Armed Polite Society

Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: Eleven Mike on December 08, 2006, 08:06:21 AM

Title: From The Australian.
Post by: Eleven Mike on December 08, 2006, 08:06:21 AM
You've all heard the media breathlessly reporting this outrage, haven't you?  rolleyes

 
Quote
Expelled Muslim boy's father blames school
Cameron Stewart
08dec06

THE father of a Muslim boy expelled for urinating on the Bible, burning pages from it then spitting on it has lashed out at the school, saying it failed to protect and control his son.

And the accused boy, 13-year-old Ibrahim Cukovic, has spoken out for the first time, saying he regretted his involvement in the incident, although he claimed it was another boy who urinated on the Bible.
"It was a real bad thing that happened," he said in an interview with The Australian at his house in Fawkner, in Melbourne's north. "My parents always teach me to respect other religions."

Ibrahim, who has remained at his home since being expelled last week, appeared sullen and withdrawn as he spoke about the incident, which has shocked the nation's Muslim community.

Another student has been expelled and a third suspended from the East Preston Islamic College over the incident.

"It has been difficult for me because I am putting the family under pressure and I feel bad," Ibrahim said.

When asked why the boys chose to desecrate the Bible, Ibrahim shrugged his shoulders and said he did not know.

But his father, Omar, was angry at the school, which he said had failed to properly supervise the boys on a rural school camp last week where the incident occurred.

In disgust, he has withdrawn all of his five children who attend the college and says they will no longer go to an Islamic school.

"I do blame the school because they should have looked after them better and supervised them more - they let those boys run amok," he said.

"My children are my responsibility when they are at home with us, but once they get on a school bus they are the school's responsibility." Omar said news of his son's involvement in the desecration had devastated the family.

"It was the last thing I expected in my life with my own children," he said, throwing his hands in the air.

"As parents we definitely have to share the blame, but what children do behind our backs we don't always know. When I heard about it I felt like a ton of bricks fell on my head. I hope he has learned a valuable lesson - and the school, too."

EPIC principal Shaheem Doutie said the school community was shocked by the desecration and said the college placed great emphasis on religious tolerance.

However, as revealed in The Australian yesterday, the school's library contained a video of a banned cleric calling Australian Christians "evil" and non-Muslim schools "sewers".

Although the radical tape, of Abdur Raheem Green, has been shown to some students at the school, Ibrahim said he had not seen it.

Omar, a retired taxi-driver of Albanian origin, said that although his family were Muslim, they had a Bible in their house and that his six children were taught to respect all religions.

"The Bible is also God's revelation, the Old Testament, the New Testament, and if you abuse these books as a Muslim, you are out of Islam," he said.

"I was taught that we are all the same - brothers and sisters in humanity."

A school report into the incident said Ibrahim was the "main perpetrator" of the desecration, and that he urinated on the bible, burnt pages from it and then spat on it.

Ibrahim disputes this.


http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20891402-2702,00.html
Title: Re: From The Australian.
Post by: Stand_watie on December 08, 2006, 05:59:51 PM
If the story is being accurately reported, I'm encouraged by the attitudes of the parents and the Muslim community regarding what happened.

Title: Re: From The Australian.
Post by: wingnutx on December 08, 2006, 06:05:07 PM
Christian riots around the world in 3... 2... 1...
Title: Re: From The Australian.
Post by: Dannyboy on December 08, 2006, 06:42:25 PM
If the story is being accurately reported, I'm encouraged by the attitudes of the parents and the Muslim community regarding what happened.
That's what I was thinking.  I'm a bit surprised, truth be told.
Title: Re: From The Australian.
Post by: Felonious Monk/Fignozzle on December 09, 2006, 06:39:47 PM
If the story is being accurately reported, I'm encouraged by the attitudes of the parents and the Muslim community regarding what happened.
Umm...WTF, over? I have a small little, tiny eensy weensy problem with the father's statements re: the following:

Quote
his father, Omar, was angry at the school, which he said had failed to properly supervise the boys on a rural school camp last week where the incident occurred.

In disgust, he has withdrawn all of his five children who attend the college and says they will no longer go to an Islamic school.

"I do blame the school because they should have looked after them better and supervised them more - they let those boys run amok," he said.

"My children are my responsibility when they are at home with us, but once they get on a school bus they are the school's responsibility."
I'm sorry, sports fans, but those parents are 100% responsible for the actions of their minor children.  Once they reach legal age, the children themselves become 100% responsible for their own actions.  To point a finger in ANY way incriminating the school's administration for this is irresponsible and deplorable.  Period.
Title: Re: From The Australian.
Post by: Stand_watie on December 09, 2006, 07:21:38 PM
If the story is being accurately reported, I'm encouraged by the attitudes of the parents and the Muslim community regarding what happened.
That's what I was thinking.  I'm a bit surprised, truth be told.

To put things into context, sort of imagine this in a private Christian School, and the Christian community at large. By comparing this to my own cultural knowledge I took away the impression that this was sort of a "liberal" Muslim school and the "shocked and outraged" Muslim community was perhaps the more "liberal" of the Muslim community.

As a staunch "conservative" myself, don't take my definition of "liberal" in this particular instance as a perjorative - by "liberal" in reference to the school, I mean a school that didn't have teachers literally standing over the students with sticks in hand ready to beat the students for stepping out of line, and as a definition of "liberal" regarding the "outraged" community I'd suggest that "tolerant of other religions" might be a better definer than "socialistic".

Having been a (rather unpleasant, I'm afraid) 13 year old boy myself, once, I don't think this is a situation that neccesarily warrants any particularly greater concern or attention than could be properly applied by a rightously indignant dad with a bamboo stick to the ass of the wrongdoer, followed by a two hour lecture.

As a Christian who holds the Bible (the information, not the physical pages/binding) to be sacred I'm no more offended by this action than many of the actions of other 13 year olds who could use a vigorous bamboo caning (myself when I was thirteen, included). The shaming and degrading of other kids that age that is almost universal (I don't discount that there are particularly good kids, and particularly good parents, but they're the exception to the rule) in thirteen yr olds is actually more offensive to G-d, IMHO, than physically leather, paper and ink.

As a tie in to that thought -to quote St. James regarding our treatment of others in the third chapter of his book....

"6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

 7All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

 9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.[/u] 11Can both fresh water and salt[a] water flow from the same spring? 12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Title: Re: From The Australian.
Post by: Dannyboy on December 09, 2006, 08:32:07 PM
If the story is being accurately reported, I'm encouraged by the attitudes of the parents and the Muslim community regarding what happened.
That's what I was thinking.  I'm a bit surprised, truth be told.
To put things into context, sort of imagine this in a private Christian School, and the Christian community at large.

That's the problem.  You can't really imagine this happening at a private Christian school or in the Christian community at large because it doesn't happen.  When was the last time you heard of students at a Catholic high school pissing on the Koran?  When was the last time you heard of students at some other Christian denominational school pissing on the Koran?  Probably never.  I've never heard of anything of that sort happening anywhere in this country.  Why might that be?  I doubt it has to do with pissed off parents.