Unforeseen Contingencies

What's the proper way to deal with gays and lesbians?  What to do with unmarried couples who have sexual relations?  How about married people who have sex which someone to whom they aren't married?  What should the rest of us do with them?  Here's a hint: nothing.  We might consider their behavior good, bad, or indifferent, but it's also their behavior and their business, so long as it's consensual.  Certainly it isn't a police matter, and even more certainly it doesn't call for the death penalty, and most certainly it doesn't call for death by slow brutal torture.(Somehow I supposed that once something was "certain" it couldn't be "more certain," but these seem to be accepted expressions...oh well.)

Twelve countries have public stoning embedded in their laws as the punishment for such consensual sex.  Of these twelve, eleven are overwhelmingly dominated by a particular religion, and it's this religion that explicitly is the source of jurisprudence on this issue.  Any guesses as to which religion?  That's right, it's the "religion of peace!"  Nigeria is the only country with legal stoning that does not have a clear Muslim majority...but Nigeria only has legal stoning in the states that have clear Muslim majorities and include Sharia as a basis for law.  In the twenty-first century, stoning is Islamic and only Islamic.

The dishonor roll includes:

• Afghanistan
• Brunei
• Indonesia
• Iraq
• Iran
• Mali
• Pakistan
• Saudi Arabia
• Sudan
• Somalia
• United Arab Emirates

And it appears that in all of these states, stonings for these sex "crimes" are imposed and carried out.  Note that these places have little in common other than Islam and Sharia.  They are linguistically, culturally, ethnically, and geographically distinct.  Those who argue that Islam is a "religion of peace" need to explain how stoning women to death for fornication or stoning gay men to death is peaceful.  Or they need to be able to explain how Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, the UAE, Iran, Indonesia, et al. "hijacked" the "peaceful religion" and how they aren't really Islamic.  Or maybe they can show how a similar percentage of Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, and secular societies also have adopted stoning for adultery and homosexuality.  Or maybe they should just come to their senses.

I considered linking to a number of stories about stonings, but became sick at heart reading them and gave up.  Most seem to involve women, much of the time rape victims, and the men tend to get off scot-free for lack of evidence.  But the fact that the law is applied improperly isn't the point -- it's a terrible, criminal "law."  And it appears to be a standard doctrine in Muslim jurisprudence.  Sure, it's also in the Bible... but no Christian or Jew has paid any heed to that for hundreds of years (except Ron Paul and Lew Rockwell's lunatic friend, Gary North).  Perhaps it's time for mainstream Islam to discover the Enlightenment and the rights of the individual.

Read about stonings here.  The links in this Wikipedia entry seem mostly to work.

And here's a slideshow that defends stoning in Islam.  I tried to post a comment but it required me to sign up with Facebook.  So I'll post my comment here: "This convinces me that Islam is evil.  Stoning is a way to torture a victim to death.  Fornication and homosexuality are not crimes, but peaceful voluntary acts. So too adultery.  None are equivalent to theft (which also doesn't deserve this savage punishment).  If this is Islam, then Islam is evil, and people who advocate this are uncivilized savages.  I am amused, though, that the author thinks the existence of sexually transmitted disease helps make the case for stoning.  That's pretty funny..."

Happy Friday prayers.