From: Cgastbook@aol.com 
To: aanews@listserv.atheists.org 
Subject: [Atheist] re: AANEWS for November 23, 1998
Date: Monday, November 23, 1998 10:51 AM

from: AMERICAN ATHEISTS
subject: AANEWS for November 23, 1998

     A M E R I C A N   A T H E I S T S
             ~~   A A N E W S   ~~
  #506~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~11/23/98
           http://www.atheists.org
             ftp.atheists.org/pub/
     http://www.americanatheist.org

----------------------------------------------------------
   A Service of AMERICAN ATHEISTS
 "For Reason and the First Amendment"
-----------------------------------------------------------

   In This Issue...
   * Nasrin granted bail, but remains target of Islamic bullies
   * Archdiocese tried to prevent "60 Minutes" program on Kevorkian
   * Winter Solstice gifts from American Atheists
   * Resources
   * About this list...

        NASRIN GRANTED BAIL IN DHAKA COURT: ISLAMIC GROUP STILL DEMANDS HER
EXECUTION FOR BLASPHEMY

   Embattled atheist-feminist writer Taslima Nasrin made a surprise appearance
in court yesterday, and was granted bail in a civil suit charging her with
insulting religious beliefs of Muslims in her native country of Bangladesh.
With her face partially covered by a scarf, Nasrin arrived at the Dhaka
justice court flanked by relatives and two unidentified men thought to be
security personnel.  It was her first public appearance since returning to
Bangladesh on September 27 in order to care for her terminally ill mother.

   Nasrin fled the country in August, 1994 following death threats by Islamic
fanatics.  A civil suit filed against her by a Muslim, Zainal Abedin Babul,
accused her of insulting the Islamic religion in the pages of one of her book,
Selected Columns.  In that and other writings, Nasrin has spoken out on behalf
of equal rights for women, and the replacement of Islamic law by an
enlightened secular code.  Islamists, though, have called for her immediate
rest and execution, and used her case to press their campaign for a national
law against blasphemy.

   After fleeing Bangladesh, Nasrin was granted asylum in Sweden.  She
traveled throughout the Continent and to the United States; often compared to
writer Salman Rushdie, also the target of Islamic death threats, she has
become a symbol of secularism and equal rights for women.

   The hearing lasted 25 minutes, and Nasrin was represented by her attorney,
Dr. Kamal Hossain.  The bail  motion was granted by Judge Kazi Ebadul Huq,
although it is significant that the government's Deputy Attorney General,
K.M.Faruk, opposed leniency for Nasrin.  Judge Huq and fellow Justice Awlad
Ali also ordered the government to show why Nasrin should not be granted
permanent bail after four weeks, and ordered the state attorney to present all
documents pertinent to her case.

   According to press reports from Reuters and the Bangladesh Daily Star
newspaper, Nasrin appeared "nervous" during the hearing.  After bail was
granted, she and her entourage quickly headed along the long corridor on the
first floor of the court building; her security team scuffled briefly with a
news photographer and reporter, attempting to shield Nasrin from the camera.
A waiting car then whisked her away to an undisclosed location.

   In an interview with the BBC later, Nasrin made another appeal for the
government to protect her from Islamic militants who have called for her
arrest and summary execution.  Following yesterday's court action, a spokesman
for the leading Muslim extremist group, Islami Oikya Jote, said his
organization remained resolute.  "It won't ease our stance," declared A.R.M.
Abdul Matin, joint general secretary of IOJ.  "We still demand her death ...
that will warn all murtads (infidels) that they cannot escape the gallows."
Martin told a correspondent with Reuters that IOJ and its allies would be
meeting shortly to decide their next course of action,

  "It's a matter for the court to give her bail, but it's not the end of
everything," said Abdul Martin.

   According to the Star newspaper, IOJ will be huddling today in the
Bangladesh capital of Dhaka at the Institution of Engineers.  "IOJ sources
said that the Jote (IOJ) would press for parliament adopting blasphemy laws so
that murtads (infidels) would face capital punishment..."

                               Not A Victory: Government Still Not Helping

   Before breaking out the champagne, atheists and other human rights
activists focused on Ms. Nasrin's plight  should pause and remember that this
latest bail hearing is little comfort, and still does not resolve the wider
questions in her case.  Even with bail, the writer still faces a civil trial
for "insulting" Islamic believers.  There is also the questionable role of the
present government in Bangladesh.  While the current regime is seen as
somewhat more liberal than its predecessor (while was in power when the
original charges were filed in 1994), the state's role is far from a positive
one.  According to the latest BBC reports, correspondent David Chazen says
that this government "has shown little interest in pursuing the case against"
Nasrin."  That claim is inaccurate, however.  At yesterday's bail hearing, the
government attorney opposed any leniency for Nasrin.  And earlier this month,
the Dhaka court demanded that Nasrin surrender by January 5.  At that time,
AANEWS observed, "The court ruling appears to confirm suspicions that the
Bangladesh government is either too weak -- or unwilling -- to take a firm
stand against the country's Islamic leaders."  

   The government's actions, which border on appeasement of the
fundamentalists, also appear to be encouraging (rather than abetting) Islamic
militancy. Within hours of the government announcement ordering Nasrin to turn
herself in, the Islamic Oikkya Jote (also identified as Jamaat-e-Islami)
announced a $2,500 reward -- a large amount of money by Bangladesh standards
-- for Nasrin's capture).   IOJ also turned up the rhetoric, issuing a
statement that "Taslima Nasrin is an infidel and it is the duty of Muslims to
find her out and turn (her) over to the police..."

   Questions and problems remain.  Should Nasrin live to see a trial, or
choose to remain in Bangladesh, can she receive anything close to a "fair"
hearing?  If convicted, she faces a fine and up to three years in jail.  What
then?  Islamic groups are also pressing for a nationwide blasphemy law.
Bangladesh remains a poor country, and with the "Asian Meltdown" still a real
possibility, Muslim fundamentalism is asserting itself again throughout the
region as a political and cultural force -- as in Indonesia. 

   Finally, Ms. Nasrin faces the same dilemma as Salman Rushdie; both are
targets of Islamic wrath, and the groups stalking them appear unconcerned
about any "official" status they may have.  Ms. Rushdie lives under the threat
of a "fatwa" or religious edict of death pronounced by the late Ayatollah
Khomeini, despite declarations by the current Iranian government that it has
"forgotten" the death sentence.  Ms. Nasrin's case is less clear, although
today's BBC News reports that Nasrin "said she would remain in hiding as long
as Islamic groups maintain the Fatwa, the religious order calling for her
death..."

   (Thanks to Warren Allen Smith for information used in this story.  Mr.
Smith maintains a web site which tracks developments in the Nasrin case; visit
http://idt.net/~wasm/nasrin.htm.)

                                                       **

      CHURCH TRIED TO STOP "60 MINUTES" BROADCAST OF
                     KEVORKIAN ASSISTED SUICIDE

   Roman Catholic officials tried vainly yesterday to prevent a CBS "60
Minutes" segment  which showed Dr. Jack Kevorkian injecting a man suffering
from Lou Gehrig's disease with a lethal mixture of drugs, from airing.
Kevorkian, who has attracted national attention for his support of physician
assisted suicide, termed the measure a form of "active euthanasia."

   The euthanasia was carried out on September 17 and videotaped.  When CBS
announced that it would carry the program, which included comments by
Kevorkian as well as critics, advocacy groups and  the Roman Catholic Church
denounced the move.  Local stations in San Antonio, St. Louis, New Orleans,
Spokane and Tulsa decided to carry local news while the Kevorkian segment
aired, then returned to the rest of the "60-Minutes" show.  

   Kevorkian, who has assisted more than 130 people end their lives, said
"This is the ultimate self determination, to decide how and when you're going
to die when you're suffering."  

   The patient was identified as Thomas Youk, age 52 of Waterford, Michigan.
Toward the end of his illness, Youk was unable to use his limbs and reportedly
was terrified of choking to death.  He indicated on tape that he wanted to
die.  Kevorkian's actions met with approval from both Youk's mother and
brothers.  His wife told reporters, "I was grateful to know someone would
relieve him of his suffering," adding "I don't consider it (euthanasia)
murder.  I consider it humane."

   
   A survey by AANEWS indicated that a variety of organizations, including
Catholic Church officials and local level representatives from the Family
Research Council, spoke out against the program and pressured local media
throughout the country to censor  the "60 Minutes" report. On Friday, for
instance, the Catholic Archdiocese in Detroit -- fresh from a November ballot
victory which struck down an assisted suicide measure -- demanded that all CBS
stations and the local affiliates not carry the "60 Minutes" segment on
Kevorkian.  But the strongest stand we know of so far appears to have been
made in Philadelphia, where Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua made a "last-
minute" appeal to CBS and its local affiliate, KYW-TV, and according to one
news station was ready to take legal action if necessary to prevent the
broadcast.  Bevilacqua, head of one of the largest Catholic Archdiocese in the
nation, described the program as "horrendous" and a "low in journalism," even
though he had not viewed it and did not intend to watch the tape.  According
to an NBC local affiliate, though, the Archdiocese was ready to take legal
action in court to stop the program, until attorneys informed Bevilacqua that
it was unlikely any injunction would be granted  due to the First Amendment.  

   The Cardinal joined with spokespersons from the local Urban Family Council
in denouncing both Dr. Kevorkian and CBS.  "God put Adam to sleep before he
took a rib out, which is sort of a divine anesthetic," Bevilacqua told the
Philadelphia Inquirer.  "We should be helping a person live without pain, not
eliminating the person." Bishop McHugh of the neighboring Diocese of Camden
expressed similar sentiments.  "As a Roman Catholic bishop, I'm opposed to
assisted suicide and euthanasia.  But at least I'm willing to sit down at the
table and discuss the ethical question and various ethical approaches to it."
McHugh charged, "Kevorkian doesn't do that.  He assumes that he's right and
everyone else wrong, and he's going to do whatever he wants to do..."

   So far, however, prosecutors have been unable to convict Dr. Kevorkian of
murder charges despite the heated rhetoric that surrounds the issue. Kevorkian
declared that one result of the broadcast he was hoping for was to force a
"showdown" in the courts over physician assisted euthanasia and suicide.  "I
want to be prosecuted for euthanasia," Kevorkian told the Oakland Press of
Michigan.  "I am going to prove that this is not a crime, ever, regardless of
what words are written on paper."  Oakland County (MI) prosecutor David
Gorcyca said that his office would review tapes of the broadcast, and that
among the issues to be considered would be whether Youk clearly gave his
consent to have Dr. Kevorkian help him to die.  

   Kevorkian has lost his license to practice medicine in Michigan and
California; but he has beaten charges related to the deaths of five persons in
Michigan on three separate occasions.  "I am tired of all the hypocrisy,"
Kevorkian told the New York Times, "and we're going to end this one way or
another."

   For the Roman Catholic Bishops, the "60 Minutes" program may fuel efforts
to move so-called "life issues" such as euthanasia, abortion and even fetal-
tissue research to the top of their social action agenda.  Meeting last week
in Washington, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops stopped short of a
proposal made by Archbishop Anthony Maida of Detroit that would have
threatened damnation and even excommunication for any Catholic government
officials who did not obey the church's teachings on abortion and related
issues.

                                                       **

            SOLSTICE IS COMING -- ARE YOU READY ?

   If you're worried about what to give for the upcoming "Christmas" season,
we've got some suggestions.  Log on to either American Atheists web site, and
visit our special on line Winter Solstice Gift Catalogue.  You can give a
friend (or anyone else!) a one year gift subscription to American Atheist
Magazine for only $16.  We'll even include an attractive seasonal card to the
recipient acknowledging your thoughtful gift.  We also have a selection of
books, videos and other materials, including our famous Winter Solstice
Greeting Cards with a range of messages.  So, what are you waiting for?  Visit
us at www.americanatheist.org, click on the Winter Solstice Catalogue icon and
start shopping!

                                                                  **

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                                                             **

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