-Fearing Union, establish Justice as we see it, Defeat Health-Care Reform, and Preserve and Protect our Property, our Guns and our Right Not to Pay Taxes, do ordain and establish this Conservative Constitution for the United States of Real America.
Article I. Congress shall have only the powers literally, specifically and expressly granted herein, and no others. That means definitely, without question, absolutely, no regulation of the Health Insurance or Financial Services industries.
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected not directly by the People, but by other people whom the People have elected to better represent the People.
Any law enacted by Congress and signed by the President may be overturned by the vote of three or more States if they find it burdensome, offensive, annoying or in any way touching on Health Insurance, Property Rights or Guns.
Congress shall have no power to raise Taxes except on February 29, and then only if all the People of the United States approve such a measure unanimously, in writing and in English.
Congress shall balance the Federal Budget, preferably by eliminating the Departments of Labor, Energy, Education and State.
The preceding provision shall not apply to spending for the Department of Defense, appropriations for which shall increase three times as quickly as the growth in gross domestic product and upon the approval of House leadership in conference with Boeing, Halliburton, the Ashcroft Group and Kissinger Associates.
Arizona shall have the power to regulate Immigration.
Article II. No person except a natural born Citizen who can produce video, photographic or eyewitness evidence of birth in a non-island American State shall be eligible to the Office of President.
The President shall faithfully execute the laws, except when, as Commander in Chief, he decides he'd really rather not.
The President shall not negotiate any Treaty without first receiving a signed and notarized note granting him permission, personally executed by every member of the Senate, the House, all 50 Governors and the editorial board of the Weekly Standard.
Article III. Judges shall strictly construe this Constitution, and we mean strictly, and shall under no circumstances cite, refer to, read or mention at cocktail parties or cookouts any principle or provision of International Law.
Suspected Terrorists shall be taken to Guantanamo and drawn and quartered in a public ceremony. Trials are optional, but if they occur, must be conducted in a Military Tribunal in which coerced statements are admissible so long as they support a Guilty verdict.
AMENDMENTS
1. Congress shall make no law abridging the Freedom of Speech, except where citizens desecrate the Flag of the United States; respecting an establishment of Religion, except to support Christian schools, religious apparitions in food products and the display of crosses and creches in public places; or abridging the free exercise of Religion, except to block the construction of mosques in sensitive areas as determined by Florida Pastors or the Fox News Channel.
2. The right to bear Semi-Automatic Weapons, AK-47s or Bazookas shall not be infringed by background checks, safety locks, age limits or common sense.
3. The right of Corporations, Hedge Funds, Business Leaders and Lobbyists to spend endless cash on campaigns and influence-purchasing shall not be infringed. The so-called right of Unions to associate shall be denied as fundamentally un-American and contrary to the agenda of the Chamber of Commerce.
4. Marriage and the benefits thereof shall be restricted to the Union of a Man and a Woman, consecrated in a Christian house of worship, with vows to expose any and all progeny to daily viewings of Bill O'Reilly.
5. All persons born or naturalized in the United States are Citizens of the United States of Real America only if their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents were Citizens, and if they promise never to support Health Insurance Reform or New Taxation. Any Citizen convicted of providing material support to Terrorist organizations, wearing clothing bearing images created by Shepard Fairey, or displaying Nancy Pelosi bumper stickers shall be stripped of Citizenship.
6. Aliens, of this world or another, shall have none of the rights guaranteed herein to Citizens.
7. Corporations shall have all of the rights guaranteed herein to Citizens, and then some.
8. No White Male shall be denied equal protection of the law through Affirmative Action or otherwise. In keeping with the intent of the Framers, as discerned by the Honorable Justice Antonin Scalia, distinctions on the basis of sex shall not be deemed to deny equal protection.
9. The right to be uninsured and make other people pay the costs of one's Health Care shall not be infringed under any circumstances.
10. Congress shall make no law limiting Americans' right to warm the Planet by using all the energy they darn well please.
11. The Unborn shall have the rights to life, to vote, to bear arms, to practice Religion except in a mosque in Lower Manhattan (see First Amendment) and to make campaign contributions, but once the child is born, it shall have no rights if it is an Alien (see Sixth Amendment).
12. No one may be required to do anything He or She does not want to do. Ever.
Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the Members present the Sixth Day of January in the Year of our Lord Two Thousand and Eleven. In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our names, [REDACTED]
from The Washington Post
christians, of ALL people, should not judge others
i teach my children to treat others as they want to be treated. i show them how to be charitable and kind to others. i teach them that being mean isn't nice; that being different, is OK. i teach them that saying naughty things is unacceptable. and when they play "guns", i tell them what real guns do and that, while it may be just pretend while they are playing, real guns are not something to play with and they can be fatal.
i could go on and on telling you why i think i am a good person, especially in my heart. my actions, feelings and what is in my heart has never really changed. when i was a "christian", i still did all those things. now that i am a "non-believer" or an "atheist" (i don't really like labels; i think they belong on your ketchup bottle, not on me), i continue to do all those same things.
both theists and non-theists can quote examples of the opposition of oppressing, killing, abusing human beings all in the name of what they believe. it is published that stalin was atheist AND it is published that hitler was a christian maybe even a catholic (at least, in childhood; according to sources i've read about, he never "officially" disconnected from the catholic church; although when he left his parents home, he was never known to go to mass or have connections with with the catholic faith.
but it is not for me to say if another is a christian, a catholic, a muslim, a non-believer, etc. if you tell me you are a christian, then you are a self-described christian. if hitler stood before me and proclaimed his allegiance to god, i might doubt it based on his actions but at the same time that if is how he described himself.... and according to the christian's good book, if he had prayed and repented (and had not committed suicide), god would have welcomed him into heaven.
it's a circular argument. but it seems to me that a christian, of ALL people, knows that they can not fairly (and, again, according to their good book, shouldn't) judge another's morality.
i could go on and on telling you why i think i am a good person, especially in my heart. my actions, feelings and what is in my heart has never really changed. when i was a "christian", i still did all those things. now that i am a "non-believer" or an "atheist" (i don't really like labels; i think they belong on your ketchup bottle, not on me), i continue to do all those same things.
both theists and non-theists can quote examples of the opposition of oppressing, killing, abusing human beings all in the name of what they believe. it is published that stalin was atheist AND it is published that hitler was a christian maybe even a catholic (at least, in childhood; according to sources i've read about, he never "officially" disconnected from the catholic church; although when he left his parents home, he was never known to go to mass or have connections with with the catholic faith.
but it is not for me to say if another is a christian, a catholic, a muslim, a non-believer, etc. if you tell me you are a christian, then you are a self-described christian. if hitler stood before me and proclaimed his allegiance to god, i might doubt it based on his actions but at the same time that if is how he described himself.... and according to the christian's good book, if he had prayed and repented (and had not committed suicide), god would have welcomed him into heaven.
it's a circular argument. but it seems to me that a christian, of ALL people, knows that they can not fairly (and, again, according to their good book, shouldn't) judge another's morality.
resolving contradictions in the bible
This is an example of how some Christians "resolve" the contradictions in the Bible. Look at this two verses concerning whether the people with Paul on the Damascus road heard the so-called heavenly voice, or not:
- YES, they heard the voice:
Acts 9:7 - And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.
- NO, they did NOT hear the voice:
Acts.22:9 - And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.
Obvious contradiction, right? Now the exercise consists of finding some sort of creative interpretation to make appear like there is no contradiction.
An answer below.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"[...] the men heard the noise of the voice, but did not hear the words which were spoken."
- YES, they heard the voice:
Acts 9:7 - And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.
- NO, they did NOT hear the voice:
Acts.22:9 - And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.
Obvious contradiction, right? Now the exercise consists of finding some sort of creative interpretation to make appear like there is no contradiction.
An answer below.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"[...] the men heard the noise of the voice, but did not hear the words which were spoken."
catholics worry about future of priests
now that the priests are being made to answer for their abuse of children, their power, their congregates; the church is wondering where all the priests are....? it's reported that the celibacy of priesthood is being challenged. whoaaaaa...... finally some catholics are recognizing that humans have SEXUAL urges/needs/wants!! it's unheard of!!
BBC Article:
BBC Article:
Is the Roman Catholic priest an endangered species, or maybe an evolving one? New ones are proving hard to recruit. In this audio feature, Michael Ford lifts the lid on a debate going on within the Church about the future of priesthood.
Maligned in the media, pressured and often isolated in his job, signed up for life to a male-only celibate life which looks out of touch with the world around, what is the future for the Roman Catholic priest in Britain?
Michael Ford, a writer on spirituality and priesthood, talks with today's priests about their own experiences, ranging from the anger and disgust sometimes directed at them in the street to the deeply fulfilling life which their divine calling can offer. Why do some leave? Whom can they turn to for support? How is the Church attempting to guarantee the personal maturity and trustworthiness the office requires?
Radical questions are raised by Catholics themselves - bishops, priests, monks, nuns and lay. Priesthood as presently understood and exercised certainly has its critics and questioners. How will lay people and priests work together in a future where there are fewer priests to go round? The obligation to celibacy is being challenged, but who would pay the extra cost of kids in the presbytery? Even the possibility of women at the altar is being championed and discussed, despite Pope John Paul II's definitive ruling against it.
pastor puts boy in coffin for dramatics
this is a frightening display of child abuse and exploitation by a scary, but ever dominating, christian church found right here in indiana.
brain-washing
the modern world has progressed far beyond archaic religious mumbo jumbo. religion and god were created to comfort those who lived in a world that was so complex and beyond their meager comprehension, mythical stories, legends, fables were created to soothe the living into death, to explain the unexplainable. but science has led us to a much deeper understanding of humans, earth and their place in the universe. it is absurd to think that their is a big guy that hovers somewhere in heaven, calling the shots in every single humans life. it is absurd to think that an "all loving" god would spare the life of a convicted, but faithful, pedophile but burden children with abuse, disease, hunger, poverty, etc. it is absurd to believe that an intelligent person cannot possibly understand the meaning of the good book because they do not accept JC as their personal savior, they do not believe he led the perfect life and died for our sins, only to rise again.
religion is the root of all evil in our history and to deny the facts that lead to that conclusion is to deny testimony, witness of centuries of lives wasted as a product of brain-washing.
religion is the root of all evil in our history and to deny the facts that lead to that conclusion is to deny testimony, witness of centuries of lives wasted as a product of brain-washing.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Former Fairbanks pastor guilty of sexually abusing girl
A former Alaska pastor has been found guilty of sex abuse. Shawn Anthony Justice, 32, was found guilty of eight counts of sexual abuse of a minor.
Justice was charged with abusing a 15-year-old girl while he was the pastor of Corinthian Baptist Church in Fairbanks. During trial, she testified that Justice began sending her text messages of a sexual nature and they began a relationship in 2009.
Sentencing has been set for March 24.
Justice was charged with abusing a 15-year-old girl while he was the pastor of Corinthian Baptist Church in Fairbanks. During trial, she testified that Justice began sending her text messages of a sexual nature and they began a relationship in 2009.
Sentencing has been set for March 24.
Former priest pleads guilty to sexual assaults
A former Episcopal priest pleaded guilty in Susquehanna County Court on Friday to sexually assaulting two teenage boys.
Ralph Johnson, 83, of Gibson Township, entered guilty pleas to two counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse lodged against him in two separate cases. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
One of the boys - now in his twenties - was 14 at the time of the alleged abuse and has a mental disability.
The other victim, now 29, was between the ages of 11 and 15 during the time of the alleged abuse, according to police.
Times-Shamrock newspapers does not identify the victims of sexual assault.
Susquehanna County District Attorney Jason Legg said the cases brought against Johnson underscore the fallacy of people who question victims who do not report these types of crimes sooner.
"The simple truth is that victims rarely report sexual abuse when it occurs. It usually takes a long time," Legg said. "In this case, we know that one of the victims was abused in the early 1990s and we know that the victim was telling the truth."
One of the components of this case, explained the district attorney, involved the applicable statute of limitations - and the various extensions by the state.
"If the Legislature had not repeatedly extended the statute of limitations, Johnson would have avoided legal responsibility for this horrific conduct," Legg said.
"I am thankful that the Legislature understands just how hard these crimes are for victims to report, and has extended the statute of limitations in recognition of those difficulties."
Susquehanna County President Judge Kenneth Seamans ordered Johnson to undergo an evaluation by the Sexual Offenders Assessment Board prior to sentencing on March 24, 2011.
Johnson was deposed in 2006 by Bishop Gladstone "Skip" Adams of the Central New York Episcopal Diocese after similar allegations of inappropriate conduct surfaced while Johnson was serving at a parish in Owego, N.Y.
In a March interview, Bishop Adams said no victim ever came forward at that time to verify the allegations but he felt the information was credible enough to merit Johnson's discipline.
While ordained, Johnson served in parishes in Buckingham, part of a Philadelphia area diocese; as well as at the New York churches of St. Paul's, Owego; Zion Church, Windsor; and St. Ann's, Afton.
He never served a parish in Susquehanna County or the larger Diocese of Bethlehem.
He has lived in the Gibson area since 1987. Prior to that, he owned property on Stanton Road in Thompson Township.
Ralph Johnson, 83, of Gibson Township, entered guilty pleas to two counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse lodged against him in two separate cases. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
One of the boys - now in his twenties - was 14 at the time of the alleged abuse and has a mental disability.
The other victim, now 29, was between the ages of 11 and 15 during the time of the alleged abuse, according to police.
Times-Shamrock newspapers does not identify the victims of sexual assault.
Susquehanna County District Attorney Jason Legg said the cases brought against Johnson underscore the fallacy of people who question victims who do not report these types of crimes sooner.
"The simple truth is that victims rarely report sexual abuse when it occurs. It usually takes a long time," Legg said. "In this case, we know that one of the victims was abused in the early 1990s and we know that the victim was telling the truth."
One of the components of this case, explained the district attorney, involved the applicable statute of limitations - and the various extensions by the state.
"If the Legislature had not repeatedly extended the statute of limitations, Johnson would have avoided legal responsibility for this horrific conduct," Legg said.
"I am thankful that the Legislature understands just how hard these crimes are for victims to report, and has extended the statute of limitations in recognition of those difficulties."
Susquehanna County President Judge Kenneth Seamans ordered Johnson to undergo an evaluation by the Sexual Offenders Assessment Board prior to sentencing on March 24, 2011.
Johnson was deposed in 2006 by Bishop Gladstone "Skip" Adams of the Central New York Episcopal Diocese after similar allegations of inappropriate conduct surfaced while Johnson was serving at a parish in Owego, N.Y.
In a March interview, Bishop Adams said no victim ever came forward at that time to verify the allegations but he felt the information was credible enough to merit Johnson's discipline.
While ordained, Johnson served in parishes in Buckingham, part of a Philadelphia area diocese; as well as at the New York churches of St. Paul's, Owego; Zion Church, Windsor; and St. Ann's, Afton.
He never served a parish in Susquehanna County or the larger Diocese of Bethlehem.
He has lived in the Gibson area since 1987. Prior to that, he owned property on Stanton Road in Thompson Township.
Drug wars, civil unrest and now Mexico has to deal with a Holy Death Cult: High priest arrested over kidnapping and extortion
Mexican police have arrested the high priest of the infamous Holy Death Cult after he and eight worshippers allegedly posed as members of a fearsome drug cartel in a kidnapping case.
David Romo, the head of a sect which has millions of followers across the Americas, was paraded before the media with his accomplices in Mexico City yesterday, following their arrests in late December.
It is alleged Romo, 42, pretended to be a member of drug gang The Zetas, one of Mexico's most violent drug gangs, to snatch two elderly citizens and extort a ransom, which he then paid into his own bank account.
'The nine captured... passed themselves off as members of the Zetas,' said prosecutor Miguel Angel Mancera of the Mexico City attorney general's office.
Romo has denied any wrongdoing, claiming his church condemns violence and has no links to drug traffickers, but he also said that he leaves the door open to everyone as followers, in keeping with the cult's beliefs.
Santa Muerte - which translates literally from Spanish as 'Holy death' or 'Saint death' - is firmly entrenched as the religion of choice among Mexico’s lower classes and criminal worlds because the death saint is said to grant requests without judgement.
Followers honour an idol often depicted depicted as a skeletal grim reaper draped in white satin robes, beaded necklaces and carrying a scythe.
Worshippers leave offerings of tequila, rum, beer, cigarettes, cash, flowers and candy at altars adorned with rosaries and candles.
The cult's numbers have grown rapidly over the last two decades and it has been estimated that there are as many as two million worshippers in Mexico and in Mexican-American communities in the United States.
The cult of Santa Muerte appeals to people who wouldn't traditionally earn the blessing of the traditional Catholic Church, but who are not atheists. That underclass has essentially created its own religion to reflect their daily realities in a notoriously violent country.
Santa Muerte's origins trace back to Aztec and Mayan death gods or to ancient European traditions, but many devotees call themselves Catholics, although the Catholic church condemns the sect as devil worshippers.
In order to obtain the kidnap ransom, Romo allegedly posed as a member of notorious drug gang The Zetas.
The Zetas are feared for their violent battles with rival gangs and official security forces in a country already renowned for its ferocious four year drug war that has so far killed more than 30,000 people.
David Romo, the head of a sect which has millions of followers across the Americas, was paraded before the media with his accomplices in Mexico City yesterday, following their arrests in late December.
It is alleged Romo, 42, pretended to be a member of drug gang The Zetas, one of Mexico's most violent drug gangs, to snatch two elderly citizens and extort a ransom, which he then paid into his own bank account.
'The nine captured... passed themselves off as members of the Zetas,' said prosecutor Miguel Angel Mancera of the Mexico City attorney general's office.
Romo has denied any wrongdoing, claiming his church condemns violence and has no links to drug traffickers, but he also said that he leaves the door open to everyone as followers, in keeping with the cult's beliefs.
Santa Muerte - which translates literally from Spanish as 'Holy death' or 'Saint death' - is firmly entrenched as the religion of choice among Mexico’s lower classes and criminal worlds because the death saint is said to grant requests without judgement.
Followers honour an idol often depicted depicted as a skeletal grim reaper draped in white satin robes, beaded necklaces and carrying a scythe.
Worshippers leave offerings of tequila, rum, beer, cigarettes, cash, flowers and candy at altars adorned with rosaries and candles.
The cult's numbers have grown rapidly over the last two decades and it has been estimated that there are as many as two million worshippers in Mexico and in Mexican-American communities in the United States.
The cult of Santa Muerte appeals to people who wouldn't traditionally earn the blessing of the traditional Catholic Church, but who are not atheists. That underclass has essentially created its own religion to reflect their daily realities in a notoriously violent country.
Santa Muerte's origins trace back to Aztec and Mayan death gods or to ancient European traditions, but many devotees call themselves Catholics, although the Catholic church condemns the sect as devil worshippers.
In order to obtain the kidnap ransom, Romo allegedly posed as a member of notorious drug gang The Zetas.
The Zetas are feared for their violent battles with rival gangs and official security forces in a country already renowned for its ferocious four year drug war that has so far killed more than 30,000 people.
An American Honor Killing
Around the sprawling, sunbaked campus of Dysart High School in El Mirage, Arizona, not many people knew about the double life of a pretty, dark-haired girl named Noor Almaleki.
At school, she was known as a fun-loving student who made friends easily. She played tennis in a T-shirt emblazoned with the school mascot — a baby demon in a diaper. She liked to watch Heroesand eat at Chipotle. Sometimes she talked in a goofy Keanu Reeves voice. She wore dark jeans, jeweled sandals, and flowy tops from Forever 21. She texted constantly and called her friends "dude." In other words, she was an American girl much like any other.
But at home, Noor inhabited a darker world. She lived a life of subservience, often left to care for her six younger siblings. Noor's father, 49-year-old Faleh Almaleki, was strict and domineering, deeming it inappropriate for her to socialize with guys, wear jeans, or post snapshots of herself on MySpace. Her responsibility was to follow orders, or to risk a beating. From her father's perspective, the only time Noor's life would ever change would be when she married a man he selected for her — back in his homeland of Iraq. Noor, however, had a different vision for herself. Having lived in the U.S. for 16 years, she held dreams of becoming a teacher, of marrying a man she loved, and, most importantly, of making her own choices.
On a cloudless, breezy afternoon in late October 2009, her father set out to end those dreams. As Noor walked across a suburban parking lot to a Mexican restaurant with a friend — a 43-year-old woman named Amal Khalaf — Faleh Almaleki gunned the engine of his Jeep Grand Cherokee and bore down on his 20-year-old daughter and her companion. The women took off running but were no match for the SUV, already traveling close to 30 miles per hour. Suddenly Amal turned, held up her hands in a futile attempt to stop the Jeep, and froze. Moments later, the vehicle struck the women, tossing them into the air. Amal hit the pavement; Noor landed on a raised median, in a patch of pebbly landscaping. Faleh wasn't done, though. Swerving onto the median, he ran over his daughter as she lay bleeding, fracturing her face and spine. Then, he reversed and sped away.
Passersby heard the roar of the engine, screams, the impact of the bodies as they hit the Jeep's grill. They saw the women lying on the ground, their sandals scattered across the lot. A witness called 911, and emergency vehicles converged. Amal's condition was stable; Noor was comatose.
Local police characterized the incident as an attempted "honor killing" — the murder of a woman for behaving in a way that "shames" her family. It's a practice with deep, tenacious roots in the tribal traditions of the Middle East and Asia. (The United Nations estimates that 5,000 women die annually from such crimes.) Women are stoned, stabbed, and, in the recent case of a teenage girl in Turkey, tied up and buried alive. But honor killings in America are a chilling new trend. In Texas, teen sisters Amina and Sarah Said were shot dead in 2008, allegedly by their father, because they had boyfriends. That same year in Georgia, 25-year-old Sandeela Kanwal was allegedly strangled by her father for wanting to leave an arranged marriage. Last year in New York, Aasiya Hassan, 37, was murdered in perhaps the most gruesome way imaginable: She was beheaded, allegedly by her husband, for reportedly seeking a divorce. And this past spring, 19-year-old Tawana Thompson's husband gunned her down in Illinois, reportedly following arguments about her American-style clothing.
At school, she was known as a fun-loving student who made friends easily. She played tennis in a T-shirt emblazoned with the school mascot — a baby demon in a diaper. She liked to watch Heroesand eat at Chipotle. Sometimes she talked in a goofy Keanu Reeves voice. She wore dark jeans, jeweled sandals, and flowy tops from Forever 21. She texted constantly and called her friends "dude." In other words, she was an American girl much like any other.
But at home, Noor inhabited a darker world. She lived a life of subservience, often left to care for her six younger siblings. Noor's father, 49-year-old Faleh Almaleki, was strict and domineering, deeming it inappropriate for her to socialize with guys, wear jeans, or post snapshots of herself on MySpace. Her responsibility was to follow orders, or to risk a beating. From her father's perspective, the only time Noor's life would ever change would be when she married a man he selected for her — back in his homeland of Iraq. Noor, however, had a different vision for herself. Having lived in the U.S. for 16 years, she held dreams of becoming a teacher, of marrying a man she loved, and, most importantly, of making her own choices.
On a cloudless, breezy afternoon in late October 2009, her father set out to end those dreams. As Noor walked across a suburban parking lot to a Mexican restaurant with a friend — a 43-year-old woman named Amal Khalaf — Faleh Almaleki gunned the engine of his Jeep Grand Cherokee and bore down on his 20-year-old daughter and her companion. The women took off running but were no match for the SUV, already traveling close to 30 miles per hour. Suddenly Amal turned, held up her hands in a futile attempt to stop the Jeep, and froze. Moments later, the vehicle struck the women, tossing them into the air. Amal hit the pavement; Noor landed on a raised median, in a patch of pebbly landscaping. Faleh wasn't done, though. Swerving onto the median, he ran over his daughter as she lay bleeding, fracturing her face and spine. Then, he reversed and sped away.
Passersby heard the roar of the engine, screams, the impact of the bodies as they hit the Jeep's grill. They saw the women lying on the ground, their sandals scattered across the lot. A witness called 911, and emergency vehicles converged. Amal's condition was stable; Noor was comatose.
Local police characterized the incident as an attempted "honor killing" — the murder of a woman for behaving in a way that "shames" her family. It's a practice with deep, tenacious roots in the tribal traditions of the Middle East and Asia. (The United Nations estimates that 5,000 women die annually from such crimes.) Women are stoned, stabbed, and, in the recent case of a teenage girl in Turkey, tied up and buried alive. But honor killings in America are a chilling new trend. In Texas, teen sisters Amina and Sarah Said were shot dead in 2008, allegedly by their father, because they had boyfriends. That same year in Georgia, 25-year-old Sandeela Kanwal was allegedly strangled by her father for wanting to leave an arranged marriage. Last year in New York, Aasiya Hassan, 37, was murdered in perhaps the most gruesome way imaginable: She was beheaded, allegedly by her husband, for reportedly seeking a divorce. And this past spring, 19-year-old Tawana Thompson's husband gunned her down in Illinois, reportedly following arguments about her American-style clothing.
Amazingly, honor killings in the U.S. have been largely ignored by the national media. That's because these incidents are typically dismissed as "domestic" in nature — a class of crime that rarely makes the headlines. Since the murderer is a member of the woman's family, there's no extended investigation to capture the public's attention. Also, the family of the perpetrator rarely advocates for the victim, due to either fear or a belief that the woman got what she deserved. "From the family's point of view, if the goal is to end rumors about their female relative, the last thing they want is to have the press talk about the case," says Rana Husseini, a human-rights activist and author of Murder in the Name of Honor. Still, the lack of media coverage or public outcry cannot erase the evidence: Honor killings have washed up on our shores.
While there's little doubt that what Noor endured can only be classified as an "honor crime," the characterization brings up strong emotions in her closest friends. "Noor did nothing dishonorable!" insists Adhikar Dhakal. Appalled by his friend's fate and determined that no other American girl should face the same situation, he and others have established a Facebook group devoted to Noor, with nearly 4,000 members. Every day people post messages of outrage and support, making the fight against honor crimes a growing movement in this country, with increasingly passionate followers.
For her part, Noor has come to represent the profound complexities faced by young women with one foot in suburban America, the other in Middle Eastern tradition. This past spring, I traveled to Arizona in an effort to shed light on why a father would try to kill his own daughter for being too American — a father who, in the case of Faleh Almaleki, had recently become a U.S. citizen himself.
It's a crisp, sunny morning in March when I arrive in Glendale, the Phoenix suburb where Noor grew up. Local newscasts are taken up with the story of two women who were attacked by a swarm of bees. A memorial service is being held for hometown hero Lori Piestewa, a Native American who was killed at the start of the war in Iraq. The air is sweet with the smell of orange trees, now in full bloom.
Noor's friends aren't too eager to talk to me. I'm not surprised. Although honor crimes aren't officially sanctioned by Islam, they're associated with predominantly Muslim countries, and there's concern that any discussion of them will prove inflammatory, even dangerous. Noor's closest friends, I learn, are also angry at the press over local news items containing misinformation about Noor. Several reports said she wanted to be a model; others said she'd moved in with her boyfriend. In fact, the truth about Noor is far more poignant.
At Dysart High School, Noor's photography teacher, Jim Heinrich, stands beside a poster of his classroom rules (No. 1: Wonder a lot!). The school's population of 1,700 students is like a United Nations: Mexican, Pakistani, Iraqi. "Students rarely bring who they are at home into the classroom," he tells me. He describes Noor as "quiet, funny, and productive" in class.
Mary Ancell, who ran the school bookstore where Noor worked, remembers laughing with her on the job. "One day we were working on the computer and she mistakenly deleted herself from the school system," she says. "But we got her back the next day." Then she pauses, and begins to cry.
Leilani Llewellyn, a high school friend, says she and Noor would sit in history class and chat — about guys, clothes, music, whatever. Noor liked the bands Oasis and Rise Against; the Snoop Dogg song "Ballin'" made her laugh. Jeffrey Peck, another friend, says Noor helped him through some "tough times" with his girlfriend in high school, but didn't talk about her own problems.
Susan Poland, who runs the school's Key Club, a community-service program, recalls that Noor would hint at threats from her father to send her back to Iraq (where, he said, she would "learn to be a good girl"), but no one really took him seriously. In the winter of 2007, however, during Noor's senior year, her father made good on his threats, taking her out of school for a trip to his homeland.
Noor's friends have different versions of what transpired, but it's clear that marriage was on the agenda. Friends say her father had had enough of Noor asserting her independence and talking to American guys, so he and her mother tricked her into traveling to Iraq, telling her they needed to visit a sick relative. Only upon arrival did Noor learn of the real reason for their trip: to marry her off.
While there's little doubt that what Noor endured can only be classified as an "honor crime," the characterization brings up strong emotions in her closest friends. "Noor did nothing dishonorable!" insists Adhikar Dhakal. Appalled by his friend's fate and determined that no other American girl should face the same situation, he and others have established a Facebook group devoted to Noor, with nearly 4,000 members. Every day people post messages of outrage and support, making the fight against honor crimes a growing movement in this country, with increasingly passionate followers.
For her part, Noor has come to represent the profound complexities faced by young women with one foot in suburban America, the other in Middle Eastern tradition. This past spring, I traveled to Arizona in an effort to shed light on why a father would try to kill his own daughter for being too American — a father who, in the case of Faleh Almaleki, had recently become a U.S. citizen himself.
It's a crisp, sunny morning in March when I arrive in Glendale, the Phoenix suburb where Noor grew up. Local newscasts are taken up with the story of two women who were attacked by a swarm of bees. A memorial service is being held for hometown hero Lori Piestewa, a Native American who was killed at the start of the war in Iraq. The air is sweet with the smell of orange trees, now in full bloom.
Noor's friends aren't too eager to talk to me. I'm not surprised. Although honor crimes aren't officially sanctioned by Islam, they're associated with predominantly Muslim countries, and there's concern that any discussion of them will prove inflammatory, even dangerous. Noor's closest friends, I learn, are also angry at the press over local news items containing misinformation about Noor. Several reports said she wanted to be a model; others said she'd moved in with her boyfriend. In fact, the truth about Noor is far more poignant.
At Dysart High School, Noor's photography teacher, Jim Heinrich, stands beside a poster of his classroom rules (No. 1: Wonder a lot!). The school's population of 1,700 students is like a United Nations: Mexican, Pakistani, Iraqi. "Students rarely bring who they are at home into the classroom," he tells me. He describes Noor as "quiet, funny, and productive" in class.
Mary Ancell, who ran the school bookstore where Noor worked, remembers laughing with her on the job. "One day we were working on the computer and she mistakenly deleted herself from the school system," she says. "But we got her back the next day." Then she pauses, and begins to cry.
Leilani Llewellyn, a high school friend, says she and Noor would sit in history class and chat — about guys, clothes, music, whatever. Noor liked the bands Oasis and Rise Against; the Snoop Dogg song "Ballin'" made her laugh. Jeffrey Peck, another friend, says Noor helped him through some "tough times" with his girlfriend in high school, but didn't talk about her own problems.
Susan Poland, who runs the school's Key Club, a community-service program, recalls that Noor would hint at threats from her father to send her back to Iraq (where, he said, she would "learn to be a good girl"), but no one really took him seriously. In the winter of 2007, however, during Noor's senior year, her father made good on his threats, taking her out of school for a trip to his homeland.
Noor's friends have different versions of what transpired, but it's clear that marriage was on the agenda. Friends say her father had had enough of Noor asserting her independence and talking to American guys, so he and her mother tricked her into traveling to Iraq, telling her they needed to visit a sick relative. Only upon arrival did Noor learn of the real reason for their trip: to marry her off.
It's unclear whether a wedding actually took place. Some friends say she only attended an engagement ceremony; others tell me they believe she did get married, albeit against her will. Still others say Noor was given a choice of five brothers, but her parents didn't like the one she chose, so the wedding was called off. Noor's parents, in police documents, maintain that a marriage did, in fact, occur. Whatever the case, Noor returned to Arizona a few months later without a husband, and moved back in with her family. She missed her younger siblings, friends say, and her parents needed help caring for them.
The Almaleki home is located in a Phoenix subdivision called Paradise Views. It's a comfortable-looking place that suggests the family was at least making a go of the more tangible aspects of the American dream. Although unemployed at the time of the parking-lot incident, and with a purported gambling habit, Noor's father had previously found work as a truck driver. Noor's mother had been hired by a company in California to help prepare American soldiers for cultural differences they would face in the Middle East — an incongruous career path, given her struggle at home to perform such a role in her own daughter's life. On the day I visit, the blinds are drawn. It's a Sunday and the neighborhood is silent. Palm trees and fuchsia flowers line the streets; in the distance, blue-gray mountains loom.
In the months after Noor's return from Iraq, the mood in the Almaleki household was heavy with tension. Noor dutifully looked after her siblings and completed the schoolwork necessary for her high school diploma, but by May 2008, the family was in full crisis. Noor's father had found a photo of her with male friends on MySpace, and he didn't like it. The situation became so heated that she started talking about moving out. One day, when Noor took the family car to visit a cousin, her father reported it stolen. When she learned what he'd done, she left the car on the side of the road and walked away. According to police records, her father wanted to file criminal charges against Noor to "teach her a lesson," telling police she was "disgracing the family" and that it didn't "look good" that she was moving out. Eventually she did move in with a friend. But after repeated run-ins with her father, and after learning that her mother was casting "spells" on her host family, she gave up and returned home.
Noor's 20th birthday, in February 2009, became a breaking point. After another family fight — this one in the middle of the night — she phoned a friend to come and get her. The friend, who asked not to be identified, describes a tumultuous scene: Noor came running out the door wearing her pajamas and carrying a purse — and, oddly, a roll of gift wrap. As her father chased her across the lawn, Noor jumped into the backseat, and the friend raced away.
A few minutes later, the girls met up with another friend in the parking lot of the local Westgate Mall. There, all three in their pajamas, they leaned against their cars and burst out laughing at the absurdity of the situation. "I asked her what was up with that gift wrap," Noor's friend recalls. "She laughed and said, 'I don't know. I just had it in my hand!'" That night, Noor moved in with the friend who had picked her up, ultimately enlisting the police to protect her as she retrieved her things from the family home. "She loved that," her friend tells me. "The police helped her out."
And in the spring of 2009, Noor got her own apartment. Her friends helped her furnish it with a new mirror and a cloudy TV they found on Craigslist for $25. The next few weeks brought happier times. "We rented videos at midnight wearing zit cream," one of her friends tells me, smiling. "We drank more Mocha Joes from Burger King than water." To pay the rent, Noor worked at a local Chipotle; she'd also begun attending Glendale Community College.
I meet Noor's close friend Adhikar Dhakal at that same Chipotle. A thoughtful, handsome student at Arizona State University, Adhikar reminisces about how Noor hated the brown cap she had to wear as an employee at the restaurant. He smiles at the memory. Noor worked hard to support herself, he says, noting that she sent photos to a couple talent agencies to try to earn money, possibly as an extra on a movie set— but not, as the local press reported, to become a model. He calls Noor "the most perfect person" he has ever known.
When Noor's parents learned where she was working, they started showing up and insisting that she move back home, so she got a job across town, as a hostess at Applebee's. They turned up there too, leaving her no choice but to abandon that job as well. With no source of income, she was forced to return home once more.
The Almaleki home is located in a Phoenix subdivision called Paradise Views. It's a comfortable-looking place that suggests the family was at least making a go of the more tangible aspects of the American dream. Although unemployed at the time of the parking-lot incident, and with a purported gambling habit, Noor's father had previously found work as a truck driver. Noor's mother had been hired by a company in California to help prepare American soldiers for cultural differences they would face in the Middle East — an incongruous career path, given her struggle at home to perform such a role in her own daughter's life. On the day I visit, the blinds are drawn. It's a Sunday and the neighborhood is silent. Palm trees and fuchsia flowers line the streets; in the distance, blue-gray mountains loom.
In the months after Noor's return from Iraq, the mood in the Almaleki household was heavy with tension. Noor dutifully looked after her siblings and completed the schoolwork necessary for her high school diploma, but by May 2008, the family was in full crisis. Noor's father had found a photo of her with male friends on MySpace, and he didn't like it. The situation became so heated that she started talking about moving out. One day, when Noor took the family car to visit a cousin, her father reported it stolen. When she learned what he'd done, she left the car on the side of the road and walked away. According to police records, her father wanted to file criminal charges against Noor to "teach her a lesson," telling police she was "disgracing the family" and that it didn't "look good" that she was moving out. Eventually she did move in with a friend. But after repeated run-ins with her father, and after learning that her mother was casting "spells" on her host family, she gave up and returned home.
Noor's 20th birthday, in February 2009, became a breaking point. After another family fight — this one in the middle of the night — she phoned a friend to come and get her. The friend, who asked not to be identified, describes a tumultuous scene: Noor came running out the door wearing her pajamas and carrying a purse — and, oddly, a roll of gift wrap. As her father chased her across the lawn, Noor jumped into the backseat, and the friend raced away.
A few minutes later, the girls met up with another friend in the parking lot of the local Westgate Mall. There, all three in their pajamas, they leaned against their cars and burst out laughing at the absurdity of the situation. "I asked her what was up with that gift wrap," Noor's friend recalls. "She laughed and said, 'I don't know. I just had it in my hand!'" That night, Noor moved in with the friend who had picked her up, ultimately enlisting the police to protect her as she retrieved her things from the family home. "She loved that," her friend tells me. "The police helped her out."
And in the spring of 2009, Noor got her own apartment. Her friends helped her furnish it with a new mirror and a cloudy TV they found on Craigslist for $25. The next few weeks brought happier times. "We rented videos at midnight wearing zit cream," one of her friends tells me, smiling. "We drank more Mocha Joes from Burger King than water." To pay the rent, Noor worked at a local Chipotle; she'd also begun attending Glendale Community College.
I meet Noor's close friend Adhikar Dhakal at that same Chipotle. A thoughtful, handsome student at Arizona State University, Adhikar reminisces about how Noor hated the brown cap she had to wear as an employee at the restaurant. He smiles at the memory. Noor worked hard to support herself, he says, noting that she sent photos to a couple talent agencies to try to earn money, possibly as an extra on a movie set— but not, as the local press reported, to become a model. He calls Noor "the most perfect person" he has ever known.
When Noor's parents learned where she was working, they started showing up and insisting that she move back home, so she got a job across town, as a hostess at Applebee's. They turned up there too, leaving her no choice but to abandon that job as well. With no source of income, she was forced to return home once more.
The final blowup came that summer. In June 2009, longtime family friend Amal Khalaf awoke to find Noor sleeping in the family's van, parked in the driveway. Noor said her parents had hit her; Amal, a mother of four, took her in. To Noor's family, this was the ultimate indignity: Their daughter had chosen to live with another Iraqi family instead of her own.
On July 20, Noor's parents entered Amal's home unannounced and began banging on Amal's bedroom door. Amal dialed 911. After that, Noor's father started regularly harassing the family. Amal's husband, Reikan, explained to him that Noor was free to live where she chose. "This is America," he said, according to police records. "This is the freedom we have."
To complicate matters further, in the weeks that followed, a romance developed between Noor and Amal's son Marwan (with Marwan even claiming at one point that the two were engaged). When Noor's father found out, he threatened that if she did not leave that house, "something bad was going to happen." Noor filed for a restraining order, but seems never to have finalized the paperwork.
On October 19, the day before her father headed for her in the parking lot, Noor sent dozens of text messages to friends, making plans and reminiscing. "Hey dude," she wrote to a pal at 2:47 p.m. "Do you have plans for Halloween? I'm throwing a party ... You should dress up and come. Bring people."
At 2:23 a.m., she sent a more sentimental note to a childhood friend: "Dude I felt very blah a while ago so I went driving ... by my old house in Glendale and my old school. I remember being a cute little kid and wearing a backpack. Remember wearing our Jansport backpacks? You had the nice one with flames lol. Jerk. I wanted to be hot like you and have flames lol."
The next day, Noor and Amal were in the local welfare office when Noor's father suddenly appeared. In a panic, Noor texted a friend, "I'm with my aunt at the welfare place and guess who walks in? My dad!!! I'm so shaky!" She then added, "My dad is a manipulative asshole. I've honestly never met anyone with so much evil." Amal didn't think it was a coincidence that Noor's father had just shown up, and she directed Noor to ask an employee if they could exit through a rear door. "He will probably just spit on me and leave," Noor said. And then, just as suddenly, he was gone.
As the two women were leaving, Amal scanned the parking lot. With Noor's father nowhere in sight, they started walking across the lot toward Carolina's Mexican restaurant.
After Noor and Amal were hit by the Jeep, police began a manhunt for the driver of the car. They started at the Almaleki family home, where a Domino's Pizza truck had just turned into the driveway. Noor's teenage brother Ali was there with several siblings, according to police reports. He said he hadn't spoken to his father since that morning, and that he didn't want to "get involved."
On July 20, Noor's parents entered Amal's home unannounced and began banging on Amal's bedroom door. Amal dialed 911. After that, Noor's father started regularly harassing the family. Amal's husband, Reikan, explained to him that Noor was free to live where she chose. "This is America," he said, according to police records. "This is the freedom we have."
To complicate matters further, in the weeks that followed, a romance developed between Noor and Amal's son Marwan (with Marwan even claiming at one point that the two were engaged). When Noor's father found out, he threatened that if she did not leave that house, "something bad was going to happen." Noor filed for a restraining order, but seems never to have finalized the paperwork.
On October 19, the day before her father headed for her in the parking lot, Noor sent dozens of text messages to friends, making plans and reminiscing. "Hey dude," she wrote to a pal at 2:47 p.m. "Do you have plans for Halloween? I'm throwing a party ... You should dress up and come. Bring people."
At 2:23 a.m., she sent a more sentimental note to a childhood friend: "Dude I felt very blah a while ago so I went driving ... by my old house in Glendale and my old school. I remember being a cute little kid and wearing a backpack. Remember wearing our Jansport backpacks? You had the nice one with flames lol. Jerk. I wanted to be hot like you and have flames lol."
The next day, Noor and Amal were in the local welfare office when Noor's father suddenly appeared. In a panic, Noor texted a friend, "I'm with my aunt at the welfare place and guess who walks in? My dad!!! I'm so shaky!" She then added, "My dad is a manipulative asshole. I've honestly never met anyone with so much evil." Amal didn't think it was a coincidence that Noor's father had just shown up, and she directed Noor to ask an employee if they could exit through a rear door. "He will probably just spit on me and leave," Noor said. And then, just as suddenly, he was gone.
As the two women were leaving, Amal scanned the parking lot. With Noor's father nowhere in sight, they started walking across the lot toward Carolina's Mexican restaurant.
After Noor and Amal were hit by the Jeep, police began a manhunt for the driver of the car. They started at the Almaleki family home, where a Domino's Pizza truck had just turned into the driveway. Noor's teenage brother Ali was there with several siblings, according to police reports. He said he hadn't spoken to his father since that morning, and that he didn't want to "get involved."
Police also spoke with Noor's mother, Seham, who was on her way home from her job in California. When a detective said that her husband had struck Noor and Amal with his car, she grew angry, saying in reference to Amal, "This woman is a liar. She is dirty." The detective then said that Noor was "close to dying," and Seham appeared to misunderstand. "Thank you. Thank you," she said. "That's what she needs. This is what Amal needs." The detective decided that Noor's safety could be in jeopardy and declined to disclose her location. A frustrated Seham shouted, "I'm a danger? We are Muslim. We can't kill our daughter!" The police stationed officers outside Noor's hospital room.
In the days that followed, Noor underwent spinal surgery, but remained unconscious, unresponsive, and unable to breathe on her own. As she struggled for life, police records indicate that her family tried to help her father flee abroad. Noor's mother picked up a prescription for him at a pharmacy, and cell-phone records showed that Ali, despite what he initially told the police, had, in fact, spoken with his father on two different occasions within minutes of the crime. However, both Ali and his mother denied knowing of Faleh's whereabouts.
Faleh had escaped south to Mexico. From there he flew to London, where he was finally picked up by customs officials. Nine days after the crime, he was back in the States and being interviewed by detectives. In that conversation, he admitted striking Noor and Amal, saying, "I lost control" and that it was "kind of an accident." But he denied trying to murder his daughter. "Why would I do it with a vehicle?" he asked. It would make more sense to "buy a gun," he reasoned. He went on to say that in his culture, a daughter should not leave home, should not be too "Americanized." The detective reminded him that Noor was an adult and that, by law, she could live where she wanted. Later, Faleh equated Noor to a "small fire" that needed to be extinguished in order to keep the family home from burning down.
At the hospital, during a supervised family visit, a police officer observed that Noor's heartbeat nearly doubled when her mother touched her and spoke in Arabic. A nurse ordered Noor's mother not to touch her daughter again.
Around 7 a.m. on November 2, 2009, Noor was pronounced clinically brain dead. Several hours later, at her family's request, she was disconnected from life support. At 11:54 a.m., her heart stopped beating.
In the days that followed, Noor underwent spinal surgery, but remained unconscious, unresponsive, and unable to breathe on her own. As she struggled for life, police records indicate that her family tried to help her father flee abroad. Noor's mother picked up a prescription for him at a pharmacy, and cell-phone records showed that Ali, despite what he initially told the police, had, in fact, spoken with his father on two different occasions within minutes of the crime. However, both Ali and his mother denied knowing of Faleh's whereabouts.
Faleh had escaped south to Mexico. From there he flew to London, where he was finally picked up by customs officials. Nine days after the crime, he was back in the States and being interviewed by detectives. In that conversation, he admitted striking Noor and Amal, saying, "I lost control" and that it was "kind of an accident." But he denied trying to murder his daughter. "Why would I do it with a vehicle?" he asked. It would make more sense to "buy a gun," he reasoned. He went on to say that in his culture, a daughter should not leave home, should not be too "Americanized." The detective reminded him that Noor was an adult and that, by law, she could live where she wanted. Later, Faleh equated Noor to a "small fire" that needed to be extinguished in order to keep the family home from burning down.
At the hospital, during a supervised family visit, a police officer observed that Noor's heartbeat nearly doubled when her mother touched her and spoke in Arabic. A nurse ordered Noor's mother not to touch her daughter again.
Around 7 a.m. on November 2, 2009, Noor was pronounced clinically brain dead. Several hours later, at her family's request, she was disconnected from life support. At 11:54 a.m., her heart stopped beating.
"I’m not a criminal. I didn’t kill someone randomly. I didn’t break into someone’s house. I didn’t steal,” Noor’s father protested to his wife in a November jailhouse phone call, recorded by the police. Suggesting that his wife get protestors to demonstrate at an Iraqi consulate, he added, “For an Iraqi, honor is the most valuable thing.” Later, he lamented, “No one messed up our life except Noor.... No one hates his daughter, but honor is precious...and we are a tribal society. I didn’t kill someone off the street. I tried to give her a chance.”
“Honestly, you rushed into it,” his wife countered. But later she agreed with her husband, telling him, “You are not a criminal. I know how good-hearted and compassionate you are.”
Faleh suggested that his wife look for a “loophole” for his defense: “You know, clans, tribalism, something like that.”
“I hope we can say you have a psychological problem,” she replied. “You have to tell them, ‘I’m suffering because of the war’ and stuff like that.”
As of press time, Faleh Almaleki was in jail awaiting a trial date, charged with first-degree murder, aggravated assault, and leaving the scene of a serious-injury accident — charges to which he has pleaded “not guilty.” His wife and son Ali, as well as his cousin Jamil, faced possible charges for aiding a fugitive. (Faleh told police that Jamil had sent him money in Mexico, a claim Jamil denies.) Amal Khalaf was still recuperating from a fractured pelvis.
Noor’s brother Ali, in a Facebook discussion group about his sister, says, “The media has drawn this image that Noor, RIP, was a saint, and my Dad was the Devil. Don’t believe the reasoning behind this as ‘Too Westernized.’... Nobody will understand what went on in this house to drive my dad to this level of insanity.”
In fact, there are many aspects of Noor’s story that millions of immigrants in America wouldunderstand. The story of the next generation shedding the customs of the old country is part of the American experience. Rudabeh Shahbazi, an Iranian-American TV personality in Phoenix, knows this all too well. She grew up in the U.S. but spent summers in her father’s homeland of Iran. “It’s hard to know what’s appropriate in both worlds,” she says. “Are you too American, or not American enough?”
Noor’s MySpace page remains frozen in time. Beneath her portrait, there’s a frowning emoticon, next to the words “Mood: disappointed.” Her last update to the site came just five days before her father ran her down. Says her friend Nuha Serrac, an Arizona State University student, “I sincerely believe Noor would have forgiven her father. One of her most amazing characteristics was her kindness.”
Noor’s legacy lives on, via the Web.
Natasha Yousif, a student at Arizona State, is a member of Noor’s Facebook group, and was so moved by her story that she decided to get a small tattoo in her honor. I meet with Natasha before I leave Phoenix, and she lifts her blouse to show me a crescent moon and star on her upper abdomen, with Noor’s name in Arabic underneath.
“‘Noor’ means light in Arabic,” she tells me.
“Honestly, you rushed into it,” his wife countered. But later she agreed with her husband, telling him, “You are not a criminal. I know how good-hearted and compassionate you are.”
Faleh suggested that his wife look for a “loophole” for his defense: “You know, clans, tribalism, something like that.”
“I hope we can say you have a psychological problem,” she replied. “You have to tell them, ‘I’m suffering because of the war’ and stuff like that.”
As of press time, Faleh Almaleki was in jail awaiting a trial date, charged with first-degree murder, aggravated assault, and leaving the scene of a serious-injury accident — charges to which he has pleaded “not guilty.” His wife and son Ali, as well as his cousin Jamil, faced possible charges for aiding a fugitive. (Faleh told police that Jamil had sent him money in Mexico, a claim Jamil denies.) Amal Khalaf was still recuperating from a fractured pelvis.
Noor’s brother Ali, in a Facebook discussion group about his sister, says, “The media has drawn this image that Noor, RIP, was a saint, and my Dad was the Devil. Don’t believe the reasoning behind this as ‘Too Westernized.’... Nobody will understand what went on in this house to drive my dad to this level of insanity.”
In fact, there are many aspects of Noor’s story that millions of immigrants in America wouldunderstand. The story of the next generation shedding the customs of the old country is part of the American experience. Rudabeh Shahbazi, an Iranian-American TV personality in Phoenix, knows this all too well. She grew up in the U.S. but spent summers in her father’s homeland of Iran. “It’s hard to know what’s appropriate in both worlds,” she says. “Are you too American, or not American enough?”
Noor’s MySpace page remains frozen in time. Beneath her portrait, there’s a frowning emoticon, next to the words “Mood: disappointed.” Her last update to the site came just five days before her father ran her down. Says her friend Nuha Serrac, an Arizona State University student, “I sincerely believe Noor would have forgiven her father. One of her most amazing characteristics was her kindness.”
Noor’s legacy lives on, via the Web.
Natasha Yousif, a student at Arizona State, is a member of Noor’s Facebook group, and was so moved by her story that she decided to get a small tattoo in her honor. I meet with Natasha before I leave Phoenix, and she lifts her blouse to show me a crescent moon and star on her upper abdomen, with Noor’s name in Arabic underneath.
“‘Noor’ means light in Arabic,” she tells me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)