Saudi Arabian executioners are having an unusually prolific year - Polidicks

[b]Saudi Arabian executioners are having an unusually prolific year[/b] Via [url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/11/28/saudi-arabian-executioners-are-having-an-unusually-prolific-year/]The Washington Post[/url] ________________ [quote][img]http://i.imgur.com/y2XaNFd.jpg[/img] [i]Saudi Arabia's King Salman[/i] - - - Will more than 50 people be executed in just one day in Saudi Arabia? That's exactly what the popular newspaper Okaz reported this week, stating that 55 people were awaiting execution for "terrorist crimes." Another newspaper, the pro-government daily al-Riyadh, put the number at 52 in a report that has now been deleted online. Whether these reports are true is unclear – the Saudi state is less than transparent about its criminal justice system, fearful of the international backlash that its use of capital and corporal punishment can provoke. However, the reports are worrisome enough that Amnesty International has felt compelled to condemn them. “Saudi Arabia’s macabre spike in executions this year, coupled with the secretive and arbitrary nature of court decisions and executions in the kingdom, leave us no option but to take these latest warning signs very seriously,” James Lynch, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International, said in a statement. Even before these reports, it was clear that Saudi Arabian executioners were having an unusually prolific year. Earlier this month, Amnesty announced that the country had already executed 151 people this year, the highest number for nearly two decades (perhaps not coincidentally, earlier this year the Ministry of Civil Service posted a job listing seeking applications for executioners positions). Under the country's strict interpretation of Sharia law, relatively minor crimes like drug smuggling and even "sorcery" can be punishable by death.[/quote] "Religion of peace"... riiiiight.

Don't want to be outdone by ISIS I suppose.

[QUOTE=Pretiacruento;49201903] "Religion of peace"... riiiiight.[/QUOTE] Didn't even get past the OP before someone started this shit again. It has nothing to do with the religion and everything to do with the assholes running it. Muslims could've easily said the same exact thing about Christians in the 12th century.

[QUOTE=BananaFoam;49201976]Didn't even get past the OP before someone started this shit again. It has nothing to do with the religion and everything to do with the assholes running it. Muslims could've easily said the same exact thing about Christians in the 12th century.[/QUOTE] Funny you mention the 12th century, because in this day and age, murdering people for almost anything is downright barbaric, and it doesn't make the religion look well, in any way. Just look at the other thread here on SH, they're about to execute a poet, for fuck's sake.

[QUOTE=The golden;49201933]Isn't Saudi Arabia a huge funder of ISIS?[/QUOTE] Common misconception, the Saudi royal family would never fund any terrorist group. It's the rich and powerful clergy who fund Salafi/Wahhabi extremist groups. The reason why Saudi Arabia has these extreme laws anyway is so they can appease the clergy who want to overthrow the kingdom and establish an Iran-style, anti-west theocracy.

[QUOTE=Pretiacruento;49201903] "Religion of peace"... riiiiight.[/QUOTE] Alright this is pretty unfair don't you think?

[QUOTE=DropDeadTed;49202077]Alright this is pretty unfair don't you think?[/QUOTE] Not really, considering that drawing cartoons of a certain prophet caused followers of the religion in Europe, Asia and the Middle East to act like rabid animals. Its not that hard to imagine that WW3 could happen from something as simple as burning the Qu'ran.

[QUOTE=BananaFoam;49201976]Didn't even get past the OP before someone started this shit again. It has nothing to do with the religion and everything to do with the assholes running it. Muslims could've easily said the same exact thing about Christians in the 12th century.[/QUOTE] But we're not in the 12th century

[QUOTE=Pretiacruento;49201903] "Religion of peace"... riiiiight.[/QUOTE] I bet like 90% of the people saying shit like this don't even actually know any Muslims.

[URL="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/ashraf-fayadh-saudi-arabia-to-sue-twitter-user-describing-palestinian-poets-death-sentence-as-isis-a6749591.html"]Watch out guys Saudi Arabia sues anyone who compares it with ISIS so shhhhh.[/URL]

[QUOTE=matt000024;49202153]I bet like 90% of the people saying shit like this don't even actually know any Muslims.[/QUOTE] They commit all kinds of human rights violations, and when called out, they pull out the "religion" card. All they do is practically a result of Islamic dogma, whether you like it or not.

[QUOTE=Pretiacruento;49202170]They commit all kinds of human rights violations, and when called out, they pull out the "religion" card. All they do is practically a result of Islamic dogma, whether you like it or not.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=matt000024;49202153]I bet like 90% of the people saying shit like this don't even actually know any Muslims.[/QUOTE]

If religion didn't exist, bad people still would, just saying. Solely focusing on Islam, [I]again, [/I]how idiotic.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/j5QcIcp.png[/img] 'prolific year', you don't say Goddammit Saudi Arabia

I only know two muslims and they were both the nicest people I have ever met.

[QUOTE=gastyne;49202318]I only know two muslims and they were both the nicest people I have ever met.[/QUOTE] The muslims I know are also extremely nice people, but they also think that a worldwide theocratic caliphate ruled by sharia law is the ideal scenario. The two things aren't mutually exclusive.

[QUOTE=Daniel Smith;49202252][QUOTE=Pretiacruento;49202170]They commit all kinds of human rights violations, and when called out, they pull out the "religion" card. All they do is practically a result of Islamic dogma, whether you like it or not.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=matt000024;49202153]I bet like 90% of the people saying shit like this don't even actually know any Muslims.[/QUOTE][/QUOTE] You'd be wrong. Even if I met one, as long as his/her character isn't defined by being a muslim, chances are the person is going to be overall pleasant to be around, but it doesn't change the fact that they are okay with women being treated as walking baby factories (at best), and condone introspection and the questioning of the world they grew up in. Tom Cruise could be the coolest guy to hang out with, but he's still a lunatic.

[QUOTE=BananaFoam;49201976]Didn't even get past the OP before someone started this shit again. It has nothing to do with the religion and everything to do with the assholes running it. Muslims could've easily said the same exact thing about Christians in the 12th century.[/QUOTE] Muslims were fighting and conquering tons of people in the 12th century and fighting hard as ever against each other; the Ghurids vs. the Ghaznavids, Saladin against the Fatimids, the Seljuks against the Abbasids... ad-Din Zangi started the fucking Second Crusade with Europe by besieging and capturing Edessa (formerly allied with Byzantium) from the Christians. Etc. Islam has a different history from Christianity in most every conceivable way. Most importantly, it was not founded by a conquering holy warrior-- which is exactly what the Prophet Muhammad was in his day and is exactly how he established his rule over the Arabian Peninsula in the first place, starting with Mecca and Medina and ending with fights against the most significant tribes in the region (including the forced expulsion of local Jewish tribes). For the next 100 years after his death, it violently expanded into the Byzantine Empire, North Africa, Spain/Portugal (the Iberian Peninsula basically and later on attempted to expand into France actually), Persia, India, and the Caucasus under the Rashiduns and Umayyads. Much as I dislike religion as an Atheist (that is open to spiritualistic self-improvement concepts), Christianity was not nearly as bad as Islam was in th 12th century. Or really any century for that matter. Above all, Christian Europe progressed out of its religious heritage into the Renaissance and Age of Reason/Enlightnment; the Islamic world did not and has still not knocked its religious problems yet (hence we have Saudi Arabia, Iran, and ISIS doing what they're doing today just within the Middle East; I'm excluding Africa here for the sake of OP relevance). It's not a pleasant or peaceful religion out of all the religions there are in the world; it wasn't founded to be pleasant or peaceful, it will never be scripturally or historically pleasant nor peaceful. Hence you have the reason why there aren't a bunch of Westerners running out to sign up for it.

[QUOTE=Pretiacruento;49201903] "Religion of peace"... riiiiight.[/QUOTE] If Islam is the religion of peace, then Islamic Extremists must be extremely peaceful.

[QUOTE=matt000024;49202153]I bet like 90% of the people saying shit like this don't even actually know any Muslims.[/QUOTE] I know many muslims and most of them are cool people but quite a few of them hold backwards beliefs stemming from their religion. In high school I had a classmate named Hogir which I'll use as an example. Hogir was liked among everyone even though he was a little bit quiet and he is smart. After we graduated we became friends on facebook (we didn't hang out that much in school) and that's when I started seeing him posting unsettling stuff related to Islam. One thing I remember vividly is when he was condoning that ISIS threw gays from buildings. He hates ISIS as much as the next moderate Muslim but he didn't think killing gays were wrong because being gay is a crime to god. Not all muslims are like this of course, the point is that Hogir and many other moderate muslims holding the same beliefs does so because of the religion itself. To say that Islam is not linked to a lot of horrible stuff is IMO as stupid as saying that all muslims are terrorists. Islam is as much a religion of war as a religion of peace.

There's a reason why there are Muslims living among us here in the west, because they don't want to live in those Islamic shit holes that their ancestors were born in, where governments are run according to the principles of their religion.

[QUOTE=BananaFoam;49201976]Didn't even get past the OP before someone started this shit again. It has nothing to do with the religion and everything to do with the assholes running it. Muslims could've easily said the same exact thing about Christians in the 12th century.[/QUOTE] Why is there a need to decouple religion from basically everything? We wouldn't decouple the holocaust from the fascist ideals of the Nazi regime, or the purges from Stalin, or Pol Pot's massacres from his ideals. Islam holds ideals just the same way Christianity does, we can't say these religions aren't moral factors, because they're not just a blank piece of paper. Most people are luckily rational enough to take their religion with a grain of salt, but why do we want to remove all responsibility from the religion? "Oh it's not [I]x[/I], it's just select people believing in [I]x[/I]" like x has nothing to do with it. Just because people can be religious without being assholes, doesn't mean asshole things aren't sometimes done [I]because[/I] of religion. One does not disqualify the other. You could argue that the anti-gay sentiment in the US (or Uganda or whatever) has nothing to do with Christianity, but you'd be wrong. I don't want to defend OP, but I'm tired of the idea that religion apparently has no impact on this world or the people that live in it. Apparently the only religion that does is the "Religion of being an asshole" as if people are born assholes. People are motivated by things in life, sometimes they're motivated by religion, and there's no getting around that. I'm not saying Saudi Arabia executing people is [I]only[/I] because of Islam, or that Islam is the only religion promoting execution of people, or that only Islamic nations have the death penalty. That's obviously untrue. I have a couple of Muslim friends (the "I know black people"-excuse, I know), and to my knowledge they haven't executed anyone. That's my disclaimer that states something, which is quite obvious; not all Muslims (or members of any other religion) are the same, we shouldn't discriminate against Muslims, and they should be allowed to practice their religion just like every[I]one[/I] else. Just like every[I]thing[/I] else however, [I]Islam[/I] shouldn't be exempt from any and all criticism, and it's important to make a distinction between criticising the religion, and criticising the people following it.

[QUOTE=Antlerp;49202753]There's a reason why there are Muslims living among us here in the west, because they don't want to live in those Islamic shit holes that their ancestors were born in, where governments are run according to the principles of their religion.[/QUOTE] I'm not sure where you stand, but I'll say my mind. - Then they should denounce their religion when they get to the west. Might sound harsh with western ideals of freedom of religion, but in the real world different things are not equal. Other posters in this thread have already that Islam did not progress unlike Christianity (in fact the chronological progression is reversed. Old testament -> new becomes more peaceful. Mecca quran -> Medina becomes more violent), that its founder/example of a man was a warrior unlike Jesus and etc good points. I view it as a political ideology as well as a religion. It's very discriminating between muslims and kuffars, so why should I respect it? The soft hearted tolerance is starting to infuriate me. Stuff like "I know one good muslim, so that invalidates the muslim supremacism of quran and what that enables".

[QUOTE=Antlerp;49202753]There's a reason why there are Muslims living among us here in the west, because they don't want to live in those Islamic shit holes that their ancestors were born in, where governments are run according to the principles of their religion.[/QUOTE] I don't think this is true of all, or perhaps even the majority. Yes, the vast majority want to get away from that region of the world because it is so seeped in violence, but a much smaller number want to embrace what has placed western society in this position in the first place; equality and tolerance. That is of course true of many people already in the western world from all backgrounds, but it's important to understand just because someone is fleeing direct and indiscriminate violence doesn't mean they have a similar mindset to those in the west or are willing to embrace western points of view on the topics that have an outward impact.

[QUOTE=Omesh;49202973]I'm not sure where you stand, but I'll say my mind. - Then they should denounce their religion when they get to the west. Might sound harsh with western ideals of freedom of religion, but in the real world different things are not equal. Other posters in this thread have already that Islam did not progress unlike Christianity (in fact the chronological progression is reversed. Old testament -> new becomes more peaceful. Mecca quran -> Medina becomes more violent), that its founder/example of a man was a warrior unlike Jesus and etc good points. I view it as a political ideology as well as a religion. It's very discriminating between muslims and kuffars, so why should I respect it? The soft hearted tolerance is starting to infuriate me. Stuff like "I know one good muslim, so that invalidates the muslim supremacism of quran and what that enables".[/QUOTE] Great idea dude, we should have people denounce their religion in order to enter a country founded on religious freedom.

[QUOTE=plunger435;49203020]Great idea dude, we should have people denounce their religion in order to enter a country founded on religious freedom.[/QUOTE] You would give them freedom to go against the freedom and equality of other groups. Women, gays and ultimately everyone non muslim. What would you do against that? Just ignore the contents of their book under false equality, I wager. The funniest thing to me is when women and pro-gays (not implying you are either, but the last is highly likely in this place) are pro-islam.

[QUOTE=Omesh;49203042]You would give them freedom to go against the freedom and equality of other groups. Women, gays and ultimately everyone non muslim. What would you do against that? Just ignore the contents of their book under false equality, I wager. The funniest thing to me is when women and pro-gays (not implying you are either, but the last is highly likely in this place) are pro-islam.[/QUOTE] You don't talk to your Muslim friends about killing all homosexuals? That's all we ever talk about. Do you actually believe all the millions of Muslims in America secretly hate gay people and women?

[QUOTE=plunger435;49203078]You don't talk to your Muslim friends about killing all homosexuals? That's all we ever talk about. Do you actually believe all the millions of Muslims in America secretly hate gay people and women?[/QUOTE] I don't have muslims friends and neither do I want them here in this country. You see, the best way to avoid all problems is to deny the possibility for them to exist. Being poor in comparison helps. I don't care about individuals, but rather what their religion says. Do you actually believe all the vile things will be overridden by western culture? It's the most memorized book in the world and numbers here show most believe it to be the literal word of God, and with only one interpretation. [url]http://www.pewforum.org/2012/08/09/the-worlds-muslims-unity-and-diversity-executive-summary/[/url] About freedom of religion earlier, the children of muslims are considered muslims. The penalty for apostasy in sharia is death. So much for freedom.

[QUOTE=Omesh;49203042]You would give them freedom to go against the freedom and equality of other groups. Women, gays and ultimately everyone non muslim. What would you do against that? Just ignore the contents of their book under false equality, I wager. The funniest thing to me is when women and pro-gays (not implying you are either, but the last is highly likely in this place) are pro-islam.[/QUOTE] The funniest thing to me is when people talk about islam or the kuran and have no idea what they are talking about. Why shouldn't women be pro islam? [QUOTE]The best of you is the one who treats his wife the best.[/QUOTE] Wanna guess who said that? Muhammed. Now maybe try turning down the prejudice and actually inform yourself. The Kuran has good parts and it has bad parts just like the bible and every other religious manusscript.

Yes of course, but one good thing does not excuse the else. I admit I didn't know this quote, but I knew it was quite pro women at the time. Though it seems absurd to me to say the current status of western women would be tolerated, so really why should women support it. Don't tell me I don't know anything. I'm quite aware he preached peaceful verses in Mecca and changed to a warlord in Medina. One who kept sex slaves (double standard for kuffars and muslims). This duality is the problem and the reason they can say shit like religion of peace. I'd require muslims to denounce the latter, violent teachings of their prophet at least and denounce them firmly as a community. Not cry with #notallmuslims bullshit. Thing is, I don't see that happening ever. Not when Muhammad is the perfect example of a man and they flip extremely when someone even dares drawing his picture.