The Crucifixion of Ali al-Nimr Would Be Barbarism

The young man facing a death by beheading and the crucifixion of his body to serve as a warning to others would, in an open culture, not even be sentenced with such a disgusting fate because his right to protest and to freedom of speech would already be well understood. The slim hope that he might be given a pardon by the King is, well, slim. The pace of state executions is a tip-off that mercy isn't a very strong quality with the House of Saud at the moment.

Considering the reaction of the government in sentencing and the increasing harshness, is it plausible to assume the Saudi rulers are in trouble? One takes into account things like the chaos of the Hajj, and the tragic deaths of what might be as many as 1100 persons because of poor security planning. (The government of Iran would like an apology and have implied the Saudi state is very much at fault--and likely to be looking at some regime change inshallah.)

Just as with the case of Raif Badawi, I can not accept the idea of a state corporally punishing a person in this cruel manner for the kind of thing I, as an American, take for granted as being my right to do. This sentence should be pardoned. It is simply appalling.

Death Sentence for Tsarnaev

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving perpetrator of the deadly Boston Marathon bombing, has been sentenced to death, which is about as predictable as a very predictable thing can be. The deliberate, calculated nature of the crime is unquestionable--the pressure cooker bombs were placed, fashioned, and detonated, in such a way that they would kill or maim the most people and cause the most damage possible. The act was brutal and thoroughly intended to cause shock and horror. Although Tsarnaev is young and was very possibly led about by his brother, the fact remains that having any sense of right and wrong, or shred of humanity--this act should have been unthinkable, but he participated in it anyway.

When We Talk about Church/State Separation

In that popularly read Iron Age collection of Bronze Age just-so stories, there are a handful of things that will earn you a revocation of your breathing permit. Homosexual carnal knowledge is just one of them. Popping off to your folks is another. Getting raped when you are engaged to be married (actually, a handful of things relating towards not being a virgin when someone has ponied up good livestock to purchase your chattel female ass are pretty much forbidden). Blasphemy, false prophecy and magic--all pretty much in the "not suffered to live" category of things you ought not do.

I am pretty sure I've done some things the Old Testament would prescribe a good stoning for.

Some people insist that God wrote the Bible. Some would go so far as to suggest that God wrote the Constitution. But there really isn't much overlap between the laws in Deuteronomy and Leviticus and our Constitution. This country does not have a death penalty for these things we find in the Old Testament (save the whole "Thou Shalt not Kill" part). Our legal system would also view pretty harshly anyone who, say, decided to strap up and declare open season on adulterers just because their Good Book suggested this was a proper thing to do.

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.

Woman to be stoned in Iran following torture-induced confession

Human rights activist tries to stop death by stoning for Iranian woman

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.

Ashtiani, who is from the northern city of Tabriz, was convicted of adultery in 2006.

She was forced to confess after being subjected to 99 lashes, human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei said Thursday in a telephone interview from Tehran.

She later retracted that confession and has denied wrongdoing. Her conviction was based not on evidence but on the determination of three out of five judges, Mostafaei said. She has asked forgiveness from the court but the judges refused to grant clemency.

It's not too much of a stretch to call this sort of aberration of justice typical of religion-based misogyny, is it? Good. Then I won't belabor the point. The mullah-led court-system of Iran is making an example of a woman, for apparently no other reason than she's a woman and they can. The crime is regarding sexuality in the form of adultery, there were no witnesses, her word is ignored, and she will be brutally physically, slowly punished in front of many people, and if this isn't how a sick government "sends a message" to people to keep their heads bowed low, or else, I'd be pressed to find a better example.

This Examiner blog-post features links to groups and petitions in support of Sakine Mohammedie Ashtiani. I hope this support has some effect.