Posts by Merry Magdalene

a saudi court sentenced a woman who had been gang raped to six months in jail and 200 lashes more than doubling her initial penalty for being in the car of a man who was not a relative, a newspaper reported thursday.. the decision by the qatif general court came in a case that had sparked rare debate about the kingdom's justice system when it surfaced more than a year ago.. in its decision wednesday, the court also roughly doubled prison sentences for the seven men convicted of raping the 19-year-old woman, the arab news reported on its english-language web site.. according to arab news, the court said the woman's punishment was increased because of "her attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media.".

she had initially been sentenced to 90 lashes after being convicting her of violating saudi's rigid laws on segregation of the sexes.. under saudi arabia's interpretation of islamic sharia law, women are not allowed in public in the company of men other than their male relatives.. the initial sentences for the men convicted of the gang rape ranged from 10 months to five years in prison.

Merry Magdalene

Just found this tonight, which helps express something else I had wanted to say, tried to say in some posts that were lost to "system error" or some such, and was too tired to do over again...

Annette D'A mato's letter [in the Minnesota Daily] from Monday, Oct. 22, brings to light an important point about those who criticize Islam as an ideology, religion, or otherwise: Observed Muslim conduct does not necessarily constitute the teachings of Islam. Substituting the former for the latter in one's criticism is at its least blatantly unfair and at its worst lazy or malicious.
As a Muslim, I don't think there is anything wrong with questioning the state of women "living under Islam," but at least I have a proper reference point for what "living under Islam" constitutes. For the record, Fascism is an authoritarian political ideology while Islam is a way of life that addresses the human soul's need for spiritual resolution with itself and surroundings; and the world as we know it does not contain a single nation which holistically applies Islamic rule of law.

To abstractly ask about what's "wrong" with some aspect of life "under Islam" is a misdirected inquiry from the beginning, because in most cases used to support such criticism, there is almost never an Islamic rule of law in place.
A much better question to ask is why many countries with Muslim majorities have high rates of mistreatment of women when the prophet explicitly stated in his final sermon, for example, that men should be the protectors of women and should not transgress the latter's God-given rights.
Then the questioner, if fair, can understand what roles disenfranchisement, illiteracy, and political dictatorship play in the perpetration of human rights abuses, as opposed to inherent Islamic values. A much more fruitful discussion can occur from this line of questioning when the critic decides to make an honest examination of the object of her criticism.
from Oversimplifying Islam by Taqee Khaled http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/node/8086

~Merry

39

Court sentences rape victim

by Bumble Bee in

report: court sentences rape victimfri nov 16, 12:27 am et .

a saudi court sentenced a woman who had been gang raped to six months in jail and 200 lashes more than doubling her initial penalty for being in the car of a man who was not a relative, a newspaper reported thursday.. the decision by the qatif general court came in a case that had sparked rare debate about the kingdom's justice system when it surfaced more than a year ago.. in its decision wednesday, the court also roughly doubled prison sentences for the seven men convicted of raping the 19-year-old woman, the arab news reported on its english-language web site.. according to arab news, the court said the woman's punishment was increased because of "her attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media.".

she had initially been sentenced to 90 lashes after being convicting her of violating saudi's rigid laws on segregation of the sexes.. under saudi arabia's interpretation of islamic sharia law, women are not allowed in public in the company of men other than their male relatives.. the initial sentences for the men convicted of the gang rape ranged from 10 months to five years in prison.

Merry Magdalene

Ah well, if we wait long enough, I'm sure Merry Magdalene will come up with a viable explanation as to why the Religion of Peace backs up crap like this.......

No, I won't and it doesn't and, after my last few attempts at posting being lost in a system error, if anybody wants to know why I say that, here's a very comprehensive treatment of the subject:

Her Honor: An Islamic Critique of the Rape Laws of Pakistan from a Woman-Sensitive Perspective Asifa Quraishi

~very tired Merry

*with a nod and a smile to Barry*

95

most disturbing movie scene you've seen?

by knock knock in

jw
friends

i haven't seen this topic on here so i thought i'd.... hmmm, maybe it's because it's just too disturbing?

to me, the scene in saving private ryan - the two soldiers in the small upstairs room fighting hand to hand to the death (by stabbing).

i think that is the most disturbing thing i've seen on screen and there were plenty just in that film alone.

Merry Magdalene

I think I was too traumatized by it to remember any specific scenes, but I would have to say Salo by Pier Paolo Pasolini (based on 120 Days of Sodom by the Marquis de Sade) was the most disturbing movie I've ever seen, and I don't recommend anyone finding out why I say that.

There were also scenes very disturbing to me in Death and the Maiden, Sophie's Choice, Closet Land, Caligula, River's Edge, and The Reflecting Skin. Of course, an evening spent watching Faces of Death and Bad Taste is also not the most fun I've ever had...fortunately.

(And there you have some of the highlights of my marriage...LOL)

No wonder I don't watch movies much anymore.

~Merry

26

Are you 'COOL'?

by nicolaou in

jw
friends

calvin is way cooler than fonzie.

atheists are so much cooler than christians.

and as for brit's and americans .

Merry Magdalene

Cool?...a bit, maybe...

alt

~Merry

21

Went off outside walmart.

by dogon in

i was loading my purchase in my car yesterday when i saw out of the corner of my eye a 20 something man in suit and tie walk up to me and he was holding what i knew was a watchtower.. after 30 years of slavery and i was running late i went off on him, before he could even open his mouth i said, i was part of your cult for 30 years before i left.

he asked what made me leave, i told him that if when christ came invisibly to earth in 1914 and saw russell and his little group of bible students were the only people who had it right and so gave him authority over his earthly preaching work, why would you be disfellowshiped for teaching anything russell tought?

if the bible says that a person who predicts something to happen and it does not come to pass he is a false profit and the society had not been right on one thing, i told him i lived through [stay alive till 75] and knew many who sold their homes and had enough to live on just until 75 and again nothing happend, did he know that the second pres.

Merry Magdalene

(don't know what to say, but didn't want to go away silent)

~Merry

63

Can anyone tell me why this "test" works...this is SO SPOOKY!

by FreedomFrog in

ok, can anyone tell me why this works?

this is so freakin' cool.

do the test as it is instructed...don't cheat.

Merry Magdalene

red spade

19

Songs that reflect the tower

by jacethespace in

what is everyones favourite song that best describes there experience in the tower and their exit form it?.

this is mine http://http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3744443266557702508&q=pink+floyd+brick+in+the+wall&total=2005&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0.

when i heard the lyrics to this i thought it resembled my experience then when veiwing the vid i thought it definatly did.warning some of the vid might be a bit overthetop.. this is the sort of song i would love to turn up loud in the car and walk out of a meeting with the elders to.

Merry Magdalene

"Liars and Fools" and "Shoot the Wounded" by the Irony

~Merry

32

When Your Parent Died

by freyd in

jw
friends

is there a part of you that died with them?

Merry Magdalene

No. Seems strange to say, but it was more like a part of me came to life when my mother died last year.

She was a loyal JW 64 out of the almost 68 years of her life. She tried to shun me after I was df'ed but wasn't as "good" at it as she "should" have been, which caused her a great deal of inner turmoil, which she then sometimes inflicted upon me.

My daughter and I took care of her during the last 3 weeks of her life (with an elder's permission), and during that time, all the old conflicts and resentments just seemed to melt away from my heart and mind. Not that the source of them wasn't still there, it was just that it didn't really matter to me any more. I tried to make sure that through all the pain and difficulty and uncertainty, she was bathed in and comforted by all the love I was feeling for her, and I began to feel some of the qualities I had always admired in her, in spite of the JW stuff, begin to awaken in me.

There was a song on Myspace I listened to during and right after that which expressed some of what I was feeling--"Blood In My Veins" by Jude. (clickable link)

~Merry