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punishment

Saudi Judge Sentences Rape Victim

The Saudi Gazette reported that a District Court in Jeddah sentenced a gang-rape victim to 100 lashes and a year in prison… for committing adultery, becoming pregnant, and attempting to get an abortion.

The District Court in Jeddah pronounced the verdict on Saturday after the girl confessed that she had a forced sexual intercourse with a man who had offered her a ride. The man, the girl confessed, took her to a rest house, east of Jeddah, where he and four of friends assaulted her all night long.

CONFESSED?! She CONFESSED that she had forced sexual intercourse? Just the phrasing insinuates that this woman is the guilty party in this case… that she is the one who should be looked upon with disgust and disdain.

This woman was evidently raped repeatedly by five men and she is the one who receives the punishment? What kind of sick, twisted legal system allows that kind of thing to happen? Is this the kind of law that is derived from Islam? I have yet to read the Koran, so I don’t know the exact teachings and shouldn’t make accusations, but this kind of thing seems to be happening in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim nations on a relatively regular basis. One can come to the reasonable conclusion that this atrocity is spawned by faith in Islam. I don’t see this happening in Switzerland or Italy or the United States.

This type of action is sick and disgusting and should generate a scorching outcry from the rest of the world.

Thanks to Mojoey at Deep Thoughts for the heads up.

Scary Church Signs

FireI try to take note of the church signs I see in my area and usually see the generic notifications of sermon times or guest speakers. A few churches, however, always try to have clever sayings out front, which is much more entertaining for me. One in particular seems to have some very clever ones and sometimes even makes me smile or chuckle.

Most of the more clever church signs are harmless puns, but every now and then, one makes me narrow my eyes and raise an eyebrow.

I saw this one yesterday:

Remember the banana. When he left the bunch, he got skinned.

It’s a clever play on words, indeed, but its whimsy hides one of the more sinister sides of religious belief… using fear as a tool to coerce obedience. Stay with the church or you’ll be doomed.

Another church sign read:

Try Jesus. If you don’t like him, Satan will take you back.

Clever. It’s also somewhat cute if you block out the image of burning in a pit of Satan-created fire for not liking Jesus.

Christianity tends to preach all about a just, merciful God and loving, forgiving Jesus. God’s love is immeasurable and glorious. Jesus is your loving and understanding savior. You’ll be swept up into glorious Heaven where paradise awaits you and you’ll be able to walk hand-in-hand with Jesus in eternal bliss.

All you have to do is believe what they tell you to believe.

Of course, if you refuse to accept Jesus as your savior and refuse to worship God in the way that is demanded, you’re going to be punished for all eternity in unspeakably torturous ways with much wailing and gnashing of teeth, doomed to spend an infinite amount of time surrounded by hellfire and brimstone and subjected to incomprehensible pain and agony.

But to avoid that horror, all you have to do is believe what they tell you to believe…

…regardless of whether it’s true or not.

There are FOUR lights! *

(* geeky Star Trek:TNG reference)