OH DEAR, OH DEAR, OH DEAR - AT 7:58 A.M. ET:  Sometimes you just get caught at it.  From the Harvard Crimson:

Harvard Islamic chaplain Taha Abdul-Basser ’96 has recently come under fire for controversial statements in which he allegedly endorsed death as a punishment for Islamic apostates.

In a private e-mail to a student last week, Abdul-Basser wrote that there was “great wisdom (hikma) associated with the established and preserved position (capital punishment [for apostates]) and so, even if it makes some uncomfortable in the face of the hegemonic modern human rights discourse, one should not dismiss it out of hand.”

COMMENT:  Can you just imagine if a Christian or Jewish chaplain had written that?  There'd be candlelight vigils, petitions for removal, "interfaith" meetings, anguished denunciations, and grief counseling.

In fairness, some of the Muslim students interviewed for their reactions to the chaplain's e-mail denounced him vigorously, to their great credit.  In America we don't think too highly of death for apostates.  However, there was, inevitably, also this:

“[Abdul-Basser] was speaking as a chaplain to a student in a private e-mail exchange. One of these e-mails was misinterpreted, misconstrued, and posted on the blogosphere,” said Harvard Islamic Society spokesperson Nafees A. Syed ’10, who praised Abdul-Basser for promoting diversity within HIS and the campus at large.

“His immeasurable contributions should not be overlooked in this matter,” she said.

Diversity?  Really?  Does that include the apostates?

April 14, 2009