Monday, July 9, 2012

Hypocrisy of the First Magnitude in Afghanistan!

A man Afghan officials say is a member of the Taliban shot dead a woman accused of adultery in front of a crowd near Kabul, a video obtained by Reuters showed, a sign that the austere Islamist group dictates law even near the Afghan capital.In the three-minute video, a turban-clad man approaches a woman kneeling in the dirt and shoots her five times at close range with an automatic rifle, to cheers of jubilation from the 150 or so men watching in a village in Parwan province."Allah warns us not to get close to adultery because it's the wrong way," another man says as the shooter gets closer to the woman. "It is the order of Allah that she be executed"...... --- Just one of a number of "news"  releases reporting the "execution" of a married woman accused of adultery.

The married woman allegedly committed adultery, found guilty and then was sentenced to be executed in an area north of Afghanistan's capital city. One of numerous reports claimed that she was involved with two Taliban commanders.

So in order to be "faithful" to Muslim standards on such an issue as this, it was determined that this unfaithful wife should be executed publicly. Presumably the message would be, "See what happens when you commit adultery!" The graphic lesson to all females is explicitly clear -- now to the men, that's a kitty of another color!

This execution would be a bit different -- no wall before which the guilty party would stand with a blindfold over the eyes. The woman was kneeling on the ground with her back toward her husband who was just a few yards away. He was given an AK-47 rifle and promptly fired three shots into her back (according to one report) -- then for good measure he fired more rounds into her body (another report said there were bullet holes in her head and in her torso). The assembly of men, estimated to be about 150, present erupted in loud cheers as this drama unfolded!

Correct me if I"m wrong, but doesn't the act of adultery involve a man and a woman -- and at least one of the persons involved in such an escapade is married to another person, other than the one with whom he/she is being intimate? Where then was the man, or in this particular case, the two Taliban commanders who were involved with another man's wife?

And why were these adulterers not on the receiving end of the projectiles that came gushing forth from the barrel of that AK-47 fired by a husband who was teaching his wife a permanent lesson that it is a naughty no-no to engage in sexual intimacy with men other than her husband?

Jesus in the 1st Century was confronted by a group of very indignant individuals who claimed they had caught a woman in the very act of adultery. They indicated that according to the law of Moses the woman should be stoned to death. But they wanted to know what He had to say about the issue. For a moment He did not reply but wrote something in the sand. Finally He spoke: "Whoever is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone."

Oooops! No one counted on this and suddenly very disturbing thoughts began to hammer them where it really hurts -- right in the heart of the conscience! One by one they made a hasty exit. Could this exodus have resembled a bunch of serpents slithering away looking for some hole into which they might crawl?

Jesus then had some parting words for the woman -- "Where are your accusers?" She replied there was no one left to accuse her. He replied, "Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more!" Obviously the woman was of a repentant spirit and was granted mercy and forgiveness on the condition that she not continue in her former lifestyle! (For details of this incident, see John 8 in the New Testament).

I have often wondered, as have many others -- just what was it that Jesus wrote in the sand that day a long, long time ago? Could it have been something like this: "Where is the man? He is an adulterer too, you know!"

As the old saying goes: "It takes two to tango!"

But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. --- 1 John 1:7-9