Tea at Trianon: Outrageous

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Outrageous

We must pray for Meriam Ibrahim who is imprisoned in Sudan for refusing to renounce her Christian faith. She just gave birth in prison. From The Guardian:

A Sudanese woman sentenced to death for apostasy has given birth to a baby girl in the Khartoum prison where she is being held with her 20-month-old son. Meriam Ibrahim, 27, gave birth in the early hours of Tuesday, a month before her due date. Amnesty International said the condition of the mother and baby was not known as Ibrahim's lawyer and her husband, a US citizen, had been denied access to her.

Omdurman women's prison has a basic clinic, where the child is thought to have been born. Ibrahim has been shackled since being imprisoned. "The Sudanese government must guarantee her safety and the safety of her children, including the newborn baby," said Amnesty's Manar Idriss. Amnesty has called for Ibrahim's unconditional release.

This month a court ruled that Ibrahim's marriage to a Christian man was invalid and that she was guilty of apostasy and adultery. Ibrahim was sentenced to 100 lashes for adultery and to be hanged for apostasy.

Ibrahim denied the charges, telling the court she was the daughter of a Sudanese Muslim man and an Ethiopian Christian woman, and had been brought up as a Christian after her father left when she was six. She refused to renounce her faith.

Her lawyers lodged an appeal against the convictions last week. "There is no timeframe for the appeal. They usually take a few months, but given the international attention this might be much quicker," Idriss said. If the appeal fails, Ibrahim's lawyers may seek rulings from Sudan's supreme court and constitutional court.

Sudan has faced mounting international criticism over the case, with the UK government calling the convictions and sentences barbaric. The US state department said it was deeply disturbed by the case. Globally, more than 700,000 people had backed Amnesty's call for Ibrahim's release by noon on Tuesday, including 113,500 in the UK.

Idriss said conditions inside the prison were reasonable, but Amnesty was concerned about the use of restraints. It described shackling as cruel and inhuman. Ibrahim has told her lawyers that the shackles are painful and make movement difficult. Daniel Wani, Ibrahim's husband, who lives in Manchester, New Hampshire, is in Khartoum trying to secure his wife and children's release. The couple decided it was better for their young son, Martin, to remain with his mother. (Read more.)

julygirl said...: So many of those nations continue to think as they did in the days of the camel caravans. It is tragic that women are still subjected to the callous and primitive treatment of past generations.; May 28, 2014 at 3:28:00 PM EDT