TYR Volume 4

The fourth volume of TYR is now available from Ultra Press:
http://www.radicaltraditionalist.com/

Fact Checking Reza Haslan on Human Rights in Muslim Majority Countries (Other Than Iran and Saudi Arabia)

Reza Aslan, in a recent CNN interview, was at great pains to convince the world that there is something not only illogical and ridiculous about the idea that human rights violations are widespread in the Muslim world, but that anyone who says so is a bigot. According to Aslan, serious human rights violations are limited to Iran and Saudi Arabia, whereas in the rest of the Muslim world there is freedom and equality.

Go here to see what Aslan says in his own words (that link has both the original unedited video and the full transcript). Aslan was responding to what Bill Maher had said in an earlier interview, and that interview (again, the full undedited video along with full transcript) is here. The money-quote from Bill Maher is, "[Islam is] the only religion that acts like the Mafia that will fucking kill you if you say the wrong thing, draw the wrong picture, or write the wrong book."

Aslan claims that the "bigoted" negative view of Islam voiced by Bill Maher is dramatically disproven by the specific cases of Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Turkey. One has to wonder what the fuck Aslan was smoking when he said this. Indonesia is a country where over 70% of the population is in favor of Sharia law, Malaysia is the country that kidnapped Hamza Kashgari and extradited him back to Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh has a sinister history of murderous violence against it's Hindu and Buddhist minorities, and Turkey, while once something of a paragon of genuine "moderate" Islam, is now home to one of the most popular and politically powerful fundamentalist mass movements in the contemporary Islamic world.

Indonesia:

• Rights Rollback for Religious Minorities, Women: Leadership Fuels Intolerance, Emboldens Abusers 
• New Islamic Laws Violate Rights: Same-Sex Relations Banned; Whipping Imposed as Punishment
• Seven in 10 Indonesian Muslims want sharia law

Malaysia:

• No need for women’s rights movement in Malaysia, says Prime Minister
• BN politics the bane of women’s rights
• Malaysian Lesbians Arrested Under Sharia

Bangladesh:

• Bangladesh tumbled backwards on human rights in 2013
• Bangladesh minorities 'terrorised' after mob violence
• Bangladesh: Wave of violent attacks against Hindu minority

Turkey:

• Turkey accused of gross human rights violations in Gezi Park protests
• Turkey’s Human Rights Rollback
• Turkey: YouTube Block Violates Free Expression

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