Staying with Islamic Law, what about Saudi Arabia and the judges that sentenced a female to prison and lashes for enticing men to rape her over and over again – how dare she!
These types of cases are common in Saudi Arabia but this time the girl (19), her husband and their outspoken Islamic lawyer, are not staying quiet. They leaked the case to the outside media and now the Saudi government which controls the judges, the law and everything else is looking pretty bad – how backward can you be?
I am happy to see that there is a huge uproar from the West about this case, both men and women, and a start of some discussions within the country itself. Maybe this is the revolution from inside that I was talking about.
Saudi Arabia is rich, has all the trappings of modernity, sends students to study in the West and is very influential (oil) worldwide BUT it is backward!
It has the strictest form of Islam (Wahhabist), treats its women like dogs and adheres to extreme Wahhabist Sharia Law. This law punished the girl for being in the presence of a male that was not her relative but did not punish the seven men who repeatedly raped her. Eventually the huge outcry about the case has resulted in an even stricter sentence for her, a 5-7 year sentence for her attackers and the disbarment of her lawyer for daring to question the court.
The case will now go to their so called supreme court but it is the government that will make the decision and so far it has been besieged by Americans and Europeans and their decision may actually affect the entire Muslim world since they are the birthplace of the Prophet and the location of Mecca, the holiest of the holies for Muslims.
I am encouraged by the fact that the case somehow made it out to the world and that the girl could somehow tell her story to the world. Usually the people are kept in darkness, nothing in and nothing out, but something must be happening and all I can think of is that with the internet and other modern communication modes, light can enter the darkest places.
China was communist and totalitarian but not religious. In fact communism demanded atheism and religion was looked at as an opiate of the people. China opened up to the West and is now an economic giant; an amazing transformation (I was there). We don’t hear of backward religious laws and the people are smart and industrious and are enjoying the fruits of their labors.
China is an ancient civilization and has gone through many historic periods. They had a belief system but it was nothing like Christianity and Islam. Is it because they were never under the grip of Christianity or Islam that they are now enjoying their existence to the fullest?
I know this is a complicated matter historically but I will lay the current turmoil in the Middle East and elsewhere at the feet of the two biggest world religions: Christianity and Islam.
More later…
These types of cases are common in Saudi Arabia but this time the girl (19), her husband and their outspoken Islamic lawyer, are not staying quiet. They leaked the case to the outside media and now the Saudi government which controls the judges, the law and everything else is looking pretty bad – how backward can you be?
I am happy to see that there is a huge uproar from the West about this case, both men and women, and a start of some discussions within the country itself. Maybe this is the revolution from inside that I was talking about.
Saudi Arabia is rich, has all the trappings of modernity, sends students to study in the West and is very influential (oil) worldwide BUT it is backward!
It has the strictest form of Islam (Wahhabist), treats its women like dogs and adheres to extreme Wahhabist Sharia Law. This law punished the girl for being in the presence of a male that was not her relative but did not punish the seven men who repeatedly raped her. Eventually the huge outcry about the case has resulted in an even stricter sentence for her, a 5-7 year sentence for her attackers and the disbarment of her lawyer for daring to question the court.
The case will now go to their so called supreme court but it is the government that will make the decision and so far it has been besieged by Americans and Europeans and their decision may actually affect the entire Muslim world since they are the birthplace of the Prophet and the location of Mecca, the holiest of the holies for Muslims.
I am encouraged by the fact that the case somehow made it out to the world and that the girl could somehow tell her story to the world. Usually the people are kept in darkness, nothing in and nothing out, but something must be happening and all I can think of is that with the internet and other modern communication modes, light can enter the darkest places.
China was communist and totalitarian but not religious. In fact communism demanded atheism and religion was looked at as an opiate of the people. China opened up to the West and is now an economic giant; an amazing transformation (I was there). We don’t hear of backward religious laws and the people are smart and industrious and are enjoying the fruits of their labors.
China is an ancient civilization and has gone through many historic periods. They had a belief system but it was nothing like Christianity and Islam. Is it because they were never under the grip of Christianity or Islam that they are now enjoying their existence to the fullest?
I know this is a complicated matter historically but I will lay the current turmoil in the Middle East and elsewhere at the feet of the two biggest world religions: Christianity and Islam.
More later…
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