We have another story of a Muslim mob murdering a person for offending Islam. A woman named Farkhunda, 32, in Kabul had reportedly burned a copy of the Koran inside a riverside shrine. She was then set upon by a huge mob that burned her alive and then threw her into the Kabul river. This was deemed the moral response to an immoral act by the crowd. [Update: It turns out that the accusations against Farkhunda may be untrue and that she was actually defending what she viewed as the degrading act of selling amulets in a mosque when she was attacked]
Four people have been arrested by the crowd watching and encouraging this despicable act was so large that they broke the railing of the shrine itself in pushing forward for a better look.
The murder occurred in the very capital of Afghanistan at the Shah-Do Shamshira mosque.
Source: La Times
Ah someone who represents the best of Christianty, it’s wonderful to see Ken.
Karen, most of us have already put together zealotry, extremism and fundamentalism. Don’t hurt ypurself patting yourself on the back for something most of us recognized long ago.
@Squeeky Fromm, Girl Reporter
“@Ken Rogers
“You said, ‘Speaking only for myself, of course, the reason for putting the crime in question in context, including the fact that it is being *treated* as a crime in Kabul, is the slavering Islamophobia evidenced here and in the larger US society. . ‘blah blah blah, etc. etc. etc.”
“Here! Let me translate that for you!
“I hate Christians because about half of them don’t fall for the Gay Agenda crap us Democrats push, and even more of them are anti-abortion.”
As a translation, Squeeky, that makes a singularly bilious, semi-coherent, semi-hysterical, and wildly inaccurate rant.
The fact of the matter is, it’s because I *am* a Christian that I want to try to understand the violent and/or anti-social behavior of some of my fellow human beings, who are also created in His image and in whom He also indwells, rather than hating them and automatically and feverishly wanting to imprison, torture, or exterminate them.
It is the love of God and His Son, Jesus Christ, that I have personally experienced and continue to experience, that makes it a non-starter for me to hate other human beings, no matter how benighted they may be. Additionally, nowhere in either the Canonical or Gnostic Gospels do I find any admonitions to hate homosexuals, people of color, non-Christians, or anyone else. On the contrary, I find the following from His Sermon on the Mount:
38 ¶ Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: Ex. 21.24 · Lev. 24.20 · Deut. 19.21
39 but I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.
41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
43 ¶ Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, Lev. 19.18 and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Deut. 18.13
I also find, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”
You’ll note that it *doesn’t* say, “Blessed are the self-righteous warmongers and haters of non-Christians, for they shall be called the children of God.”
I suggest that you take counsel with yourself and try to determine the source and fuel of your apparently deep and wide-ranging animosity. You’re on the right track with your meditation, but don’t neglect to avail yourself of the power of prayer, as well.
May He bless you and keep you.
@Po
Yes, I do have a little experience with gay guys who have AIDS. Very sad situations, particularly when they got it in transient relationships with strangers. Financially ruinous for them, and physically devastating. It’s not like there’s just one or two gays here and there who have it either. Think about the incidence rate of 20%.
Or, don’t think about, and keep on encouraging them to go for it! Whichever.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
And then, a miracle happened, and people finally understood that it takes an extremist zealot, rather than simply a fundamentalist, to commit violence in the name of religion.
Takes a bow . . .
It appears that zealots and fundamentalism in ANY relgion are capeable of murder and mayhem. If the usually peaceful Buddhists are capeable of the incidents in Myanmar, that pretty much proves that it.
By the way, Karen, why are we talking about Nepal? I brought up Myanmar, and Buddhist monks leading pogroms against the Muslim population, lynching, raping, pillaging, murdering and displacing…
Do you have any answer to that or is it just easier to distract by:
1-Bringing in shariah law
2-Bringing in Mormons or the Amish
3- Discussing Buddhists in Nepal
4- Complaining about being personally attacked
5- Justifying what Israel does to the Palestinians?
So, in light of all of that, what do we make of this? How do explain this? Anyone from the Bully Gang willing to take a stab at it? http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/mar/23/us-soldier-admits-killing-afghans?CMP=share_btn_tw
AS I said, Squeek, thou protest a bit much, and you seem to know quite a bit about it… Either much imagining or much experiencing. Just saying!
@Po
Well, the fascinating thing about homophilia is that it tends to overlook the simple fact that 20% of the gay men in the United States are HIV positive, and half of those guys don’t know they are. And that they got that way through grossly promiscuous anal sex. Sooo, if you want to imagine that sodomy is a harmless pursuit, then go ahead. Just invite a dude over, drop your britches, turn around, and bend over. Just don’t whine to me if you end up with AIDS.
Squeeky Fromm
GIRL Reporter
Po, yes, it seems that there is an obsession with the anal sex, which BTW is a sexual practice heterosexual people, even married people sometimes engage in. Maybe they need a refresher course in Human Sexuality.
Squeek
The fascinating thing about homophobia is that is spurred by the imagining, vivid imagining I might add, of sexual acts among homosexuals. The homophobe knows exactly what sexual acts the homosexuals engage in, in their own private life.
@Pogo
You know, if you could reduce some of the liberal-ly puerile aging-hippyish posters here to a sort of gestalt musical representation, I think it would sound something like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZuUgRed7yo
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
FWIW:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGwtG8nVpUU
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
http://www.salon.com/2015/03/20/gop_cant_quit_the_christian_right_why_its_still_the_party_of_religious_fundamentalists_partner/
“In a recent interview on Fox, Christian right writer James Robison went off on a rant about how Christian conservatives need to take over the government: “There are only 500 of you,” Robison said of Congress. “We can get rid of the whole bunch in one smooth swoop and we can really reroute the whole ship!”
That the evangelical right already controls the GOP shouldn’t really be in dispute. Not only do the Republicans do exactly as the Christian right tells them on every social issue, such as reproductive rights or gay rights, but Republicans also pay fealty to the Christian right by targeting Muslim countries with their hawkish posturing or using Christian language to rationalize slashing the social safety net. If you were trying to come up with a quick-and-dirty description of the Republican Party, “coalition of corporate and patriarchal religious interests” would be it.”
Speaking only for myself, of course, the reason for putting the crime in question in context, including the fact that it is being *treated* as a crime in Kabul, is the slavering Islamophobia evidenced here and in the larger US society, whose proponents pounce on such events as being evidence of the need to make war on violently zealous Muslims, rather than treating them as the criminals they are when they act out their violent zealotry.
Do a mental exercise (if you can) and substitute a young mentally challenged Black male being burned alive for a transgression that breaks social mores (imagine an accent mark over the e) ….like being accused of molesting a white girl. The people who do this horrible thing are some zealous Southern Baptists (or other religious sect) white southerners.
Will you or the other Liberal/Progressive types claim this is just a crime committed by some criminal zealots and blame ONLY those people who did the crime……OR will you jump the the claim that all of the South is full of KKK racists types and knuckle dragging drooling subhumans who don’t deserve to be respected. Or, accusing all Baptists or religious fundamentalists of being the same as those who did the burning?
Tarring everyone with the same bigoted brush? You will. You have.
I know which one you (types) have chosen in the past. You do it now, with the Tea Party. You do it all the time. You do it with people who have not been accused of or participated in a crime. So don’t give us lectures and come riding in on your “high horse”.
@Dust Bunny Queen
“Will you or the other Liberal/Progressive types claim this is just a crime committed by some criminal zealots and blame ONLY those people who did the crime……OR will you jump the the (sic) claim that all of the South is full of KKK racists types and knuckle dragging drooling subhumans who don’t deserve to be respected. Or, accusing all Baptists or religious fundamentalists of being the same as those who did the burning?
“Tarring everyone with the same bigoted brush? You will. You have.
I know which one you (types) have chosen in the past. You do it now, with the Tea Party. You do it all the time. You do it with people who have not been accused of or participated in a crime. So don’t give us lectures and come riding in on your ‘high horse’ ”
Why all the wild-eyed accusations without a shred of evidence to support them?
Just so you know, I don’t consider myself a “liberal” or a “progressive,” and I’m loathe to make accusatory generalizations about Baptists, Tea Partiers, religious fundamentalists, or any other group of people who self-identify similarly.
You haven’t seen me do *any* of the things of which you accuse me, and I’m at a loss to understand why you would level your accusatory broadside at me by *assuming* I answer one or more of the political labels you ascribe to me.
And although I recognize sociological factors as influencing people’s behavior, yes, I would want to see prosecuted only the individual(s) responsible for the commission of your hypothetical crime, just as I want to see prosecuted only the individual(s) physically and directly responsible for murdering the Afghan woman.
Have I answered your question?
@Po
That is not my favorite theme by far. I prefer lots of stuff to having to think about nasty sex stuff and funky diseases. I have more joy out of stuff like The Saab Story.
Squeeky Fromm
GIRL Reporter
Pogo answers the challenge to address what other religious fundamentalists do by doubling down on the Islamophobia, to the point of playing moral equivalency by inviting Assad here when the topic is white phosphorus use by IDF. Not surprising, not at all, as usual he conveniently chooses to ignore the issue.
Squeek goes back to his favorite theme, the one Jesus spoke so much against, homosexuality.
I take offense for the spirit of Christianity that you two claim to speak for it.
“Uncompromising. Strict adherence. Literal interpretation.”
Climate change, feminism, college speech codes, hate speech, etc.
What a fun game, Inga!
Dead Can Dance is a personal favorite.
I thought it might be Lisa Gerrard, or a side project.
Thanks for the reference to Stellamara.
I look forward to checking them out.