There are beliefs that expand freedom and happiness.
There are belief systems that don't.
I started reading things about this about a week ago, and I've come to believe that this account is accurate.
Of all the belief systems invented by man, this one might just be the worst.
There. I've said it.
6 comments:
I don't know much about Sharia, but the stoning is not necessarily a result of Shar'iah Law so much as the villagers' interpretation of it, right? For example, Sharia certainly varies between regions in the expected dress code for women, from requiring head-to-toe covering to not requiring a head scarf at all.
Christians have burned witches at the stake in previous centuries. Certainly, that belief system did not expand freedom and happiness, but I would not want that to be an example of either Christian belief or of the common law system.
I went and I read the story. It scares me when the media can fuel that much hatred.
There is no way to completely verify that story or the history leading up to the alleged travesty.
If I was there and I saw it taking place, I'd like to think that I'd intervene in some way.
If a reporter was there and all he could do was report the complete disregard of humanity, then the reporter must be questioned.
David,
There are places where freedom and happiness are a common commodity, and there are places where those two qualities are regulated by witch doctors whose beliefs shouldn't have survived the Middle Ages.
The Christian scheme, at one time, was probably the most harmful belief system on our planet, but thanks to the enlightenment, the most harmful practitioners have been de-fanged.
Gar,
Here's the response I got when I questioned the veracity of the story....
That story was carried by the BBC and NY Times to my certain knowledge, and Amnesty have issued a statement about it, so it seems pretty likely. There are some doubts about the details - some have claimed the victim was a 23-year old who walked up to the beardies and said ‘Hi, I’m an adulterer, please put me in a hole and stone me until I’m dead’. Amazingly, some Muslim apologists have been arguing that her being 23 and guilty of adultery actually makes it OK that she was stoned to death. “We’d never do it if she was THIRTEEN! We’re not barbarians you know…”
I'm not opposed to belief. Believe whatever the hell you want to believe. Allow others to believe whatever the hell they want to believe. No harm, no foul.
That, though, is the kicker. Harm. Don't harm others. If you're using your faith to justify harming others, then there's something wrong. You need to be stopped from harming others. People harm others for many reasons, and religious faith is just one of them.
When I imply that Shar'iah law sucks, what I'm actually saying is that people who practice that particular faith and ritualistic sacrifice in the name of that faith, while using it to justify murder, torture, rape, etc., need to be stopped. It's either coincidental, correlative, or causal that they're using Islamic law as justification. So, when someone like me attacks their actions, it seems like I'm attacking their faith, when, in fact, I'm attacking their practices.
If ending their practice of killing young girls for being the victims of rape ends up destroying their religious culture, so be it. It's not worth the lives of innocents to perpetuate religious ritual that favors a certain set of men, to the fatal detriment of women or any other victims of such abuse.
I have walked up to a group of men at 43, and told them that I was a prolific adulterer....I got stoned. But it involved a bong.
Lets do a quick breakdown on what Shar'iah Law is...
Shari'ah means in Arabic "Right Path." Basically it is rules and regulations that Muslims live by. Understand that the Qu'ran is ultimate authority. Then you have sunna(bidden path) and sira(biography of the prophet. Also you have Hadiths(prophetic traditions). There is a hierarchy of hadiths, but that is irrelevant to the conversation at hand. Understand there are different interpretations of Shar'iah, it took the 8th and 9th century to develop this form law. There are 4 main schools of thought when it comes to Shar'iah as well.*
Understandably, none of us would advocate stoning for adultery, but SOME Muslims would...a minority I suspect. This century Islam is going to have to find a delicate balance between modernity and it's traditional roots. Religions evolve, so will Islam. A mix between modern laws and Shar'iah will probably what will happen. I've spent time in Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Algeria, and Morocco all these countries interpretation of how to use Shar'iah is different.
Personally, form what I've seen most Muslims pay lip service to everything in Islam but live life how they think IS right. Much like many Catholics do.
*If I was wrong about anything in Shar'iah Law. Correct me. I'm just a dumb college kid.
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