Chris and I went to the supermarket this evening and stopped for a coffee in a cafe. As we sat with our drinks I read one of the cafe's papers and caught a sobering editorial that discussed the continual practice of the stoning of adulterers in Iran.The above photo depicting the stoning of a woman in Iran, illustrated this newspaper piece and I must admit it has totally haunted me.
I don't want to gallop down the path of screaming at Iran's barbaric penal code. The disgust I have with practices such as stoning could not even be measured..no....what has upset me the most, is the sad realisation that man IS and always will be, consistently and depressingly cruel to his fellow man and this is all done in the name of law, religion and in the maintenance of some sort of control.
I despair sometimes
It is all pretty depressing, down to you toes - agonizing. A horrific fact, things will never change. It saddens me to see that we as a civilization have not yet become civilized after all these years and lessons.
ReplyDeleteJohn, I agree with you. Human beings are so flawed, so miserably imperfect. We do horrible things in the name of whatever we can find to justify it.
ReplyDeleteBut, there is so much good in us, also. Look at you, and all of the good thinks that you have done for the people where you live, and the critters who you come in contact with.
Today, something wonderful happened in my world. We saved a horse. Not to be compared with saving a human, or becoming more civilized, but a mighty victory all the same.
Christmas Bash ended up in the holding pen of a broker who sells to slaughter. She is a Thoroughbred who raced at the track that I do volunteer work for, and had been on our listings just a couple of weeks ago. I got in touch with a couple of people and got the ball rolling. Because of them, and a lot of people who sent in little dribbles of money, this horse is now safe and will be going to a home where she will be loved and cared for.
No one of us did this alone. It was a whole group of people, working together for the greater good. So, hold tight to the knowledge that, if great evil exists in this world, great good does also.
I share your shock over this John. The issue involving this particular woman has been all over the news here. Here's a link if you (or anyone) wants to read a bit more about it:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38140909/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/
The story last evening on the news said that a man is only buried to his waist when found guilty of adultery, and a woman to her breast. If they can free themselves during the stoning then they are "forgiven."
Yes, I know what you mean.I often wonder how we can advance so much technologically and yet seem to be de-evolving as human beings ...it saddens me and makes me worry about the future for my son...
ReplyDeletehumans..... odd to be called that when you see things of this nature still going on amongst "humans" some with souls less evolved no doubt than animals... but all fully equipped with ego, prejudice, judgment and cruelty..."humans" sadly I think not...
ReplyDeleteYes, John, this is a horrifying story....there are lots of those everywhere in the world. But I feel things will and can change. First we have to believe we have the power and will to do so, and secondly, we each have to start with ourselves. Then move it forward to our own backyard. I really don't feel that this a naive comment. We all have the choice to either drown in all the negativity that is thrown at us, or choose to focus on the 'good stuff' that is happening everywhere.
ReplyDeleteJohn, you are a great role model and are already involved in things to effect change where you live.
Negativity sells papers.....good things don't.
I just feel sick to the pit of my stomach every time I see something like this. I know people who are of the Islamic faith who fled places like Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, etc. Sadly, when I talk to them they tell me of these practices by rabid fundamentalists and that they were one of the reasons they chose to flee and ended up in Australia - one family arrived here after a journey of over two years walking overland and then the final leg in a leaky boat from Indonesia. Even more sad is to learn that while they find these practices horrid they, themselves, still practice rituals like femal circumcision.
ReplyDeleteI have friends, still in the general health system, who inform me that female genital mutilation is so prevelant that western GPs and gynaecologists are petitioning the goverment for the operation to be legalised amongst such religious groups, solely to prevent the damage and infections occurring from butchered rituals!
Couldn't agree with you more about how disgusting, cruel, non feeling, miserable, ugly, pathetic, some people are.
ReplyDeleteI truly believe that there are way more good folks in this world and they outnumber the bad ones.
Hey, just look in the mirror and you will see a good guy!
The 'top five' countries for execution are: China, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United States. Fundamentalism, it seems, takes many forms: bureaucratic, theocratic, economic and technocratic, and these seem to be reflected in the subjects and methods of judicial violation each of these nations chooses to use.
ReplyDeleteStoning, of course, is visually brutal, but morally I see no difference between this and the firing squad, hanging, decapitation or the perverse and voyeuristic use of medical anaesthesia and other technologies in the other ‘top five’ nations.
This is not about states being more or less ‘progressive’, although there is an inevitable appeal to this argument when considering the above nations in particular. These things vary over time, place and culture: it’s interesting to note that in China, for instance, judicial killing (execution) was illegal during in the 8th century.
Humans (bipedal mammals) are selfish, manipulative and sometimes cruel. They kill and maim: it is (like in the fable of the scorpion and the frog) in their nature to do so; yet, unlike the scorpion, they seek to justify their acts in various ways that are consistent with their political or religious views.
Indeed, if we wish to make moral statements about killing and capital punishment, there is perhaps an argument that the judicial killing of another human by a state (‘capital’ punishment) is less morally defensible than an act of killing committed by one human against another.
I despair too. :(
ReplyDeleteI wrote about this today (Saturday), I didn't know you had written about it as well, sorry. All in all very barbaric..........
ReplyDeleteGill in Canada
Nigel I agree with what you say.. but there is so much "goodness" in people too...
ReplyDeletethe comparason between the overtly good and the overtly bad is what makes me despair the most
Horrifying. I despair with you.
ReplyDelete