Alabama, Pakistan...religion isn't the problem; it's the intellectual infidels behind them
This is what happens when a decent idea- make the world a better, safer, and more peaceful place- is taken to ridiculous extremes for ridiculous reasons
This is a story of thoughtless automatons who put the “fun” in “fundamentalist.” And though I usually refer to Christofascists in that manner, in this case, I’m going to train my focus on Islamofascists, many of whom are infinitely more intolerant and inflexible than their Christian counterparts could ever dream of being.
Yes, this is a story of religious devotion so sick, twisted, and utterly without rational thought that it gives mob rule a bad name.
The story begins on an otherwise uneventful Sunday afternoon in Lahore, Pakistan.
An angry mob in Pakistan accused a woman who wore a dress adorned with Arabic calligraphy of blasphemy, after mistaking them for Quran verses.
She was saved by police who escorted her to safety after hundreds gathered. She later gave a public apology.
The dress has the word "Halwa" printed in Arabic letters on it, meaning beautiful in Arabic.
Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan. Some people have been lynched even before their cases go on trial.
Police told the BBC they first received a call at about 13:10 local (08:10 GMT) on Sunday that a crowd had gathered around a woman at a restaurant in Lahore, the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab.
Of course, you and I might look at the dress (pictured above) and wonder what the fuss was about. And how could “beautiful” in Arabic script printed on the dress be interpreted as anything close to blasphemous? Especially when blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan?
Wait, you’re telling me that a woman could be sentenced to death for wearing a dress?
Around 300 people had crowded outside the restaurant by the time they arrived, said Assistant Superintendent Syeda Shehrbano.
Videos of the scene circulated on social media, with one showing a woman, visibly scared, sitting in the far corner of the restaurant, shielding her face with her hand.
In another, she is surrounded by officers, who had formed the only barrier between her and a growing crowd who were shouting for her to remove the shirt. In some videos, people can be heard chanting that those who blaspheme must be beheaded.
Footage shared on social media shows Ms Shehrbano standing at the restaurant's entrance, trying to restore order to an increasingly charged crowd.
Yes, some people were seriously chanting that the unnamed woman in the “Halwa” dress must be beheaded. And what, precisely, was her crime? What heinous act did she deserve to die for?
You’ll have to excuse me for weighing in with the opinion that this episode represents everything wrong with religion. Nothing about the act of wearing a dress, no matter what was on the dress or how it was being worn, warrants the wearer being beheaded for blasphemy.
And, if not for the police officers who bravely placed themselves between the woman and the enraged crowd, the mob may have taken matters into their own hands.
Because she was wearing a dress with “beautiful” on it in Arabic script…wow, that’s like one step below raping a child, no? How DARE she??
WTF is wrong with these people? Were so many of them illiterate and thus willing to believe what those who could read told them about what was written on the dress? How is the Arabic word for “beautiful” blasphemous? Or was it just about the mob reacting and not bothering to determine the facts?
"Nobody actually knew what was written on the shirt," she said. "The major feat was to try to get that woman out of the area in order to ensure that she is safe."
Ms Shehrbano adds that she had to "negotiate" with the crowd.
"We told them we would take the woman with us, her actions are going to be taken into account and we're going to hold her responsible for whatever crime committed as per the law of the land."
Even though there was no actual “crime” committed by the woman, Ms. Shehrbano had to do something to negotiate her way out of the situation while keeping the woman safe.
Thankfully, Ms. Shehrbano’s bravery and quick thinking were able to get the woman to safety, but not with some very hard-line Islamofascists raising all sorts of Hell over nothing of consequence.
The footage later showed Ms Shehrbano putting her arm around the woman, now covered by a black robe and a headscarf, and pushing through the crowd. Other police officers formed a chain with their arms to clear their path as people in the crowd pushed against them.
Ms Shehrbano said supporters of the hardline Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) party were among those in the crowd.
The woman was brought into a police station, where several religious scholars confirmed that the text on her dress was Arabic calligraphy, not verses from the Quran.
The police then asked the scholars to record a video stating their findings and that the woman was innocent.
"I didn't have any such intention, it happened by mistake. Still I apologise for all that happened, and I'll make sure it never happens again," she said, adding that she is a devout Muslim and would never commit blasphemy.
Authorities said she was in Lahore to do some shopping, and has since left the city.
Thankfully, at least someone possessing a penis and some common sense was found:
Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi, a former adviser to the prime minister on religious affairs said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the men in the crowd, rather than the woman, should have been the ones to apologise.
As is true with Christianity, my problem is not with the religion itself. While my knowledge of and experience with Islam are much thinner than with Christianity, what I know of Islam is that it’s a decent enough faith tradition. The Qu’ran contains lessons that largely make sense and, if adopted, might well improve one’s life. That, of course, can probably be said for most faith traditions.
The problem, as is usually the case, is with the mental and moral midgets who cannot think critically and discern right from wrong. They live in a rigid black-and-white world and cannot function in shades of grey. So it’s not just “good vs. bad,” it becomes “praise vs. blasphemy,” which leads to determining whether someone is worthy of living or if they should die for their “crime” against the faith.
First, NO ONE should die for a perceived “offense” against an idea. “Blasphemy” is nothing more than questioning a concept that has widespread acceptance. When people think for themselves and ask questions, when they think outside the box, that often frightens those less intellectually capable. Rather than admit they can’t understand an argument, those less intellectually and theologically agile may condemn someone whose only “offense” is asking questions.
Second, when a religion- an idea- becomes something worth killing for, it ceases to be worthwhile. It becomes a vehicle for tyranny and intolerance, which is something no religion should espouse in any shape, manner, or form.
Third, Mr. Ashrafi was correct. The men in the crowd should be the ones apologizing for their homicidal misogyny and hyper-religious intolerance. Nothing about their behavior speaks to a faith tradition with any redeeming value.
A child is not a Christian child, not a Muslim child, but a child of Christian parents or a child of Muslim parents. This latter nomenclature, by the way, would be an excellent piece of consciousness-raising for the children themselves. A child who is told she is a 'child of Muslim parents' will immediately realize that religion is something for her to choose -or reject- when she becomes old enough to do so.
Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion
A child is not born with innate hatred. Animus and animosity toward other people must be learned. Left to their own devices, children accept and love…at least until adults get involved and pass along their prejudices and hatreds.
Too often, the bitterness and contempt adults teach their children are wrapped in religious terms. Kids grow up learning that their God is the One, True, and ONLY Faith and that their God is the only true deity; all others are false idols. Yes, out of the more than 3000 religions in this world, they were part of the Lucky Sperm Club, fortunate enough to be born into the only REAL faith on the face of the planet.
#BLESSED
Of course, being a Christian is an accident of birth. If you grew up in Pigeon Fart, Alabama, you prayed to Jesus. If you grew up in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, you prayed to Allah. If you were stranded on an abandoned island in the South Pacific, you prayed to Wilson.
The religion you profess is entirely dependent on where you were born. And wherever you grew up, you learned that your God is the One, True, and ONLY God. There are no questions, no doubt, and you might even be willing to die for your faith. But what has ever appeared to you providing concrete proof you follow the ONLY true God?
You have none because there is none. God is an idea, which means He/She exists only in the minds of believers. And yet millions have long been willing to die for such an idea because more people have died in the name of religion throughout human history than anything else.
Remind me again why I’m not better off being good without God….
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Your "WTF is wrong with these people?" is a case of a truer question never having been asked. The level of ignorance, intolerance, and gullible-ness are massive in this story. It reminds me of the Satanic Cult hysteria of the 1980's. Because the US is developed and stable no one was lynched in the streets. But lives were needlessly and cruelly ruined by utterly baseless allegations. Still, at least until or it we go authoritarian, we are so fortunate that our form of religious extremism doesn't match that of Islamic nations.