Another amazing example how cultural relativism is likely to "trump" global human rights legislation once again! The Australian based paper covered the news regarding the "staunch" Muslim legislation:
"Unmarried people who commit adultery will be caned one hundred times and married persons will be stoned to death," Raihan Iskandar, a provincial lawmaker from the Islamic-based Prosperous Justice Party, said.
Aceh, where separatists had been fighting the Indonesian government since 1976 until a peace deal in 2005, has so far only partially adopted sharia law, which requires modest Muslim dress codes, mandatory prayers five times a day, fasting and the giving of alms to the poor.
Sharia was implemented under a broad autonomy package granted by the central government in 2001 to pacify the hard-line Muslim region's demand for independence.
"This bill only focuses on ethical issues which include consumption of alcohol, gambling, committing adultery and raping," Iskandar said.
This is quite remarkable in a matter of speaking, when compared with Sharia law, which is often criticized by the "west" and other regions globally as being "much to rigid" with its hard-line views, especially regarding the treatment of women. Now imagine the treatment you get if you commit adultery! If your not married you get a serious "caning", but how is that adultery anyways? Isn't that just having sex? Anyways, don't you have to be married to commit adultery? However if your married, you get stoned literally to death? You know that Human Rights groups all over the world are going to have a "field-day"with this Aceh province when this gets back to the Human Rights defenders responsible for monitoring that particular region of the world. I can promise you that! Is this a primitive culture practice in anyone's opinion? Please comment me back if you think this is an "archaic" or a "primitive" cultural practice? I think I may conduct a poll in the next day or so. You think I should? Would anyone be willing to participate in it? We will see.
William
3 comments:
when I read the first part I was thinking the same.. how can it be adultery if you are not married... but maybe they mean if a not married person has an affair with a married one? Anyways, it is still ridiculous. Can't believe things like this still happen.
Shiitas in Afghanistan (to mention one) will do the same, now let me share with you my opinion. Not questioning the matter of divine inspiration or not, or concepts of what divine inspiration may be, all books were written by the hands of men, these men could be you or me. Men write books, books attract followers, and followers make books come to life by creating upon them a system of belief, so far as these belief systems help people in dignifying attitudes towards themselves and those around them, in feeling happy or in comfort, in helping them to decide better, the books are doing their good jobs. But then there’s the other side of the coin, called fanatism, control, intolerance and making the words of books more important than life well lived. Which leads so many to unjustifiable acts of violence and dread. An because so many religions profess the end of the world, so many act as if wanting the worlds end, so they say: “let us destruct what is going to be destructed anyway”.
Lena and Gilson,
thanks for your comments, very interesting point so view. Lena, you saw my point, and you Gilson got very philosophical on me! Thanks!
William:)
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