Free Republic

A middle school teacher in the Austrian city of Bregenz is facing criminal charges for calling Islam’s Muhammad a “child molester.” A middle school teacher in the Austrian city of Bregenz is facing criminal charges for calling Islam’s Muhammad a “child molester.” VOL reports that the Bregenz teacher described Mohammed, the founder of Islam, as a child molester to her students. After school officials heard this, they forwarded an official complaint to the Vorarlberg prosecutors office. Vorarlberg Provincial Councillor Dr. Bernadette Mennel confirmed that the teacher was facing criminal charges, saying “there is an allegation against the teacher.” She added,...

In the West, expressions such as "racist," or in Muslim countries "apostate," are intended to silence citizens and keep them muzzled. In Muslim countries, the objective is to keep people under the control of Islamic law through government enforcement. In America, a whole new generation would rather defend terrorists and criminals than be called "racists." Having spent most of my life in the Middle East, I am sensitive to recognizing artificially-induced, exhibitionistic, whipped-up outrage -- "shaming fits" -- forced upon ordinary people by "the system." "Shaming," as in, "Have you no shame?" and frequently mentioned in communications among Muslims, is...

LONDON — Disputes over mosques have broken out across Europe. Residents from Belgium to France to Germany have expressed unease at minarets competing in the urban landscape with the spires and stones of centuries-old cathedrals. But the fight raging over an abandoned lot in London’s East End is of an altogether grander scale. A large and secretive Islamic sect proposed building what would have been the largest mosque in Europe, smack at the gateway to the 2012 Olympic Games, and within sight of London’s financial district. That plan was sent back to the drawing board to be scaled down, but...