About to be Stoned to Death

Ms. Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani is about to be stoned. That’s where they bury you up to your chest and hurl rocks at you until you die. The rocks can’t be too big.  The stoning must be painful and be a show of force by the powers that be.  The stoning of this 43-year-old mother of two has been ordered by a court in her native Iran, where the only legal code is Allah’s law, Sharia. It is the Islamic sentence for adultery, the crime to which Ashtiani confessed after serial beatings by her interrogators.  Reported to be a total 99 lashes.  She has been imprisoned for the last five years.  A Newsweek story said Ashtiani could be buried up to her breasts and stoned to death as early as this coming weekend.

Of course human rights organizations around the world have condemed the planned stoning.  The picture is not of her but conveys the message of what is about to happen in a country that holds views that are utterly different values than those of the Western world.

From the website Political Realities  L. D Jackson writes the following: I would have to agree with P.J. Crowley and then ask a question. If Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani is guilty of adultery, then why isn’t the man with whom she committed the act being stoned to death as well? It’s just a thought, but it appears that the woman bears the brunt of the responsibility in such cases. That’s something that goes beyond my thinking, because the last time I checked, it takes two people to tango.

This situation highlights a stark reality about the Islamic world. They are very strict about a lot of things, but especially about their women. I fail to see how the treatment of these women is anything less than abuse and it makes me wonder how anyone in their society could stand idly by and watch it happen.