I thought Islam was smart. What were they thinking?

[Greatest I Am]

I thought Islam was smart. What were they thinking?

I always thought Islam a smart religion and I see I was wrong in this once instance. Please do not view this as a critique of any other of your views, I do not know them well enough. I did follow one of your leaders through this medium at one time and respect Islam as a religion. Allah as represented is to be respected.



The issue in question is that of the death of Theo van Gogh.

I cannot view his film Submission with your eyes and mindset and will offer mine from my side.

My overall impression of the message of this film, from a religious point of view, was that if all males, of any religion, that were of spiritual heart, would learn wrong conduct and would gain a further respect for their women.

To me this is a positive for any religion.

The only shame I see is that Islam, a progressive religion, did not come up with it yourselves.

To your fundamentals I ask, what were you thinking? To much of the old pipe perhaps? Please note that I say this as a joke. No Holy anything please.

I hope you will forgive my bluntness in speech. In other places where I discuss religion it is often insinuated that I and Satan are close and so my intrusion on your thoughts may be an insult. I hope you do not take it as such.

In my definition of debate I love all I speak to but, respect they have to earn.

When I first learned of your God, He began without blemish. That of course is only in my eyes for I speak only for one. He now has a small one. Please help me regain that small part of the respect I lost to add to that which I still hold for your God.

I do recognize that the presentation of the young lady in what Islam would view as risqué but would have thought that the benefits of the universal message of right action, would
have cause the leadership to not honor Van Gogh with martyrdom and therefore putting a thorn in Islam’s rump forever.

Regards
DL

[ahmd]

If a man insulted the Holy Book

Do you get angry or no?


If Islam is "abusive to women" - then why are so many embracing Islam?

How Melina came to Islam

http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/jLht7Kk0bGg

Revert to Islam - Maryam Noor (Convert From Christianity) ....

http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/ig0N9aRT0Hc


Japanese Women Turning To ISLAM.

http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/L7PIOhK-SgA


American converted Muslim Woman speaking about the Veil

http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/L85Mcq3EDX8

New Muslim Lady .. Live from London

http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/NTlta20vsow

Revert to Islam - Sister Crystal (Convert From Christianity) ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/IZF9stLSYjY


Spanish Woman talks about Woman rights in Islam

http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/exdCJ_wT9E4


Do you want more

http://www.55a.net/firas/arabic/?page=s ... ct_page=14[/b]

[McCulloch]

If a man insulted the Holy Book
Do you get angry or no?

No. I would interpret such anger, especially anger which expresses itself in violence as a lack of faith.

If Islam is "abusive to women" - then why are so many embracing Islam?

How many, do you have comparative statistics? How much of the growth of Islam in the west is due to immigration and reproduction? I can find claims that each of these are the fastest growing religion:

• Buddhism
• Christianity (various flavors)
• Deism
• Falun Gong
• Hinduism
• Islam
• Wicca
• Non-Religious

Statistics for rates of conversion are the most difficult to gather and the least reliable: they are often distorted by social taboos such as the ban on apostasy in Islam, or the reporting of commitments where the individual does not persist. This means that a lot of the data on growth of religions is derived from birth and immigration rates.

[catalyst]

I can only go by my own personal observations as to Islam. With my work I spent 18 months in Iraq and observed Islam as it "IS" to a Muslim, without the western propagandic "spin" attached and my own observations are as follows. I realise it was only a glimpse, but at least I had one.

Women are NOT treated as lesser human beings and if anything from what I witnessed, although there being mutual respect in households, the women actually hold the trump card. Women are seen as the bearers of life hence holding a dignified respect, rather than an assumed one. The Burkha is not to an Islamic woman is not a BAD thing as they accept themselves for who they are and what gifts they bring to the world as a WOMAN and feel no need to SHOW their worth as a women by parading their goods.

It is a shame that the western view sees this as some type of oppression, where if anything it is the complete opposite.

All I can suggest to others is, stop believing the face value "hype" as it never gives anything even close to the the "reality".

[Pazuzu bin Hanbi]

If a man insulted the Holy Book

Do you get angry or no?

Aye, absolutely — when I followed Islâm I did feel occasional anger at what I perceived as mistaken interpretations of my religion. But I never felt such animosity towards someone that I would kill them! Even with Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses, I simply thought someone should have written a point by point rebuttal of it instead (which Ziauddin Sardar did, as it transpired).

When the Muhammad cartoons came out the only one that made me angry was the one with Muhammad having a bomb in his turban. But I have a rational brain and I simply analysed why I felt that way, and what the creator of the cartoon could have meant (ret–conning the idea of suicidal terrorism back to the creator of Islâm as a commentary on how modern jihadists are practising Muhammad’s religion). I wouldn’t deign to end their life for it!

[McCulloch]

Women are NOT treated as lesser human beings and if anything from what I witnessed, although there being mutual respect in households, the women actually hold the trump card. Women are seen as the bearers of life hence holding a dignified respect, rather than an assumed one. The Burkha is not to an Islamic woman is not a BAD thing as they accept themselves for who they are and what gifts they bring to the world as a WOMAN and feel no need to SHOW their worth as a women by parading their goods.

It is a shame that the western view sees this as some type of oppression, where if anything it is the complete opposite.

All I can suggest to others is, stop believing the face value "hype" as it never gives anything even close to the the "reality".

If it were just the western view, I might be skeptical. Irshad Manji is still a Muslim. The New York Times calls her Muslim feminism "a crown jewel in the history of the modern women's movement." And the American Society for the Advancement of Muslims has chosen Irshad as a Muslim Leader of Tomorrow. She speaks out against massive human rights violations, particularly against women and minorities -- in the name of Allah. Her own home has bullet-proof windows.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali was raised a Muslim. She escaped from Somalia and an arranged Muslim marriage to the Netherlands where she became an atheist, a feminist, an associate to Theo van Gogh, who was murdered by Muslim extremists and politician. Hirsi Ali is very critical of the position of women in Islamic societies and the punishments demanded by Islamic scholars for homosexuality and adultery. She has described Islam as a "backward religion", incompatible with democracy.

Both of these women have documented, from the inside, what type of oppression women face in the name of Islam.

[catalyst]

If it were just the western view, I might be skeptical. Irshad Manji is still a Muslim. The New York Times calls her Muslim feminism "a crown jewel in the history of the modern women's movement." And the American Society for the Advancement of Muslims has chosen Irshad as a Muslim Leader of Tomorrow. She speaks out against massive human rights violations, particularly against women and minorities -- in the name of Allah. Her own home has bullet-proof windows.

Yes indeed a Muslim living in WESTERN culture the majority of her life.She was only 3 years old when her family moved to Canada and obviously her Muslim influence would have come from her family and their interpretation of the Koran and how they live their lives according to the Koran, in Canada and not that of an Islamic country. Now, whether or not she is a "Poster Child" for the American Society for the Advancement of Muslims matters not to me. I have to wonder though if you actually have any idea what ASMA does and their intent? They have sponsored ties with Saudi Arabia, which would have to be one of the most backward Muslim nations in the world. In her role as "a Muslim Leader of Tomorrow" and her "speaking out" against massive human rights violations, I have to wonder if SA is "called out"? Somehow I doubt it as that would be like biting the hand that feeds her, don't you think? I also wonder in her role and her "speaking out" against violations of womens rights, if she has too called out the US and their still failing, after close to 20 years to ratify CEDAW? Again, I am doubtful.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali was raised a Muslim. She escaped from Somalia and an arranged Muslim marriage to the Netherlands where she became an atheist, a feminist, an associate to Theo van Gogh, who was murdered by Muslim extremists and politician. Hirsi Ali is very critical of the position of women in Islamic societies and the punishments demanded by Islamic scholars for homosexuality and adultery. She has described Islam as a "backward religion", incompatible with democracy.

Seems quite compelling when you pop it into a neat little "finger pointed" box McCulloch, however when you actually check the background the story is her FAMILY fled Somalia, not because of persecution against women, but because her father was a high profile political figure, HIS life was threatened and with that, when she was 8 her family moved to Saudi Arabia, they were kicked out of there (due to the fathers still Somali political ties) and then moved onto Ethiopia and then Kenya. The "arranged" marriage was a result of a Canadian Muslim man approaching her father when she was 22, didn't want a bar of it allegedly, however sought and obtained political asylum in the Netherlands in 1992, under circumstances that later became the center of a political controversy. I fail to see personally how her seeking political asylum can possibly be related TO the "arranged marriage". Perhaps you can fill in the blanks there for me McCulloch? In 2003 she was elected a member of the Tweede Kamer (the Lower House of the Dutch parliament), representing the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). A political crisis surrounding the potential stripping of her Dutch citizenship led to her resignation from the parliament, and led indirectly to the fall of the second Balkenende cabinet.

She is currently a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a think tank linked to neoconservatism, working from the Netherlands.

I found out about the reasons for leaving Somalia etc... from a transcript of a meeting at the Commonwealth Club of California on 20th February 2007 where she was a keynote speaker and they are her words.
http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:BC ... =clnk&cd=1

Both of these women have documented, from the inside, what type of oppression women face in the name of Islam.

Well I gave you a brief rundown too how Muslim women DON'T see themselves as being oppressed under the "laws" of Islam. I went in there with a purely objective view and if anything given the comments by the women I spoke with in Iraq, their rights were stripped, not by the "laws" of Islam, but rather by the oppression of the "colonisers". Prior to the arrival of U.S. and coalition forces, Iraqi women were free to go wherever they wish and wear whatever they like. The 1970 Iraqi constitution, gave Iraqi women equity and liberty unmatched in the Muslim World or actually in "democratic" western countries. Since the 2003 invasion, Iraqi women’s rights have fallen to the lowest level in Iraq’s history. Under the U.S.-crafted constitution, which was put to referendum on the 15 October, 2004 and passed, women’s rights have been oppressed and the role of women in Iraqi society has been curtailed and relegated to the caring for “children and the elderly� only, IF they are allowed out at all.

I wonder what your two "examples" are doing about that?

As to other oppressive Muslim Nations?

Megawati Sukarnoputri - President of Indonesia from July 2001 to October 20, 2004

Benazir Bhutto - 1988–1990; 1993–1996

Khaleda Zia - Prime Minister of Bangladesh from 1991 to 1996 then 2001 to 2006

Sheikh Hasina Wazed -Prime Minister of Bangladesh from 1996 to 2001. She has been the President of the Awami League, a major political party in Bangladesh, since 1981. and as you can see, she was the second female Prime Minister of Bangladesh. NOTE: SECOND

Tansu Çiller - Turkey 1993-1996

There are more, but I assume you get the picture.

It appears to me that one particular country, constantly ranting about "democracy" and "equality for women", themselves are not ready at ALL for female leadership, nor ready to ratify CEDAW. Hmm...

I am not BTW leaving Australia out of the equation here either as we are just as backward as to the rights of women as the US is, however Australia is not the country calling the assumed "What's right" global "shots", is it.

[ahmd]

Woman in Human History

Written by : Samr Al-Zain

Translated by : El-shenawy Mohammed El-shenawy

Revised By Magdy Abd Al-Shafy

Woman is considered the half of the society, and with her goodness all the society will be goodness as she is the mother who nurtures , and the good wife who is behind every great man. She has rights and duties we shouldn't ignore. Did woman get her rights through the successive eras?

Here is a cursory look to the status of women through the successive eras :

Woman in the past

The Roman civilization decreed that the woman was a slave to man, and had the rights of the underage or had no rights at all. The old Indian laws considered that Epidemics, death, hell, poison, serpents, fire were better than woman." and her right in life ended with the end of her husband's who was her master and owner. When she saw his corpse was burning, she had to drop herself into his fire otherwise she will incur on herself the eternal curse and misfortune .

The Greek considered woman rubbish, she was sold and bought, and was thought to be the filth of devil's deeds. In Torah, woman is described with following words: "I toured with my heart to know, learn, search and seek for wisdom and sound mind. And to know that evil is ignorance, foolish is madness, I found out what is bitterer than death, it is woman who is a snare and her heart is a trap and her hands are chains."

In the Arabian Peninsula the status of the woman was not much better . God says in the Holy Quran in this regard what means " And when the news of (birth of) a female is brought to any of them, his face becomes dark, and he is filled with inward grief. He hides himself from people because of the evil of that whereof he has been informed. Shell he keeps her with dishonor or buries her in the earth? Certainly evil is their decision. {Al Nahl: 58 – 59}.

If the newly-born Arab baby had survived burning alive, she would have mostly found a dark oppressing life awaiting her. She had no share in heritage and she may be forced topractice prostitution and after her husband's death, she would remain inherited belongings.

Woman in the Medieval ages

In Rome , a great synod convened and discussed woman affairs then decided that she was a being without a soul, and she would not enjoy the spiritual life in the Hereafter life for that reason.

And she is a filthy creature , she should not eat meat, laugh nor even speak and she is to pass her time in praying, worshipping and service.

At the beginning of the unwritten English law, there was an accusation , which was nearly confined to women ,concerning impudence

At the Medieval ages, sometimes the punishment tool was shaped as " impudent bridle"; it was a tool looked like a cage made of metal to surround the woman's head ; a bridle was put into the woman's mouth to diminish the movement of her tongue.

In spite of the bridle effectiveness, it was not considered sufficient in some cases. In 1322 A .D. a quarrel took place in a city, some workers called each others and assembled in the market to attack grains merchants storing provisions. There were two women among the eighteen workers who were punished. "The two women were condemned because their voices were high in a particular way. There tongues were cut before they were expatriated from the city for ever.

Woman at modern ages

In France , a conference was held in 1586A.D. to discuss woman's nature and whether she was considered a human being or not. After discussion they decided that woman was a human being but she was created to serve man.

In February 1938 A .D. a law was issued to repeal the previous laws which banned French woman from some financial acts, and allowed to her, for the first time in the French woman history, to open a current account under her name in banks.

In England , till 1850 woman was considered non-citizen, and till 1882 A .D. woman was still without personal rights and she had not the right of possession . It was only for a resolution issued in July26th ,1964 , that Oxford university began to put female students with equal footing with young men in some rights ( Students clubs and students union )

Woman in Islam

With the advent of Islam and the spreading of its superior doctrines, woman's life entered a new stage far completely from previous ones. In this stage, woman became independent and enjoyed all her personal, social, human rights. Islam equalized woman like a man; a being with a complete human soul, with a will and free choice. Islam affirmed that both sexes are able to follow Islam way to reach incorporeal and material completeness to achieve the good life.

"Whoever works righteousness, whether male of female while he (or she) is a true believer (of Islamic monotheism) verily, to him we will give a good live (in the world with respect, contentment and lawful provision) and we shall pay them certainly a reward in proportion to the best of what they used to do (i.e. Paradise in the Hereafter)?"

Islam considers woman a free independent human like man as ( Allah the exalted) says in the glory Koran: " Every person is a pledge for what he has earned" and with this freedom, woman and man are equal before penalty laws too :

God says in the Holy Quran what means "The fornicatress and the fornicator, flog each of them with a hundred stripes. Let not pity withhold you in their case, in a punishment prescribed by Allah, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day. And let a party of the believers witness their punishment. (This punishment is for unmarried persons guilty of the above crime, but if married persons commit it (illegal sex), the punishment is to stone them to death, according to Allah's law).

Because independence entails free will and free choice, Islam approved off the independence regarding all economic rights and allows woman to practice all financial acts and makes her an owner to her yield and money. Allah the Exalted says:

"For men there is reward for what they have earned (and likewise) for women there is reward for what have earned."

We, the Muslims, have a Divine document that has greatly honored woman and treated her fairly and saved her from the darkness and oppression of the ignorance. This document is the Glory Koran.

This document showed that man and woman are equal in the origin of creation, equal in the common human characteristics, equal in duties and responsibilities, equal in reward and destiny, in that (meaning) the Glory Koran says: "O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord Who created you from a single person (Adam), and from him (Adam) He created his wife {Hawwa (Eve)}, and from them both He created many men and women; and fear Allah through Whom you demand (your mutual rights), and (don't cut the relation of) the wombs (kinship). Surely, Allah is Ever an All-Watcher over you."

Allah addresses both man and woman in the Glory Koran, at the same level of honorable addressing, and at the same level of the allusion to the human value which they share together. For example , God says:

Whoever works righteousness, whether male of female while he (or she) is a true believer (of Islamic monotheism) verily, to him we will give a good live.

The Glory Koran settles the mutual responsibilities between man and woman, It orders man to be responsible for woman and orders woman to be responsible for man. It says:

The believers, men and women, are Auliyâ (helpers, supporters, friends, protectors) of one another; they enjoin (on the people) Al-Ma ̒ rûf (i.e. Islamic Monotheism and all that Islam orders one to do), and forbid (people) from Al-Munkar (i.e. polytheism and disbelief of all kinds, and all that Islam has forbidden). ( Al-Hograt)

The social system which draws the relationship between man and woman in the Islamic society appears in Allah's saying in the Glory Koran which settles the human's dignity and the equality between man and woman in the scale of this dignity by saying :

O mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another. Verily, the most honorable of you with Allah is that (believer) who has At-Taqw â {i.e. he is one of the Muttaqûn (the pious).(49:13)

That also appears in this Koran verse which orders man to associate woman with respect and honor even if he dislikes her for psychological reasons:

God says in the Holy Quran what means "And live with them honorably. If you dislike them, It may be that you dislike a thing and Allah brings through it a great deal of good."(4:19)

This is also appears in the prophet's(PBUH) Hadith " women are full sisters to men" and in the other text ( The best of you he who is the best to his household, and I am the best to my household " also at the prophetic tradition " Allah advises you to trart women well ."

Islam actually comes to contribute in human liberation to move the concept from a situation to another, before Islam it was a particular thing and after Islam is (completely) another thing. Woman as a human obtained a part of her liberty and possessed some of her value as man, and became equal to him in a lot of his economic, social and cultural positions. And what comes as differences between them are due to biological nature of woman and of man too, that nature makes woman requirements more urgent in our age, also due to practical conditions which were, at that time separated man from woman and made all the society under the mercy of man.

The Glory Koran treated fairly woman in His Exalt saying: "Indeed Allah has heard the statement of her (Khaulah bint Thalabah) that disputes with you (O Mohammad) concerning her husband (Aus bin As-S â mit)." (58:1)

It is fair treatment that raises the equality between both sexes before Islam, and the prophet said: No priority to an Arab upon a non-Arab or a non-Arab upon an Arab, or a fair man upon a negro or a negro upon a fair man except for by pious." (Islam) equalizes between people regardless their nationalities or language or color as long as they fear Allah and fearing Allah i means respecting human dignity.

And the prophet's (PBUH) saying" All of you is (like) a herdsman (curator) and is responsible for his family, a man is (like) a herdsman (curator) and responsible for his family, and the woman is (like) a herdsman (curator) at her husband's home and responsible for her family.

This Hadith declares the range of responsibility dashing from the practical conditions which control all the society and control both man and woman. That from a hand, from another hand we find the Hadith declares what is understood from the saying of Allah the All- Exalt" The believers, men and women, are Auliyâ (helpers, supporters, friends, protectors) of one another." And some Hadiths give the woman the preference to man as it is narrated in the Hadith "Whoever is the most deserving of my best companionship? He said "Your mother" he said" then whoever?" he said "Your mother" he said "then whoever?" He said "Your mother" he said" then whoever?" "Your father"

This prophetic tradition reflects the importance which woman occupies in the society, and the society soundness is pledged to the woman's role in preparation of the incoming generations and that gives her an educational rank.

Thus ,the woman we need is the progressive one who enjoys all rights that she struggles for and clinging to and who strives to make herself co-operative and who aims to keep her dignity through keeping the dignity of all the society, consequently she contributes to the formation of the society of liberation, equality and social justice that is the dream of everyone.

The woman has a grace at social construction, we testify , but for her advance, there won't be civilization.

She is a school for her children; she is helpful to her parents.

Her goodness is a reformation of a nation; her spoil is death and forfeiture


http://www.55a.net/firas/english/?page= ... ect_page=6

[McCulloch]

Civil and political liberties
Index Ranging from 6 (High Levels of Liberties) to 0 (Low Levels of Liberties) This is the average of two indicators - civil liberties and political liberties.
Notice how Islamic Nations rank high in such measures of civil and political liberties.
SOURCE: Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2000-2001, New York: Freedom House, 2001

[row]6 [col]Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Canada, New Zealand, Denmark, United States, Ireland, Norway, Finland, Portugal, Iceland, Switzerland, Uruguay, Australia[row]5.5 [col]Slovenia, Latvia, United Kingdom, Italy, Costa Rica, Slovakia, Estonia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Japan, France, Lithuania, Panama, Poland, Argentina, South Africa, Belgium, Spain, Germany [row]5 [col]Israel, Botswana, Bolivia, Korea, South, Trinidad and Tobago, Greece, Chile, Jamaica, Dominica, Romania, Benin[row]4.5 [col]Mexico, El Salvador, Mongolia, Ghana, India, Croatia, Mali, Papua New Guinea, Thailand, Philippines, Namibia, Bulgaria [row]4 [col]Nicaragua, Moldova, Ecuador, Madagascar, Brazil, Malawi, Honduras [row]3.5 [col]Mozambique, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Paraguay, Central African Republic, Senegal, Guatemala, Nepal, Indonesia, Peru, Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of [row]3 [col]Burkina Faso, Colombia, Tanzania, Jordan, Nigeria, Niger, Ukraine, Venezuela, Armenia [row]2.5 [col] Sierra Leone, Albania, Morocco, Zambia, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Kuwait, Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina [row]2 [col]Togo, Congo, Democratic Republic of the, Ethiopia, Russia, Malaysia [row]1.5 [col]Pakistan, Lebanon, Azerbaijan, Algeria, Chad, Mauritania, Egypt, Tunisia, Guinea, Zimbabwe, Haiti, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Oman, Kenya, United Arab Emirates, Kyrgyzstan, Uganda, Kazakhstan[row]1 [col] Gambia, The, Burundi, Belarus, Cambodia, Iran, Tajikistan [row]0.5 [col]Laos, China, Vietnam, Cameroon, Rwanda, Bhutan, Uzbekistan, Somalia[row]0 [col]Syria, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Burma, Korea, North, Sudan, Libya, Turkmenistan

[catalyst]

Interesting link McCulloch. I actually read links and then also go further, and on checking FREEDOM HOUSE out, I found some very interesting info.

Despite its claims of being "non-partisan" (not partisan to me translates NO specific bias or partisan agenda), I note that some former "Board of Trustee's" members have been : Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, R.James Woolsey..etc.(If you remember, post 911 "hits", Woolsey was the first to point the finger at Iraq) FREEDOM HOUSE is also approx. 80% funded by the US Government through, USAID, State Department and National Endowment for "Democracy" but also avid supporters are The Bradley Foundation and the Smith Richard Foundation. (perhaps you should read up on these "foundations" and see where their "nonpartisan" loyalties actually ARE.

Secondly, it is interesting to note the mission statement OF FREEDOM HOUSE is:

PART 1.

"Freedom House is an independent organization that supports the expansion of freedom in the world. Freedom is possible only in democratic political systems in which the governments are accountable to their own people; the rule of law prevails; and freedoms of expression, association, belief and respect for the rights of minorities and women are guaranteed."

'freedom" - allegedly ONLY possible in democratic political systems?

Interesting..as determined by WHOM and what is deemed to be considered "freedom" by those determining it?

"rights of minorities and women are guaranteed" - AGAIN interesting. Perhaps FREEDOM HOUSE has not delved into why the US has not ratified CEDAW. Not that they would because again, that "feeding hand" is coming into play here, isn't it McCulloch.

PART 2.

"Freedom ultimately depends on the actions of committed and courageous men and women. We support nonviolent civic initiatives in societies where freedom is denied or under threat and we stand in opposition to ideas and forces that challenge the right of all people to be free. Freedom House functions as a catalyst for freedom, democracy, and the rule of law through its analysis, advocacy, and action

Note underlined. But it seems they are all cool with FOREIGN entities going in with violent intent? Hello? "Shock and awe" bombing of Iraq March 2003 rings a bell, and I can guarantee that all we would hear from "FREEDOM HOUSE" is the chirp of crickets on THAT one, considering their "alumni" and all.(as per above)

Oh... speaking OF that, here is more FREEDOM HOUSE has to say of itself:

"a clear voice for democracy and freedom around the world'.

Hmm... well that is all good as far as I am concerned...but wait up...who determines the ideals of 'democracy and freedoms"? Oh wait up: "American leadership in international affairs is essential to the cause of human rights and freedom"

Some more info of interest as to just HOW this group works:
The group's history has been characterised as excessively criticising states opposed to US interests and unduly sympathetic to those regimes supportive of US interests. A prefect example can be seen the way it perceived the US ally El Salvador in the early 1980s, a regime that used the army for mass slaughter of the populace to intimidate them in the run up to an "election", but Freedom House found these elections to be "admirable".

All you have done by posting that particular info and link is to show the obvious western "spin" I referred to earlier and also confirm my stance.

Were you hoping to achieve something different?