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Uncommon Sense: Unjustifiable Justification
Uncommon Sense: Unjustifiable Justification
Monday, November 15, 2010 By Editor Zane Clark
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In America we take many things for granted. We can walk down the street, grab a bite to eat, then go watch television in our nice furnished homes with a cool drink in one hand and the television remote in the other. It's not a difficult concept. If resources allow, we have the right and privilege to have what we want when we want. America was founded on this concept and it has remained true. It continues to be the deciding factor separating America from every other country in the world. We have freedom of speech, freedom to protest peacefully anything we disagree with, and we have freedom of religion, the original reason the colonists migrated to America.

I recently read an article from Yahoo News about a woman in Lahore, Pakistan. Mrs. Asia Bibi, a mother of five, has been sentenced to death, by hanging, for "blasphemy".  Although there was no proof or base for the case, she was accused of making derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammed, a capital crime in Pakistan. In all reality, this so called "blasphemy" was simply being of Christian faith in a country where Islam is the major faith.

I don't know about you, but even if someone doesn't agree with me on religion I don't kill them. If someone bad mouthes Jesus I don't report them to the authorities hoping (and possibly praying) they are sentenced to death row. No one in America has the right or authority to force people to believe one thing. Don't misinterpret that as it being wrong to evangelize and spread religion because there is no problem with peacefully discussing beliefs, but no one in their right mind wouldn't threaten someone's life to terrify them into belief.

From this we can also look at how we view religion today in America. There are many people who have become sick of hearing of Christianity and will make as many derogatory comments as possible while defending any other world religion. I'm sorry, but I'm a Christian, and even if I wasn't, I would still find it ridiculous that such a double standard could exist. All I'm asking for is a little bit of equality, that little thing that separates America from Pakistan.

Mrs. Bibi would be the first person executed for Blasphemy in Pakistan. If her sentence fails its' appeal and is carried out it will only be a stepping stone for more violence and inhumane acts that will go unanswered. There are people around the world calling for a stop to this Islamist extremism from Mrs. Bibi's husband, Mr. Ashiq Masih, to different humanitarian groups. People know this is wrong, but the Pakistani government seems to not care and is planning on carrying out this act with no evidence aside from unjustifiable justification.

For as much as we have, we so often forget to be grateful for the freedoms others don't have. We don't ever have to worry about ending up in the same situation as Mrs. Bibi. All that being said, we also need to make the efforts to stand up for people who are tortured, beaten, and even killed for their faith no matter what their religion or race is. That includes people who are harassed and humiliated in our own country and even hometowns because they believe in a power greater than themselves.

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1 COMMENTS - Add your comment below

11/15/2010 11:31:31 PM by Junaid Qaiser    
Now the whole world demands: repeal Pakistan’s blasphemy law http://criticalppp.com/archives/29174
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