Independent: Christian fundies would lop heads if given a chance

Pity. An otherwise decent article talking about the plight of ex-muslims (i.e. apostates) ruined by three sentences of weapons grade crazy. (the last paragraph in the section I'm quoting)

...She soon realised she was an atheist, a view reinforced by her reading of Charles Darwin. When she went to university, the Islamists began to force a theocracy on the Iranian people. She refused to accept the mass sackings of women and the enforced veiling. She was beaten for speaking out, and had to go into hiding. One day, her husband and four of their friends were taken away. Nine months later, in another hiding place, she read that they had been executed.

She decided to seek refuge in Austria, because she read in a book that women's life expectancy there was higher than men's, "and I thought – that's my kind of country!" But she was amazed to find that even in Europe, Islamist groups were being treated as the respected spokesmen for all Muslims by politicians and journalists. Even here, the extreme wing threatened her with death for forming the International Committee Against Stoning to save women, and the police did little. On her visit to Britain, they offered her no protection at all.

If Christian fundamentalists were doing this – as they used to, and would like to again – none of us would hesitate in erupting in rage. But because Islamic fundamentalists are doing it, we feel awkward, and fall silent. The difference is the colour of their skin. There's a word for this: racism...

none of us would hesitate in erupting in rage

Seriously, what Christian sect (that's not some sort of defacto cult with only the most tenuous superficial connections to actual Christianity) currently advocates violence against those who leave the fold? I can't think of any. Lets face it - the Spanish Inquisition was quite a while ago and I don't know of any churches that got an iron maiden or the rack tucked away in the parsonage attic just waiting for the day when airing out such things in public once in a while comes back into vogue.

Simply put - this guy Johann Hari is a fucking loon.

The H/T chain - Dan, Tim & Damian then Google got me to the original Independent article.

posted by Purp at 11:54 AM

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