Sharia Law

[BoneDog]

What about all the Catholic Church did to scientists 400 years ago who were trying to enlighten the world with theories on astronomy? Hardly revelant now I know but it's a big example from the past. I believe one italian was burned at the stake around 1600 for something similar.. Still now religious groups are trying to prevent stem cell research and embryo research etc that could help advance medicine massively.

When the Catholic Church did what they did, they weren't acting in the name of any Bible I know of. They put Christians, Jews and Muslims (and probably others) through massive grief from what little I know about it. They were blatantly just another set of 'pretenders' who like to wave the book that I have mentioned before. Their actions speak louder than any of their words and says it all. Tyrants. And we all know that Jesus hated tyrants That's why they apparantly crucified him.

As for the guys who oppose any medical advances, I bet they are one of those 'noisy and angry' type groups who pop up like the Westboro lot. Shills and mentalists (I say 'shills' because every extreme religious group I know of - from The KKK to Hamas - has connections to different intelligence agencies). I can't see any right minded person trying to put a stop to serious medical advances. (not that I know what stem cell research is or involves, never read or listened to anything about it that I can remember)

[Thracian]

Yes it is 100 lashes for man and woman. But only if you get caught by four witnesses. That part is very important. It's a severe warning and deterrent, not a punishment that you are likely to ever see in action at all. As I said before - who is going to get caught having sex with their bits on the side by four people? Nobody is.

Adultery is a despicable crime and it destroys many families. It often breaks apart two families at once. I can understand why such a crime warrants a severe deterrent. I have seen the consequences of adultery for myself personally and for many others. Building a society based on the family unit is a major part of Islam, and other religions, and I totally respect that. When the family unit in a society falls apart that society descends a level. We are seeing mass evidence of this in Western society.

Last I read the divorce rates were soaring in Islamic countries too and to near Western levels in some. And it would be more so if divorced women had an easier time in Muslim society. There is much brain-washing of Muslims by community leaders against the so-called immorality of the West but it is fear-driven - the fear of losing influence. In fact it is hard to see how Muslims can claim the moral high ground in any direction. Hypocrisy is rife in all societies from what I've seen.

[Finnegan]

At some point you have to stop making the argument "religion is great, those people who've done awful things aren't properly religious!" I mean there may be some truth in it but it's not the wider point, is it?

It's like communism. In theory, on paper, it's a lovely idea with everyone contributing to a wider society and everyone being richly rewarded for it, etc. But in practice it's always been exploited, always been abused and has lead to some of the most widespread global oppression and abuse of the last two centuries.

You can't just simply excuse religion of all the ills it's brought the world because those atrocities aren't done by what you consider true believers, it just doesn't work like that.

[davieG]

BBC

'Honour code' supported by young Asians, poll says

Two-thirds of young British Asians agree that families should live according to the concept of "honour", a poll for BBC Panorama suggests.

Of 500 young Asians questioned, 18% also felt that certain behaviour by women that could affect her family's honour justified physical punishment.

These included disobeying their father, and wanting to leave an exisiting or prearranged marriage.

The results come as women's groups call for action to stop "honour" crimes.

The poll, conducted for the BBC by ComRes, interviewed young Asians living in Britain between the ages of 16 and 34.

Asked if they agreed that families should live according to "honour", 69% agreed, a figure that rose to 75% among young men, compared with 63% of young women.

Root cause

They were also asked if they felt there was ever a justification for so-called "honour killings". Only 3% said that it could be justified.

However, when divided by sex, 6% of young Asian men said that honour killings could be justified, compared with just 1% of Asian women surveyed.

Experts interviewed by the programme argue that the root cause of "honour" crime lies in forced marriage.

Jasvinder Sanghera, a campaigner on behalf of Asian women, fled her parents' home after they attempted to force her into an arranged marriage when she was just 14.

She said it was time for Britain's Asian community leaders to speak out about the honour code, also known as "Izzat" in Urdu.

"I've yet to see community leaders, religious leaders, politicians, Asian councillors give real leadership on this. They don't because they know it makes them unpopular."

Ms Sanghera said the reluctance of community figures to speak out was "extremely irresponsible, it's morally wrong and it's morally blind".

A survey of police forces by the Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organisation (IKWRO) found there were 2,823 incidences of honour crimes a year, or almost eight a day. But those figures are considered a vast underestimate given that 13 of 52 police forces did not respond to the charity's request for a breakdown in November 2011.

Nazir Afzal of the Crown Prosecution Service said the degree of honour crime in Britain - including murders meant to preserve a family's "honour" within their own community - was unknown.

"We don't know the true figure of honour killings. It's anything between 10 and 12 a year in this country. I don't know how many other unmarked graves there are in this country in our green and pleasant land."

Mr Afzal estimates that there are 10,000 forced marriages in Britain every year, and said a measure of multicultural sensitivity was likely part of the problem.

"Forced marriage is the earthquake and what's followed is a tsunami of domestic abuse, sexual abuse, child protection issues, suicide and murder.

"If we can tackle forced marriage then we can prevent all these other things from happening."

Panorama: Britain's Crimes of Honour, BBC One, Monday 19 March at 20:30 GMT and then available in the UK on the BBC iPlayer.

[Dr The Singh]

BBC

'Honour code' supported by young Asians, poll says

Two-thirds of young British Asians agree that families should live according to the concept of "honour", a poll for BBC Panorama suggests.

Of 500 young Asians questioned, 18% also felt that certain behaviour by women that could affect her family's honour justified physical punishment.

These included disobeying their father, and wanting to leave an exisiting or prearranged marriage.

The results come as women's groups call for action to stop "honour" crimes.

The poll, conducted for the BBC by ComRes, interviewed young Asians living in Britain between the ages of 16 and 34.

Asked if they agreed that families should live according to "honour", 69% agreed, a figure that rose to 75% among young men, compared with 63% of young women.

Root cause

They were also asked if they felt there was ever a justification for so-called "honour killings". Only 3% said that it could be justified.

However, when divided by sex, 6% of young Asian men said that honour killings could be justified, compared with just 1% of Asian women surveyed.

Experts interviewed by the programme argue that the root cause of "honour" crime lies in forced marriage.

Jasvinder Sanghera, a campaigner on behalf of Asian women, fled her parents' home after they attempted to force her into an arranged marriage when she was just 14.

She said it was time for Britain's Asian community leaders to speak out about the honour code, also known as "Izzat" in Urdu.

"I've yet to see community leaders, religious leaders, politicians, Asian councillors give real leadership on this. They don't because they know it makes them unpopular."

Ms Sanghera said the reluctance of community figures to speak out was "extremely irresponsible, it's morally wrong and it's morally blind".

A survey of police forces by the Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organisation (IKWRO) found there were 2,823 incidences of honour crimes a year, or almost eight a day. But those figures are considered a vast underestimate given that 13 of 52 police forces did not respond to the charity's request for a breakdown in November 2011.

Nazir Afzal of the Crown Prosecution Service said the degree of honour crime in Britain - including murders meant to preserve a family's "honour" within their own community - was unknown.

"We don't know the true figure of honour killings. It's anything between 10 and 12 a year in this country. I don't know how many other unmarked graves there are in this country in our green and pleasant land."

Mr Afzal estimates that there are 10,000 forced marriages in Britain every year, and said a measure of multicultural sensitivity was likely part of the problem.

"Forced marriage is the earthquake and what's followed is a tsunami of domestic abuse, sexual abuse, child protection issues, suicide and murder.

"If we can tackle forced marriage then we can prevent all these other things from happening."

Panorama: Britain's Crimes of Honour, BBC One, Monday 19 March at 20:30 GMT and then available in the UK on the BBC iPlayer.

WTF is an Asian??? Chinese, Mongolian, Sri Lankan, Burmese................... Pointless survey, Asia has over 300 languages, several hundred cultures etc.

I hate the term Asian and I hate the term Indian in relation to my culture, my roots etc!!!

Anybody that thinks hitting women is right, deserves a good beating, and after the beating they should as per there beliefs accept it as the norm.

[Reynard Bleu]

WTF is an Asian??? Chinese, Mongolian, Sri Lankan, Burmese................... Pointless survey, Asia has over 300 languages, several hundred cultures etc.

I hate the term Asian and I hate the term Indian in relation to my culture, my roots etc!!!

Anybody that thinks hitting women is right, deserves a good beating, and after the beating they should as per there beliefs accept it as the norm.

On the porn channels Asian seems to mean Oriental?

[Thracian]

_{The significant thing about the "honour" vote is that far more men than women were in favour and, doubtless, again, as a point of maintaining control. It would also be interesting to know if the women were with their menfolk at the time because I'm not even sure the number of women against is either higher than stated or would be if they felt they wouldn't be being disloyal to vote if they opposed their husband's view..}

_{Although not even viewed as crimes marital rape and/or abuse is a not insignificant source of complaint among some Muslim women and there are considerable efforts being made to improve the safety of women in Muslem society.}

_{Again, that may happen in some places due to the strength of the female vote although proving allegations in places with a male dominated judiciary will never be easy whoever passes judgement and it may be a long time before Muslim women feel brave enough or safe enough to speak out.}

_{Maybe this random link gives some indication of the problems and attitudes that need to be overcome in the eyes of reformists: http://islamtodayoregon.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/christians-in-lebanon-say-marital-rape.html}

_.

[Daggers]