Recently I was in Philadelphia PA and visited the site where the Liberty Bell is and the Hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed.
It’s a very old place and yet very young. Thinking this all over and thinking about world events the reality dawned on me. We are a very young country.
MY FATHER, was born in 1909. There were many people alive when he was born who were contemporaries of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, signers of the declaration and framers of the constitution. They died in 1826 on July 4th.
That in the scope of human time is a blink. Yet, here we are, without a doubt the greatest country in the world that has ever existed, a dreamchild of men of a few years ago.
So as we think of things happening in Iran, Iraq, Kurdistan, or anywhere else and the time they have been in motion we are a bright burning but not yet long lasting flame.
What we have is precious; preserve it with all your might.
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Thursday, August 10, 2006
End of World Update
50 years ago I would have had to worn a sandwich board and walked up and down the street.
I just blog now.
According to a British professor Iran is going to bomb Israel off the map on August 22. That's the date the President nutcase of Iran said he would answer the question about nuclear weapons in Iran. It's also a holy date in Islam.
So, read the article. Run up your credit cards. Buy that big screen plasma TV and order the rapid delivery option. You can watch the end of the world from your easy chair. 12 shopping days left till the end of the world.
Have a nice day.
I just blog now.
According to a British professor Iran is going to bomb Israel off the map on August 22. That's the date the President nutcase of Iran said he would answer the question about nuclear weapons in Iran. It's also a holy date in Islam.
So, read the article. Run up your credit cards. Buy that big screen plasma TV and order the rapid delivery option. You can watch the end of the world from your easy chair. 12 shopping days left till the end of the world.
Have a nice day.
Understanding Radical Islam
Takes one to know one they say. I’ll go with that.
I am a radical Christian. I believe the world would be a much better place if everyone were like me. I believe the world is filled with evil bad immoral people. I wish others would see the light. I wish they would stop engaging in behavior that hurts themselves and others.
I do all I am able to do within my earthly power to convince all people at all times that being a Christian is a better way to live. I have learned that arguing the fine points of theology with people that have no comprehension of the Bible (even if they have read it) is a hopeless quest.
So, I live my life, out in the open, trying to attract people to my way of thinking.
If I had my way I would see to it that prayer would be in schools, Jesus worshipped in the public square and our flag symbolically over struck with the Cross of Christ announcing to the world that to be an American is to be a Christian. I would have that flag raised above the White House, the Capital Building and every public building in the land.
I would want the 10 commandments as the law of the land and all laws must rise out of them. The Bible would be taught in schools as part of the curricula. I wish all that could happen.
I know it’s not. Wishing and hoping doesn’t make it so. I’m not going to bomb, march, attack, car bomb, blow up airplanes, or do anything of the type. I know we have laws about these things and although I don’t agree with them all I understand and I live in this country carrying a passport of the Kingdom of God. I’m in that way a resident alien. My allegiance is to Jesus first; To my country second.
I think everyone should live like this.
Now, if you transpose all of what I just said to the Islamic religion and then allow for the implementation of the dream of an Islamic World with people willing to kill themselves and others for the cause because of some false hope of heaven you have a better understanding of the mentality of the Islamic radical fundamentalist.
He believes of Islam:
The difference is there are very few recorded cases of Christians blowing themselves or anyone else up. They are not hanging little girls. They are not trying to blow up airplanes. They are not waging war on America, Israel, the UK, or Spain.
The Islamic Fundamentalist is led by Clerics who indoctrinate them with a belief that if they devote themselves to bringing about this new world domination of Islam somehow the world will be so much better a place that their children and grandchildren will live under a global ordered pure society without sin, without evil, and that Sharia law will be the law of the land. It will be safe and they will rule and reign as Caliphs.
So they fight and die for this utopia in the absolute belief they are winning. These nuts who tried to blow up airplanes in Britain today wear Armani Suits, work in the financial district, were born and raised in Britain, speak with a British accent, and at night go home, put on their Muslim outfits, face Mecca and pray for the day when the whole world by conversion or at the point of the gun and bomb will be just like them. They are not assimilated into society.
They are in America too. The men just discovered from Detroit area with $11,000 for support of Hezbollah are among us. Not immigrants, unassimilated Muslims.
They will be hard to get rid of. We must not let them win. They will kill or convert us all.
The worst is the left doesn’t get it. They think this is some equivalent of Christianity. We fundamentalist radicals are all the same. That lukewarm passive paganism is the answer. They don’t understand that people like those who elected Lamont in Connecticut are useful idiots for the disciples of world domination that is ISLAM. Being against the fight against radical Islam is unpatriotic at least and treasonous at worst.
I know what it means to be a radical fundamentalist. I understand them. They are very dangerous. They will settle for nothing less than killing or converting you. They are intent on taking over the whole world.
And the left just puts their head in a 5 gallon bucket and goes la la la la la la la la in the hopes it will all go away.
It’s not going away. We either face them here or over there. You have zero choice in the matter.
I am a radical Christian. I believe the world would be a much better place if everyone were like me. I believe the world is filled with evil bad immoral people. I wish others would see the light. I wish they would stop engaging in behavior that hurts themselves and others.
I do all I am able to do within my earthly power to convince all people at all times that being a Christian is a better way to live. I have learned that arguing the fine points of theology with people that have no comprehension of the Bible (even if they have read it) is a hopeless quest.
So, I live my life, out in the open, trying to attract people to my way of thinking.
If I had my way I would see to it that prayer would be in schools, Jesus worshipped in the public square and our flag symbolically over struck with the Cross of Christ announcing to the world that to be an American is to be a Christian. I would have that flag raised above the White House, the Capital Building and every public building in the land.
I would want the 10 commandments as the law of the land and all laws must rise out of them. The Bible would be taught in schools as part of the curricula. I wish all that could happen.
I know it’s not. Wishing and hoping doesn’t make it so. I’m not going to bomb, march, attack, car bomb, blow up airplanes, or do anything of the type. I know we have laws about these things and although I don’t agree with them all I understand and I live in this country carrying a passport of the Kingdom of God. I’m in that way a resident alien. My allegiance is to Jesus first; To my country second.
I think everyone should live like this.
Now, if you transpose all of what I just said to the Islamic religion and then allow for the implementation of the dream of an Islamic World with people willing to kill themselves and others for the cause because of some false hope of heaven you have a better understanding of the mentality of the Islamic radical fundamentalist.
He believes of Islam:
- His laws should be the law of the land
- His flag should fly above #10 Downing Street and the White House
- That his Holy Book should be taught in Schools
- That time should be set-aside for Prayer in the Public Forum
- Everyone who is not a Muslim should convert or die (My belief is they will die, twice, once naturally, once eternally, the second death, I just don’t think they should or have to)
- His Allegiance is to no flag, no country, he is a soldier of Allah
- He believes the west is immoral, decadent and unworthy of living
- He will not argue the Koran, you are ignorant if you disagree and should be killed.
- He believes the Jews are a key part of this whole issue
The difference is there are very few recorded cases of Christians blowing themselves or anyone else up. They are not hanging little girls. They are not trying to blow up airplanes. They are not waging war on America, Israel, the UK, or Spain.
The Islamic Fundamentalist is led by Clerics who indoctrinate them with a belief that if they devote themselves to bringing about this new world domination of Islam somehow the world will be so much better a place that their children and grandchildren will live under a global ordered pure society without sin, without evil, and that Sharia law will be the law of the land. It will be safe and they will rule and reign as Caliphs.
So they fight and die for this utopia in the absolute belief they are winning. These nuts who tried to blow up airplanes in Britain today wear Armani Suits, work in the financial district, were born and raised in Britain, speak with a British accent, and at night go home, put on their Muslim outfits, face Mecca and pray for the day when the whole world by conversion or at the point of the gun and bomb will be just like them. They are not assimilated into society.
They are in America too. The men just discovered from Detroit area with $11,000 for support of Hezbollah are among us. Not immigrants, unassimilated Muslims.
They will be hard to get rid of. We must not let them win. They will kill or convert us all.
The worst is the left doesn’t get it. They think this is some equivalent of Christianity. We fundamentalist radicals are all the same. That lukewarm passive paganism is the answer. They don’t understand that people like those who elected Lamont in Connecticut are useful idiots for the disciples of world domination that is ISLAM. Being against the fight against radical Islam is unpatriotic at least and treasonous at worst.
I know what it means to be a radical fundamentalist. I understand them. They are very dangerous. They will settle for nothing less than killing or converting you. They are intent on taking over the whole world.
And the left just puts their head in a 5 gallon bucket and goes la la la la la la la la in the hopes it will all go away.
It’s not going away. We either face them here or over there. You have zero choice in the matter.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
New Nazis
As a Christian Conservative I often am lambasted for what I believe.
It’s like the pagan left (not all are pagan) wants to rewrite the Bible to take out all the really hard parts about sin, Jesus and stuff.
Well, they are too late. Adolph Hitler beat them to it 65 years ago. He rewrote the bible and specifically rewrote the 10 commandments. He actually ended up with 12. You can read the whole thing here.
Here are der Fuehrer’s 12 commandments from the Nazi Bible:
Now, if you look at these they all except numbers 8, 9 & 11 seem pretty harmless. Even a little familiar. I mean think of some of the left wing platitudes you see written. They sort of skirt sin and are all about taking care of yourself and caring for others. Not much about loving and serving God. God in Hitler’s context was pretty much HIM.
A lefty will immediately quote "let he who is without sin ----Cast the first stone". They have lots of weak badly interpreted bible verses that means for the most part opposite of what they are saying.
Is Hitler’s spirit alive and well in the Left Wing of our country?
Just asking.
It’s like the pagan left (not all are pagan) wants to rewrite the Bible to take out all the really hard parts about sin, Jesus and stuff.
Well, they are too late. Adolph Hitler beat them to it 65 years ago. He rewrote the bible and specifically rewrote the 10 commandments. He actually ended up with 12. You can read the whole thing here.
Here are der Fuehrer’s 12 commandments from the Nazi Bible:
- Honour God and believe in him wholeheartedly.
- Seek out the peace of God.
- Avoid all hypocrisy.
- Holy is your health and life!
- Holy is your wellbeing and honour!
- Holy is your truth and fidelity!
- Honour your father and mother – your children are your aid and your example.
- Keep the blood pure and your honour holy!
- Maintain and multiply the heritage of your forefathers.
- Always be ready to help and to forgive.
- Honour your Fuehrer and master!
- Joyously serve the people with work and sacrifice.
Now, if you look at these they all except numbers 8, 9 & 11 seem pretty harmless. Even a little familiar. I mean think of some of the left wing platitudes you see written. They sort of skirt sin and are all about taking care of yourself and caring for others. Not much about loving and serving God. God in Hitler’s context was pretty much HIM.
A lefty will immediately quote "let he who is without sin ----Cast the first stone". They have lots of weak badly interpreted bible verses that means for the most part opposite of what they are saying.
Is Hitler’s spirit alive and well in the Left Wing of our country?
Just asking.
Why I have SO MANY Left Wing Friends
This is a conundrum. I certainly have a lot of right wing people in my life, but they are of the ilk to say, “Yep, you are so right Gene, Absolutely”. I stole that, attribution here. You'll understand in a minute.
That’s fun for a while. But soon I look forward to some confrontation and argument. You remember the Monty Python skit, Eric Idle comes to John Cleese’s office and pays for an argument. Cleese just counters what he says. No arguments whatsoever. Idle argues that the arguments he paid for are not arguments. Hilarity ensues. Well that’s what’s missing in the righty on righty discussions I have. We all hate liberals. Commies. Whackos. Etc. You get the drift. 5 minutes of that and we’re done.
Sometimes when I have engaged controversy with online acquaintances that I might have otherwise agreed with 100% with a slightly differing opinion I am rewarded with anger, disdain or avoidance. I am suspect for having an open mind or a non party line opinion. Like my view on Wal-Mart. Or some of my “Religious” views. I am not all that orthodox in some areas. That appears to be a no no with some of my conservative brethren.
So, I have befriended several lefty people. I genuinely like them. Some I have never met. I just enjoy the give and take of intellectual intercourse. (That is the proper English use of that term for those of you that are shocked). Some left wing friends are less intellectual than others.
One liberal man who I have never met is a favorite of mine. Reality Based Bob. RBB. He comments often on Say Anything. He is always witty and able to execute an argument better than most anyone. I said to him the other day he would be someone who I think I would have enjoyed getting to know better. But he lives somewhere in California and I live in the great state of Illinois. I have encouraged him to start blogging or becoming a submitter to Say Anything.
RBB is as polar opposite to me in political and spiritual thinking as anyone could be. But he is great fun, clever and whenever I see his gravataar I always read his comments.
Today he commented on this blog. He said:
Comments:
What’s going on with you Gene…all these manly man posts?
Is that durn wife makin ya wear matching sweaters again?
Oh that just burns me up too.
# posted by RBB : 6:26 PM
The answer is I used this in a men’s group meeting in Church last Saturday as an opening. I wrote it all myself and was highly amused by it. It was meant to lighten up the open and set the tone. I don’t thing anyone other than RBB ever actually TOOK the test. I just got to use my joke about taking someone bear hunting and if they got one, next time I would give them a weapon. But, RBB, with a 47 you needs to become a pirate. Arrgh!
IF the truth were known, I have a rich internal life. I tell myself a joke and become my own best audience. And I enjoy what I write. I blog for ME. It’s a journal of sorts of what I’m thinking and feeling and reacting to in my life. Read my blog and you know me. For better or worse.
RBB and all my other liberal friends, now you know why I like you and hope you don’t go away. Oh, that doesn’t mean I won’t try hard to bring you back from the precipice of destruction and away from the dark side. Then you’ll become conservative and then I’ll have to find other liberal friends.
Nice to know you have a purpose in life isn’t it.
That’s fun for a while. But soon I look forward to some confrontation and argument. You remember the Monty Python skit, Eric Idle comes to John Cleese’s office and pays for an argument. Cleese just counters what he says. No arguments whatsoever. Idle argues that the arguments he paid for are not arguments. Hilarity ensues. Well that’s what’s missing in the righty on righty discussions I have. We all hate liberals. Commies. Whackos. Etc. You get the drift. 5 minutes of that and we’re done.
Sometimes when I have engaged controversy with online acquaintances that I might have otherwise agreed with 100% with a slightly differing opinion I am rewarded with anger, disdain or avoidance. I am suspect for having an open mind or a non party line opinion. Like my view on Wal-Mart. Or some of my “Religious” views. I am not all that orthodox in some areas. That appears to be a no no with some of my conservative brethren.
So, I have befriended several lefty people. I genuinely like them. Some I have never met. I just enjoy the give and take of intellectual intercourse. (That is the proper English use of that term for those of you that are shocked). Some left wing friends are less intellectual than others.
One liberal man who I have never met is a favorite of mine. Reality Based Bob. RBB. He comments often on Say Anything. He is always witty and able to execute an argument better than most anyone. I said to him the other day he would be someone who I think I would have enjoyed getting to know better. But he lives somewhere in California and I live in the great state of Illinois. I have encouraged him to start blogging or becoming a submitter to Say Anything.
RBB is as polar opposite to me in political and spiritual thinking as anyone could be. But he is great fun, clever and whenever I see his gravataar I always read his comments.
Today he commented on this blog. He said:
Comments:
What’s going on with you Gene…all these manly man posts?
Is that durn wife makin ya wear matching sweaters again?
Oh that just burns me up too.
# posted by RBB : 6:26 PM
The answer is I used this in a men’s group meeting in Church last Saturday as an opening. I wrote it all myself and was highly amused by it. It was meant to lighten up the open and set the tone. I don’t thing anyone other than RBB ever actually TOOK the test. I just got to use my joke about taking someone bear hunting and if they got one, next time I would give them a weapon. But, RBB, with a 47 you needs to become a pirate. Arrgh!
IF the truth were known, I have a rich internal life. I tell myself a joke and become my own best audience. And I enjoy what I write. I blog for ME. It’s a journal of sorts of what I’m thinking and feeling and reacting to in my life. Read my blog and you know me. For better or worse.
RBB and all my other liberal friends, now you know why I like you and hope you don’t go away. Oh, that doesn’t mean I won’t try hard to bring you back from the precipice of destruction and away from the dark side. Then you’ll become conservative and then I’ll have to find other liberal friends.
Nice to know you have a purpose in life isn’t it.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Sharia Law Hangs Teenage Girl for Being Raped
Just in case some of you who read this thinks that the battle against Islamic Fascism is not worth the battle, read this story. Then ask yourself this question, when the Mullahs come for you will you be ready to submit to Mullah Law. Or your Children or your Grandchildren.
This Global War on Terrorism no matter if you like it or not, no matter if you support it or not, no matter if you support Israel or not, this is about you and yours. And I thank God that George Bush is willing to take the slings and arrows to save you're sorry behind if you don't support him in this.
This is evil personified and we must crush and kill them. You must not sanction this by hiding under the covers. The liberal treasonous traitors and cowards in the media aren't about Cut and Run any more. They aren't about planned withdrawal; they are now in full run and hide from the bad guy mode.
Cowards.
Well, I for one want none of this evil on our shores, and I'm not crazy about it over there either.
Iran: Hanged from a crane aged 16
Sunday, 23 July 2006
EXCLUSIVE JUSTICE IRAN STYLE: SICK GIRL EXECUTED BY JUDGE SHE DEFIED
Her crime? She had sex with an unmarried man
By Susie Boniface
The Sunday Mirror - It was exactly 6am and the start of another blisteringly hot summer day when 16-year-old Atefeh Rajabi was dragged from her prison cell and taken to be executed.
Every step of the way the troubled teenager plagued by mental problems shouted "repentance, repentance" as the militiamen marched her to the town's Railway Square.
The Iranian judge who had sentenced Atefeh to death was left unmoved as he personally put the noose around her neck (look at the link with theses pictures to get a flavor for what this is) and signalled to the crane driver.
Kicking and screaming, Atefeh was left dangling for 45 minutes from the arm of the crane as the crowd sobbed and - under their breath - damned the mullahs.
Atefeh's crime? Offending public morality. She was found guilty of "acts incompatible with chastity" by having sex with an unmarried man, even though friends say Atefeh was in such a fragile mental state that she wasn't in a position to say no.
But Judge Haji Rezaii was determined she should hang, regardless of the rules of international law which say only adults over 18 can be executed, and that the courts have a duty to children and the mentally ill.
The brutal end to Atefeh's short life has shone a new light on Iran's Shariah law, where adultery, theft and rape all carry the same punishment - death. Officially around 100 people - some just children like Atefeh - are executed each year. But human rights groups say the true figure could be much higher in a country where only half of the women can read, only one in 10 have a job and two-thirds are beaten in their homes.
Life was never easy for Atefeh, who was brought up in the industrial town of Neka, 250 miles from Tehran and close to the Caspian Sea. Her mother died when she was a child and her father Ghasseem, a heroin addict, left her grandparents to bring her up. She suffered from bi-polar disorder, which led to severe mood swings from hyperactivity to depression. Worried parents told their children to stay away from her - something many regret now. "Perhaps we should have helped her instead," said Hamid. "I think the death of her mother had a devastating effect. Before that, she was a normal girl. Her mother was everything to her. After she died, there was no one to look after her."
Mina, a childhood friend, said Atefeh was abused by a close relative. "She never dared talk about it with an adult," said Mina. "If she had told her teacher they'd have called her a whore. Tell the police? They lock you up and rape you." Atefeh first appeared in court, accused of having sex with an unmarried man at 14. Over the next two years she was accused of the same crime with different men.
They denied it and were sentenced to the lash and then released. But Atefeh pleaded guilty and each time received 100 lashes and a prison term. Mina said: "Atefeh sometimes talked about what these 'moral' Islamic policemen did to her while she was in jail. She still had nightmares about that. Atefeh said her mood swings made it easy for men to take advantage of her, and that most of her lovers were in the security force."
Two of them were members of the anti-vice militia. They encouraged other men to sign statements saying Atefeh had engaged in vice, and even claimed she had AIDS.
It was when Atefeh appeared before Judge Rezaii for a fourth time that she lost her temper - and also her life. In a rage she tore off her hi jab - a headscarf - and told the judge she had been raped and it was his duty to punish her tormentors, not their victim.
Rezaii told her she would hang for her "sharp tongue" and that he would put the noose around her neck himself. It became a personal crusade as he travelled to Tehran and convinced the Supreme Court to uphold his verdict.
Two petitions by her friends, saying she was mentally unwell, were ignored. Her father produced her birth certificate proving she was 16. Yet the judges "decreed" she was 22.
Atefeh also wrote to the Supreme Court: "There are medical documents that prove I have a weak nerve and soul. In some minutes of the day and night I lose my sanity. In a society where an insane person can be serially raped it is no wonder that a person like me is the victim of such an ugly act."
The day before she died she wrote again, saying: "Repentance, repentance, repentance." In Iranian law anyone who shows remorse has an automatic stay of execution and a right to appeal, but she was ignored.
A local pharmacist watched Atefeh's execution on August 15, 2004. "She looked so young standing there," he said. "Rezaii must have felt a personal grudge against her. He put the rope around her neck himself. I looked around and everyone in the crowd was sobbing and damning the mullahs." The family's lawyer has now filed a suit of wrongful execution against the judge and is preparing a murder case. Her life is also the subject of a secretly filmed documentary, Execution of a Teenage Girl, which will be screened on BBC2 on Thursday.
One of Atefeh's teachers said the authorities wanted to make an example of her: "She wouldn't take injustice from anyone, but the mullahs equate these qualities in a girl to prostitution and evil. They wanted to give all the girls and women a lesson."
Amnesty International UK director Kate Allen said: "The killing of Atefeh is a catalogue of the most appalling human rights violations. The public hanging of a child, believed to be mentally incompetent, totally beggars belief. To hang a child flies in the face of all that is humane."
CRUELTY OF SHARIA LAW
PENALTIES imposed by Iran's religious mullahs include:
THEFT: Amputation of hands or feet for persistent offenders.
ADULTERY: Death by stoning.
UNMARRIED SEX: 100 lashes.
CONVERSION TO RELIGION OTHER THAN ISLAM: Death.
SODOMY: Death for adults, 74 lashes for consenting child.
LESBIANISM: 100 lashes, or on the fourth occasion death.
HOMOSEXUAL KISS: 60 lashes.
RUBBING ANOTHER MAN'S THIGHS OR BUTTOCKS: 99 lashes - on 4th occasion, death.
This Global War on Terrorism no matter if you like it or not, no matter if you support it or not, no matter if you support Israel or not, this is about you and yours. And I thank God that George Bush is willing to take the slings and arrows to save you're sorry behind if you don't support him in this.
This is evil personified and we must crush and kill them. You must not sanction this by hiding under the covers. The liberal treasonous traitors and cowards in the media aren't about Cut and Run any more. They aren't about planned withdrawal; they are now in full run and hide from the bad guy mode.
Cowards.
Well, I for one want none of this evil on our shores, and I'm not crazy about it over there either.
Iran: Hanged from a crane aged 16
Sunday, 23 July 2006
EXCLUSIVE JUSTICE IRAN STYLE: SICK GIRL EXECUTED BY JUDGE SHE DEFIED
Her crime? She had sex with an unmarried man
By Susie Boniface
The Sunday Mirror - It was exactly 6am and the start of another blisteringly hot summer day when 16-year-old Atefeh Rajabi was dragged from her prison cell and taken to be executed.
Every step of the way the troubled teenager plagued by mental problems shouted "repentance, repentance" as the militiamen marched her to the town's Railway Square.
The Iranian judge who had sentenced Atefeh to death was left unmoved as he personally put the noose around her neck (look at the link with theses pictures to get a flavor for what this is) and signalled to the crane driver.
Kicking and screaming, Atefeh was left dangling for 45 minutes from the arm of the crane as the crowd sobbed and - under their breath - damned the mullahs.
Atefeh's crime? Offending public morality. She was found guilty of "acts incompatible with chastity" by having sex with an unmarried man, even though friends say Atefeh was in such a fragile mental state that she wasn't in a position to say no.
But Judge Haji Rezaii was determined she should hang, regardless of the rules of international law which say only adults over 18 can be executed, and that the courts have a duty to children and the mentally ill.
The brutal end to Atefeh's short life has shone a new light on Iran's Shariah law, where adultery, theft and rape all carry the same punishment - death. Officially around 100 people - some just children like Atefeh - are executed each year. But human rights groups say the true figure could be much higher in a country where only half of the women can read, only one in 10 have a job and two-thirds are beaten in their homes.
Life was never easy for Atefeh, who was brought up in the industrial town of Neka, 250 miles from Tehran and close to the Caspian Sea. Her mother died when she was a child and her father Ghasseem, a heroin addict, left her grandparents to bring her up. She suffered from bi-polar disorder, which led to severe mood swings from hyperactivity to depression. Worried parents told their children to stay away from her - something many regret now. "Perhaps we should have helped her instead," said Hamid. "I think the death of her mother had a devastating effect. Before that, she was a normal girl. Her mother was everything to her. After she died, there was no one to look after her."
Mina, a childhood friend, said Atefeh was abused by a close relative. "She never dared talk about it with an adult," said Mina. "If she had told her teacher they'd have called her a whore. Tell the police? They lock you up and rape you." Atefeh first appeared in court, accused of having sex with an unmarried man at 14. Over the next two years she was accused of the same crime with different men.
They denied it and were sentenced to the lash and then released. But Atefeh pleaded guilty and each time received 100 lashes and a prison term. Mina said: "Atefeh sometimes talked about what these 'moral' Islamic policemen did to her while she was in jail. She still had nightmares about that. Atefeh said her mood swings made it easy for men to take advantage of her, and that most of her lovers were in the security force."
Two of them were members of the anti-vice militia. They encouraged other men to sign statements saying Atefeh had engaged in vice, and even claimed she had AIDS.
It was when Atefeh appeared before Judge Rezaii for a fourth time that she lost her temper - and also her life. In a rage she tore off her hi jab - a headscarf - and told the judge she had been raped and it was his duty to punish her tormentors, not their victim.
Rezaii told her she would hang for her "sharp tongue" and that he would put the noose around her neck himself. It became a personal crusade as he travelled to Tehran and convinced the Supreme Court to uphold his verdict.
Two petitions by her friends, saying she was mentally unwell, were ignored. Her father produced her birth certificate proving she was 16. Yet the judges "decreed" she was 22.
Atefeh also wrote to the Supreme Court: "There are medical documents that prove I have a weak nerve and soul. In some minutes of the day and night I lose my sanity. In a society where an insane person can be serially raped it is no wonder that a person like me is the victim of such an ugly act."
The day before she died she wrote again, saying: "Repentance, repentance, repentance." In Iranian law anyone who shows remorse has an automatic stay of execution and a right to appeal, but she was ignored.
A local pharmacist watched Atefeh's execution on August 15, 2004. "She looked so young standing there," he said. "Rezaii must have felt a personal grudge against her. He put the rope around her neck himself. I looked around and everyone in the crowd was sobbing and damning the mullahs." The family's lawyer has now filed a suit of wrongful execution against the judge and is preparing a murder case. Her life is also the subject of a secretly filmed documentary, Execution of a Teenage Girl, which will be screened on BBC2 on Thursday.
One of Atefeh's teachers said the authorities wanted to make an example of her: "She wouldn't take injustice from anyone, but the mullahs equate these qualities in a girl to prostitution and evil. They wanted to give all the girls and women a lesson."
Amnesty International UK director Kate Allen said: "The killing of Atefeh is a catalogue of the most appalling human rights violations. The public hanging of a child, believed to be mentally incompetent, totally beggars belief. To hang a child flies in the face of all that is humane."
CRUELTY OF SHARIA LAW
PENALTIES imposed by Iran's religious mullahs include:
THEFT: Amputation of hands or feet for persistent offenders.
ADULTERY: Death by stoning.
UNMARRIED SEX: 100 lashes.
CONVERSION TO RELIGION OTHER THAN ISLAM: Death.
SODOMY: Death for adults, 74 lashes for consenting child.
LESBIANISM: 100 lashes, or on the fourth occasion death.
HOMOSEXUAL KISS: 60 lashes.
RUBBING ANOTHER MAN'S THIGHS OR BUTTOCKS: 99 lashes - on 4th occasion, death.
Menaissance Evaluation
How much are you like John Wayne, Pilgrim?
1=not at all 2=seldom 3=occasionally 4=mostly 5=always
____ Stoic (If I get shot, I just wrap a kerchief around the wound, dig the bullet out with my knife and remove it with my teeth.) I never complain.
____ Self Respecting (I know who I am and if you don’t like it, well, pardner, that’s tough)
____ Decisive (I know what to do, when and how quickly to act. Never taken by surprise)
____ Assertive (I don’t go pickin fights but if you punch me, well, you better duck)
____ Doesn’t wear heart on his Sleeve (I might be ahurt’n but you’ll never know)
____ Able to react to dynamic situations, critical people, ornery sheriffs, and rapid change all without taking offense.
____ Dutiful to the Mrs. and to the family. (a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do)
____ Provides and protects those he loves (You come after my wife or kids, I got a gun and I know how to use it)
____ Responsible (If he gives his word you can count on him to do what he said)
____ Moral (He knows the scout law and although there were no boy scouts then, he lives by it)
God made nothing in vain, he made you a man, he made her a woman. “Male and Female made he them”. Let’s not get all confused by being girly men.
Score 10 or less. You shouldn’t be in this meeting, the slumber party is next week.
11-20 Good start, let me take you bear hunting, and if you kill one, next time I’ll give you a weapon.
21-30 You are sorta manly but you need to get out of the suburbs a bit more. Eat more meat.
31-40 You are a guy’s, guy, not quite a man’s man yet. But, there’s hope. Lay off the quiche.
41-50 Harrrrr, a parrot on the shoulder and a peg leg and we’re off to sea.
Let’s Celebrate Manliness:
Restraint, courage, stoicism, rational thinking, nutty professors working on inventions in their garages, guitars, geeks, football, sweating in a tee shirt, baseball, and loving it most when women are women.
1=not at all 2=seldom 3=occasionally 4=mostly 5=always
____ Stoic (If I get shot, I just wrap a kerchief around the wound, dig the bullet out with my knife and remove it with my teeth.) I never complain.
____ Self Respecting (I know who I am and if you don’t like it, well, pardner, that’s tough)
____ Decisive (I know what to do, when and how quickly to act. Never taken by surprise)
____ Assertive (I don’t go pickin fights but if you punch me, well, you better duck)
____ Doesn’t wear heart on his Sleeve (I might be ahurt’n but you’ll never know)
____ Able to react to dynamic situations, critical people, ornery sheriffs, and rapid change all without taking offense.
____ Dutiful to the Mrs. and to the family. (a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do)
____ Provides and protects those he loves (You come after my wife or kids, I got a gun and I know how to use it)
____ Responsible (If he gives his word you can count on him to do what he said)
____ Moral (He knows the scout law and although there were no boy scouts then, he lives by it)
God made nothing in vain, he made you a man, he made her a woman. “Male and Female made he them”. Let’s not get all confused by being girly men.
Score 10 or less. You shouldn’t be in this meeting, the slumber party is next week.
11-20 Good start, let me take you bear hunting, and if you kill one, next time I’ll give you a weapon.
21-30 You are sorta manly but you need to get out of the suburbs a bit more. Eat more meat.
31-40 You are a guy’s, guy, not quite a man’s man yet. But, there’s hope. Lay off the quiche.
41-50 Harrrrr, a parrot on the shoulder and a peg leg and we’re off to sea.
Let’s Celebrate Manliness:
Restraint, courage, stoicism, rational thinking, nutty professors working on inventions in their garages, guitars, geeks, football, sweating in a tee shirt, baseball, and loving it most when women are women.
Saloon Ethics
Don’t draw unless drawn upon. Sometimes people say and do stupid things
Overlook Most
Forgive Much
Correct only a little
Thin Skinned people end up taking offense. Taking offense will get you killed and worse break up a lot of good bar furniture and some really fine whiskey bottles. That’d be destroying the spirits.
If someone cheats you in a card game know who he is before you call him out on it.
Always tip the piano player. He might be playing at your funeral if you aren’t careful.
Watch your back, and you better have some good cowpokes you trust watch it for you. You cain’t never have too many friends.
Some fellows at the bar think they’re big shots when they get too much redeye in em, they want to be the center of attention and cause trouble by big talking. You could lose a good cowhand if you don’t help him off to the side and quiet him down.
Some blokes order a drink and if the barkeep don’t serve what they thought they wanted (“You call this whiskey, I’ve had better from a sewer”) they throw a fit become offended and never come back again; sometimes they leave in a box.
Let’s apply some good saloon ethics to the Church shall we?
Overlook Most
Forgive Much
Correct only a little
Thin Skinned people end up taking offense. Taking offense will get you killed and worse break up a lot of good bar furniture and some really fine whiskey bottles. That’d be destroying the spirits.
If someone cheats you in a card game know who he is before you call him out on it.
Always tip the piano player. He might be playing at your funeral if you aren’t careful.
Watch your back, and you better have some good cowpokes you trust watch it for you. You cain’t never have too many friends.
Some fellows at the bar think they’re big shots when they get too much redeye in em, they want to be the center of attention and cause trouble by big talking. You could lose a good cowhand if you don’t help him off to the side and quiet him down.
Some blokes order a drink and if the barkeep don’t serve what they thought they wanted (“You call this whiskey, I’ve had better from a sewer”) they throw a fit become offended and never come back again; sometimes they leave in a box.
Let’s apply some good saloon ethics to the Church shall we?
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