[quote]In Aceh, the most orthodox corner of Muslim-majority Indonesia, gay sex is now punishable by 100 lashes. On a public stage. By a cane-wielding figure clad head-to-ankles in dark brown robes (with a yellow decorative fringe).
The sting of a rattan cane is only part of the punishment. Aceh’s officials admit the primary objective is shame. That’s why they invite crowds to jeer and gawk and excitedly count off the lashings meted out to men and women accused of petty crimes.
Sound archaic?
That’s the point.
The lashings are administered under Shariah law, a moral code dictated in the Quran that dates back the seventh century. Aceh’s modern-day whipping sessions are meant to play out as they did in ancient times — only with teenagers recording the beatings on their iPhones.[/quote]
Have you seen what the Buddhists are up to in Burma, Sri Lanka, etc.? Everybody let’s go out and beat up some Buddhists–show those bastards what we think of their violent religion!
Religious fundamentalism is the problem. Not just Islam… every religion has the tendency to become violent and despotic if given power and if it becomes overly orthodox in its dogma. Even Buddhism. Remember Aum Shinrikyo?
And how about those immigrants who move to Western countries and bring their savage backward religious beliefs with them?
[quote] when her family accused her of being a witch. She was being molested by a relative and the trauma made her wet the bed and sleepwalk.
But instead of trying to find out what was wrong, Kanda’s family were convinced she was possessed by an evil spirit. For the next five years, she was starved, forced to eat her own vomit, beaten repeatedly and given suppositories containing spices to “get rid of the evil spirits.” And the torture occurred in a London suburb.
… 8-year-old Victoria Climbié, whose guardians tortured and killed her in 2010 after claiming she was possessed by a demon. The Ivory Coast-born girl was burned with cigarettes and forced to sleep in a sealed garbage bag in the bath until she eventually died.
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