This Week in Fundamentalism, Volume 6

Abdel-Qader Ali of Iraq became famous earlier this month when, after he discovered his daughter might have developed feelings for a British soldier, he trampled, suffocated, and stabbed her to death. A new follow-up article in the Guardian reveals that he did so with the full support of the authorities –

Abdel-Qader, 46, a government employee, was initially arrested but released after two hours. Astonishingly, he said, police congratulated him on what he had done. ‘They are men and know what honour is,’ he said.

– and of the men in his community.

Death was the least she deserved,’ said Abdel-Qader. ‘I don’t regret it. I had the support of all my friends who are fathers, like me, and know what she did was unacceptable to any Muslim that honours his religion,’ he said.

Yes, his daughter’s death at his hands has received the stamp of approval from his version of the Almighty.

‘I have only two boys from now on. That girl was a mistake in my life. I know God is blessing me for what I did,’ he said, his voice swelling with pride. ‘My sons are by my side, and they were men enough to help me finish the life of someone who just brought shame to ours.’

Ah, the joys of Iraqi McFreedom and God’s love….

The Baltimore Examiner reported this week on an investigation into the death of an 18 month old who went missing two years ago and whose remains were found in a suitcase in Philly. It seems the child wouldn’t say ‘amen’ at meal times or follow other cult rules; and really, at 18 months it’s alright to struggle with “ma-ma” and “da-da”, but c’mon, “amen”? Should be an easy one. Anyway, the boy was clearly a demon, or possessed by one, so appropriate action had to be taken:

A witness told homicide detectives Javon was “beaten, physically abused [and] deprived of food and water, which led to the child’s death,” according to Khadan-Newton and records obtained by The Examiner.

Not to worry, though; death is only a minor setback for the devout.

After his death, Javon was placed on a mattress, on which cult members said God would resurrect him from the dead, documents state.

Speaking of resurrections, police apparently interrupted an impending one when they entered the home of two leaders of a local church in Madison, Wisconsin this week. Tammy D. “Sister Mary Bernadett” Lewis and Alan A. “Bishop” Bushey were arrested for “causing mental harm to a child” because Lewis’ two kids were living in the house with the two adults and the decaying corpse of a 90 year old woman propped up on the toilet in their bathroom.

Why did they leave her there? God said to, of course!

Lewis told the deputy that “God told her Alvina would come back to life if she prayed hard enough.” Bushey told the deputy that “Lewis was obedient and served the Lord just as she should.”

I suppose these arrests are just another sad story of our evil secular society persecuting Christians for acting on their beliefs.

Another notable fundamentalist legal entanglement this week involved Adnan Oktar, famed Islamic creationist author, who has been sentenced to three years in a Turkish prison. Details on the specifics of the case are sketchy in the article, but the crime was described as “creating an illegal organization for personal gain”. In other words, he was using religion to make himself rich. He should have come to America, where that kind of thing doesn’t get you arrested; it gets you invitations to dinner at the White House.

One organization that will have a tough time turning a profit in the near future is the Catholic diocese in Vermont, which has lost a suit over sexual abuse by a priest. Lost it to the tune of 8.7 million dollars, in fact.

A grim Bishop Salvatore Matano, who attended the six-day trial, said in a brief, separate interview that the size of the verdict could pose serious problems for the diocese. He called the looming predicament a “sad and tragic moment in our history.”

Allow me to slip into babytalk mode for a moment:

Aww, does the poor widdle Bishy-wishy foresee financial hardship coming for his widdle kingdom?

There. Had to get that out of my system.

A note to Bishy-w – er, ahem, Bishop Matano: If your organization has spent decades (at least) systematically covering up the frequent sexual abuse of minors, its collapse should be seen as a good thing. Good luck with all those other pending lawsuits.