16-year-old Amina committed suicide last Saturday after being forced to marry her rapist.

Under Moroccan law, any man who rapes a minor will be forgiven of all charges, as long as they marry their victim. Last year, Amina was walking the street when she was accosted and raped by a man who was 10 years her senior. When she finally reported the incident, their parents agreed to a marriage to protect her family honor.

After submitting to the marriage, Amina confided to her mother that she was subjected to violent beatings from her husband; her mom simply asked her to be more patient. As a final resort to escape her violent marriage, Amina injested rat poison and ended her life.

With a huge public outrage, the victim’s father, Lahcen Filali told reporters that the marriage was suggested by the court officials, “The prosecutor advised my daughter to marry, he said ‘go and make the marriage contract.”

An online petition has been formed to call an end to Article 475 of the Moroccan code which reinforces the practice of marrying rapists and their victims.

Homosexuality

Homosexual, lesbian (gay) behavior (same sex relationships, marriage… is sin, and is forbidden in the Bible. The graphic word arsenokoites (from arsen, “male,” and koite, bed) describes a man who “beds” another man. Although arsenokoites is sometimes used in a wide sense referring to all homosexuality, it also had a narrower sense, referring to the one who took the active or “male” role in the homosexual relation. The one who took the passive or “female” role was called the malachos. The word malachos literally means “soft” or “soft to the touch.” Although it had other uses such as “soft clothing,” it was the standard word in the Greek language for the “passive” one in the homosexual relation.

With these terms in mind, as well as others we have encountered above, we see that the vocabulary in 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 10 is very specific: “Neither the sexually immoral (pornos) nor idolaters nor adulterers (moichos) nor male prostitutes (malachos) nor homosexual offenders (arsenokoites) nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” Homosexual behavior is also addressed by descriptive phrases, idioms, and euphemisms rather than just through the words that refer directly to it. For example, Romans 1 contains some very descriptive language.

Romans 1:24-27
(24) Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.
(25) They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
(26) Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.
(27) In the same way, the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

It is hard to read these verses and conclude anything other than that homosexual and lesbian relationships are wrong in God’s sight. The “natural relation” is a man and a woman. Homosexuality is also mentioned idiomatically in Jude 7: “…Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example, in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire” (NASB). “Gross immorality” is a good translation of the verb, ekporneuo, which is simply porneuo, the verb meaning, “to commit sexual immorality,” with the prefix ek, which intensifies the verb. Thus, the NASB translation of “gross immorality” is a very good one. Later in the verse, the phrase, “to go after strange flesh” is defined by Louw and Nida in their lexicon as “an idiom, literally ‘to go after strange flesh,’ to engage in unnatural sexual intercourse—‘to have homosexual intercourse.’” [1] In the Old Testament, the Law forbids homosexuality just as it forbids adultery and bestiality. “Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable” (Lev. 18:22). “If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable” (Lev. 20:13).

Lesbianism is not specifically mentioned by name in the Bible for a good reason: the name is a late invention. Both the terms “homosexual” and “lesbian” were coined in the 19th century by theorists who were describing people’s emotional and sexual interest for others of the same sex. “Lesbian” was chosen because of Sappho, perhaps the greatest female Greek lyric poet (c. 630-570 BC) who was interested in other women and lived on the island of Lesbos, and from the island of Lesbos itself, because it was known as a center of Greek culture, pleasure and licentiousness. As we saw in the verses just quoted above in Romans, however, the sexual attraction of a woman for another woman instead of a man is not natural and not godly.

(CNN) — George Zimmerman was released from jail on Friday, one day after a Florida judge set bail at $1 million.
Judge Kenneth R. Lester Jr. found that Zimmerman’s deceit over cash holdings at his first bond hearing in April was not enough to hold him without bail. However, he also said he believed the suspect may have been planning to flee the country to avoid prosecution in the killing of Florida teen Trayvon Martin.
Zimmerman had to post 10% of the $1 million — or $100,000 — to meet the requirement for release.
He wore a white dress shirt under a gray suit as he walked out of jail and into a waiting SUV.
“We are confident and comfortable that George will be safe,” Zimmerman’s attorney, Don West, told CNN outside the jail following his client’s release.
Zimmerman out on bond
“We were hoping the bail would be considerably less than what it was. And we will take the judge’s comments to heart, but we don’t necessarily agree with them and we will decide what is next,” he said.
Investigator: Zimmerman missed opportunities to defuse situation
An initial bond of $150,000 was revoked last month after Lester learned that Zimmerman and his wife, Shellie, had failed to disclose more than $150,000 in donations from the public.
The judge’s order Thursday said that the new $1 million bail order was not a punishment but an amount that assured the court that Zimmerman would not abscond.
In his ruling, Lester wrote about the first bond hearing and noted an undisclosed second passport kept in Zimmerman’s safe deposit box.
“Notably, together with the passport, the money only had to be hidden for a short time for him to leave the country if the defendant made a quick decision to flee,” the judge said. “It is entirely reasonable for this court to find that, but for the requirement that he be placed on electronic monitoring, the defendant and his wife would have fled the United States with at least $130,000 of other people’s money.”
Lester wrote the defendant’s plans to flee were “thwarted.”
Timeline of events in Trayvon Martin case
Zimmerman, 28, is charged with second-degree murder in Martin’s February 26 shooting death. Under Florida law, second-degree murder is a bondable offense.
Speaking to reporters in New Orleans before Zimmerman left jail, Martin’s parents said they are struggling, but have faith all will end well.
“As we said from the beginning, we have strong faith in God,” said Tracy Martin, Trayvon’s father. “And we’ll continue to lean on God and ask Him to give us the strength and continue to give us the faith in the justice system, and justice will prevail.”
Judge Lester imposed new restrictions on Zimmerman that he did not face when he was out on bond the first time.
Zimmerman must report to officials every two days, cannot open or maintain a bank account and cannot be on the property of an airport. He also cannot apply for or obtain a passport.
He must abide by a curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., and like before, will be monitored electronically.
Zimmerman, a Sanford neighborhood watch volunteer, acknowledged fatally shooting the unarmed Martin after calling police to report a suspicious person. Zimmerman, who is white and Hispanic, said Martin attacked him.
George Zimmerman: Trayvon Martin threatened my life
CNN’s John Couwels contributed to this report.

Jamaicans tolerant of gays — Les Green

Jamaica Observer

Friday, July 06, 2012

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UK VOICE: Jamaican Lesbian Wins Right To Stay In The UK
Published: Friday May 18, 2012 | 11:47 am15 Comments
A gay woman who was due to be deported to Jamaica has won her fight to remain in the United Kingdom.

Coletane Lopez, 22, who lives in Leeds, was taken to Yarls Wood detention centre in Bedfordshire in March and put on a fast track programme that could have seen her deported within days.

Lopez said she feared that she could be killed if sent back to the Caribbean island, known for widespread homophobia.

Following a Voice story and two petitions signed by hundreds of people, she was given a reprieve.

She was released from Yarls Wood and told to reapply to stay in the country. The new application was approved.

Her brother, Nestfield Lopez, said she has been granted the right to remain by the UK Border Agency (UKBA).

He said: “She got a letter the other day through the post. They gave her asylum leave to remain for five years. It’s fantastic news.

They sent her a national insurance number, identification (papers), and she’s free to do whatever she wants – get a job, to travel. She’s just free now.

“She really deserves it. She’s been here since she was 11. She’s never hurt a soul, she’s helped the homeless, she’s helped rape victims. It’s a really good thing. The whole family, me and my sister want to say a big thank you to The Voice and even all the Jamaican people that supported me. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

“We made a very successful campaign. Everybody that got involved… If it wasn’t for you guys, I don’t think without the media getting involved, we would have got this.

[email protected]

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Modern gangster behind bars
BY KARYL WALKER Sunday Observer staff reporter [email protected]
Sunday, December 09, 2007

SINCE the 1960s criminality has been a ‘thorn in the neck’ of law enforcement, and the criminal elements who ruled the respective decades took the level of brutality expected from a felon to lower depths.
One of the most dangerous and notorious gangsters of the modern era is Joel Andem, the reputed former leader of the Gideon Warriors Gang who grabbed the headlines and caused much anxiety and consternation among law-abiding citizens and law enforcers.
In fact, Andem is to date the only criminal to have been upgraded from fugitive to terrorist by the security forces. Past commissioner of police, Francis Forbes, described Andem as ‘operating like an urban-type guerilla’.
Rude boy Rhygin ruled the 1960s, and the chuckies of the following decades were even more fearsome, but even after the devastating election year of 1980, never before had Jamaica seen a wave of brutality and blood-letting since 1990 to the present. It shall be recorded in history as a dark period, where an average of more than 1,000 Jamaicans were murdered yearly and the inflow of illegal guns and ammunition reached unrivalled proportions.
Extortion evolved into the main profit earner of well-armed gangs across the country, who were wreaking havoc and making a mockery of the piecemeal efforts of the government and security forces at corralling crime and violence.
Andem, according to police blotters, was a career criminal. Days after he was dramatically captured by a joint military/police team in a rustic district of Clarksonville in St Ann, the police dusted off a long list of charges against the nation’s most wanted man including murders, shooting with intent, extortion, illegal possession of a firearm and kidnapping.
Andem occupied the head of the Police Most Wanted list for four years between 2001- 2005 after he was released for good behaviour after serving eight years on a shooting charge.
His fall into infamy began when he and a band of his Gideon Warriors were featured on television bearing high-powered rifles, slaughtering a cow and hosting treats in their lair at Land Lease, St Andrew.
Even though he was a feared criminal with numerous hideouts before, ever since the video was released by police to sections of the electronic media, Andem’s notoriety became almost international. He was by far the most feared and revered fugitive in the criminal underworld in the last 10 years.
The video was shot by one of Andem’s cronies and showed the reputed gang leader smiling coyly as his foot soldiers paid tribute. Across his lap was an AK47 assault rifle, one which top law enforcers say he was very adept at using. Footage captured at the hideout also showed Andem’s spouse brandishing a handgun and issuing verbal threats to a member of the constabulary.
The fugitive and his gang members have been blamed by police for a series of vicious murders, including that of Gas Station owner, Sylvia Edwards, who was kidnapped along Red Hills Road in July 2000. When a demand for ransom of $200,000 was not met, Edwards was murdered and buried in a shallow grave in Constitution Hill, St Andrew.
In January 2005, Andem was also freed of the murder of 30-year-old Lennox Ffrench, who was shot dead at his gate at Old Hope Road, St Andrew.
Andem and his gang have also been blamed for more than 22 murders, including those of Edwards’ brother-in-law Robert Edwards; District Constable James Thomas, who was shot dead in Kintyre and his body dumped in the Hope River; and People’s National Party (PNP) activist ,Pearl Brisco, who was branded a police informer.
James was shot near his home at Papine in St Andrew.
Police blotters also show that the gangster was suspected to be among a group of men who challenged a contingent of police officers to a shoot-out in Mud Town in April 2002. During that incident, a 21-year-old police constable, with barely a year’s experience under his belt, narrowly escaped with his life after a powerful bullet struck and disabled an M-16 rifle he was using to defend himself, before ricocheting and tearing a sizeable portion off his bullet-proof helmet.
Two years later, police reported that another cop was shot in the leg after a blazing gun-battle with members of the Gideon Warriors in Kyntire, Papine. Andem and his gang were at the time blamed for shooting five police officers between 2001 and 2004.
In December 2001, three policemen were injured during a reported shoot-out with members of the gang in Skyline, St Andrew. A gang member, known as ‘Eddie’, was killed in that confrontation.
Andem’s reign of terror ended in May 2005 after a large battalion of police and soldiers crawled upon an opulent residence the most wanted fugitive had built for himself, in the pre-dawn hours and collared him. Andem was reportedly so comfortable in his deep rural hideout that he reportedly expressed surprise that he had been found.
Assistant Commissioner, Donald Pusey, who led the operation to nab Joel Andem, said the feared gangster was ruthless when he was finally captured.
“He trembled like a badly tuned truck,” Pusey told the Sunday Observer in an interview at the time.
Andem was then taken to a nearby school before he was whisked away by helicopter and taken from the Jamaica Defence Force Air Wing in a convoy of vehicles to be locked away and face the slew of charges he was slapped with.
Andem is now locked up in the Horizon Adult Remand and Correctional Centre, at Bumper Hall in St Andrew. He was slapped with a 20-year sentence in November 2005 for illegal possession of a firearm and shooting with intent after four cops testified that he opened fire at them along Skyline Drive in St Andrew in January 2002.
Andem was first convicted in June 1983 for breaking and larceny.
He grew up in the East Kingston area and lost two of his brothers to gun violence. One was killed by bandits while the other was killed during a confrontation with the police.
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