Religious threats are often just political ploys
Posted: Saturday, May 24, 2014 6:45 am
LAUREN BERG lberg@newsvirginian.com
When religion and politics tangle, the knots created can stifle the rights and freedoms of a country’s people. Around the world, we see several governments currently doing things in the name of a specific religion, but often it’s just meant to benefit those in power.
In Saudi Arabia, it is illegal to publicly practice any faith other than the state’s official religion of Sunni Islam. In Burma, 90 percent of the population practices Theravada Buddhism, a faith the government promotes over Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. In countless other countries, atheists are persecuted for not having a faith. Governments that embrace a specific religion alienate minorities and people of different beliefs.
Last week, a Sudanese woman who married a Christian man was sentenced to death after she refused to recant her faith. Mariam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag’s father was a Muslim, but her mother was an Orthodox Christian from Ethiopia. She was convicted by a Sudanese court for “apostasy” and given four days to repent, or else be killed.
The 26-year-old, who is eight months pregnant and already has an 18-month-old son, was also sentenced to 100 lashes for “adultery” for marrying her Christian husband. According to Islamic law, even though Ishag’s father abandoned his family and Ishag was raised a Christian by her mother, because he is Muslim, Ishag was “born” a Muslim. In the Islamic religion, a Muslim is not permitted to renounce his or her religion or convert to another religion, and is punishable by death.
http://www.dailyprogress.com/newsvirginian/opinion/guest_columnists/religious-threats-are-often-just-political-ploys/article_4e35ca84-e2dd-11e3-9b59-0017a43b2370.html
