Saudi Arabia Should Free Raif Badawi

The freethought blogger, Raif Badawi, remains in a Saudi Arabian prison to eventually fulfill a sentence of 1000 lashes altogether combined with ten years incarcerated. 

That is, he will expect to be physically tortured and held a prisoner for having done the sort of thing I take for granted whenever I point out that imaginary friends can't grant absolution for heinous acts or that religion is generally coupted by greed, sensuality, politics, or just plain being fake to begin with.

The nation of SA is altogether too be-heady at the moment, it seems.

Raif Badawi May be Facing a Death Sentence--Again

Just as thousands have begun to mourn the passing of Avijit Roy, a freethought blogger who was highly critical of the negative influence of the irrational in religious thought (and our sympathies at the Strangely Blogged household also go out to his spouse Rafida Ahmed Banna, who was also wounded in the attack), there's word that the Saudi Arabian blogger, Raif Badawi, who was sentenced a brutal and physically treacherous 1000 lashes, may be facing trial once again for the crime of apostasy,  which would mean death by beheading.

This is a reminder that if religious extremism in itself is bad, as it no doubt is when practiced by self-appointed judges and executioners, it can be equally terrible when the extremists actually are the government--except wholly lawful.

A Moment to Consider Raif Badawi

While we considered the freedom of speech rights of the murdered cartoonists and journalists and editors and others slain by probable associates of AQ in Yemen, a heartfelt consideration of what freedom of speech means in some Islamic countries among Muslim artists and writers--like Raif Badawi, who was recently the recipient of 50 lashes.   With a whip. (PS--godawful video--seriously. I'm sure there's repercussions for filming and all, but this wasn't great, actually.) But seriously, Saudi Arabia has held and even executed people for "sorcery".  As a blogger and sometimes alternative path practitioner, that is seriously heinous to me. People should have the right to comment upon their government, their community, their religion and the things that matter to them. How else can they right wrongs or address injustices so that they can be corrected? Shutting people up is saying "might makes right"--and that means, even wrong can be right, if only the mighty so decree it.

For blogging in a way that was irreverent about religion, his body was displayed to be publically seen and abused. This is to say, that his body is not his body at all, but a thing owned by the government of Saudi Arabia to prove some point about his kind of speech. As in--"don't you other people think about blogging like he did".

That is appalling.