Unless you live in another planet, you must have heard about the global outcry over the imminent execution by stoning of Sakineh Mohammadie Ashtiani.
According to CNN:
“Legally it’s all over,” Ahadi said Sunday. “It’s a done deal. Sakineh can be stoned at any minute.”
Sadly, this is not an isolated case. Granted that it’s been a while since the last time a woman was stoned to death in Iran, at least officially, this is not the first and won’t be the last case of abuse and repression of women. This shouldn’t be happening at all, anywhere in the world. This kind of tragic, brutal, barbaric repression against women in the Muslim world must be stopped. It requires the commitment and dedication of entire societies to wipe out systemic abuse of women.
One thing I cannot keep myself from recalling, is that these people ‘learned’ this execution method from the Qur’an (Koran) – their own holy book. Islam is a much greater threat to the physical integrity and culture of the entire world than Christianity currently is – I wouldn’t know where to place Islamic barbaric executions compared to Catholic priests child abuse, but I digress. This, I’m afraid, might not be the case in the near future, with the rise of Christian extremism, it has become urgent the need for awareness of women’s rights. Instead of patting ourselves on the back for how civilized we are, we should be more vigilant.
Would it be too off to say that once you control women, you control all of mankind? Without women (the means of reproduction) there is no human race to subdue. This is the groundwork of any fundamentalist religious affiliation.
What would you do if it was your mother, your daughter, your sister or your best friend sentenced to death by stoning for adultery? Sadly, there’s not much you can do in Iran.
Let me tell you how this execution method works:
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.
This makes it clear that the purpose of stoning is to inflict pain in a process leading to slow death. No, we’re not back in the dark ages, this is happening today.
This is why we need our secular voices to be heard. Speak up, people. We must strive to make a difference.
Send a letter to the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Ali Larijani, urging him to end the use of stoning as a method of execution in Iran. Let’s try to help.
This is happening here, in our world, to our species.
It infuriates me to think that some people keep telling me that religion doesn’t cause any harm.
