An mother of two has been found guilty of adultery in an Iranian court. Adultery is a crime? Yes, apparently it is in Iran. Sharia law. We know she’s guilty though because she confessed after being subjected to 99 lashes. Want to know the best part? Her sentence is death by stoning.
Actually no, that’s not the best part. As CNN report in Iranian mother of two to be stoned to death, she’ll be buried up to her chest first:
Ashtiani, 42, will be buried up to her chest, according to an Amnesty International report citing the Iranian penal code. The stones that will be hurled at her will be large enough to cause pain but not so large as to kill her immediately.
Actually The Guardian reports that if the convicted person manages to free themselves from the hole, the death sentence is commuted. Well that's OK then. Although they also say the victim is buried up to her neck, not chest. (Men only get buried up to their waists.)
In a masterpiece of understatement, the US Assistant Secretary of State P.J. Crowley apparently said:
"From the United States' standpoint, we don't think putting women to death for adultery is an appropriate punishment."
Really? You “don’t think”? Not “appropriate”? Christ, what’s wrong with you? How about this is totally wrong on any level no matter what the crime? And according to Amnesty International, there are several other women in Iran waiting the same punishment.
Amnesty International is trying to pressurize Iran to commute these death sentences. One would hope that the State Department could also muster a somewhat stronger response that that of the lame P.J. Crowley.
Dude... it's reLIGious, man! You can't mess with that!
Religion kinda, like, teaches you morals, that sorta thing.
Posted by: Big Al | July 06, 2010 at 08:36 AM
Exactly, Big Al! We need that moral compass - otherwise we'd do some really awful stuff.
Posted by: Yojimbo | July 06, 2010 at 09:00 AM
Without a 'god' there can be no absolute 'morality', and here it is in its full glory, absolute morality delivered with absolutely no justice, mercy, sense, decency, compassion, intelligence, solidarity or common sense.
Those who are reponsible for this wickedness (I am using a moral judgment, of course)are incapable of reflection, thought, negotiation or consideration as all the answers are on a holy book, and non-negotiable.
I despair.
Posted by: derek hudson | July 07, 2010 at 08:06 AM
Sorry, Derek, you cannot use any moral judgement.
For without religion - ANY religion - , there ARE no morals! It is the fount of ALL justice, mercy, sense, decency, compassion, intelligence and solidarity.
As for common sense... ah, c'mon, this is freakin' RELIGION we're talking about!
Common sense and adherents of religions are not exactly bosom bedfellows.
"This dry wafer is the flesh of a man who died 2,000 years ago, but who promply undied and ascended bodily to Heaven. No, idiot, it's NOT a metaphor. IT'S REALLY HIS FLESH! EAT! EAT!"
"I can't eat human flesh, for one thing, I'm not a cannibal, and for another, I'm a vegetarian. Is that wrong?"
"Tut! There's always one, isn't there? OK, I'll let you off the flesh. then again, there's this indifferent cheap plonk, which is actually, really the dead guy's blood...?
"No? Freakin' weirdos."
Posted by: Big Al | July 07, 2010 at 08:26 AM
Jonathan Swift (Himself a Dean) once said.
"We have enough religion to hate, but not enough to love".
Posted by: Peebs | July 08, 2010 at 05:47 PM
I've said it before: these people (Islamic extremists) are just adorable!
What really puzzles me as I read this, though, is that when critics like you and me speak out about it, lots of people cry "racist" (because Islam is a race, right?) and make claims about how this has nothing to do with Islam, or that it isn't true Islam, or that we should leave other cultures alone, etc. I mean, come the **** on.
Posted by: Sarah Trachtenberg | July 09, 2010 at 08:08 AM
In America, we don't get stoned, but we do get stoned. Go figure...
Posted by: Peter Pan | October 20, 2010 at 10:00 AM