The following story has been copied and pasted from AdelaideNow. My comments are in blue.
I would love some Muslim/Islamic people to comment on this story (or any faith for that matter). I scratch my head at times about this world we live in. At the end of the day, we all come under the umbrella of mankind. One would think that as the highest evolved species on this planet, we should have the capacity to understand and live peacefully with each other, but nothing could be further from the truth. If there is a God, he must be very disappointed with what he has created and the intolerance the various religions and religious followers have for each other. What really pisses me off about the following story, is that it seems in Iraq, you don't even need to have proof of a persons sexuality before action is taken against them. I certainly don't view ''emos'' as necessarily being gay, in fact, the (few) emo's I know are all straight - both guys and girls. I put the following questions to you:
1. How do you justify killing a person because of their sexuality?
2. Why does it appear to the Western world that the Muslim/Islamic religion controls its followers through the threat of violence and oppression? Is this perception real or misguided?
3. Why does the Muslim/Islamic religion not have tolerance towards people who are different (sexuality etc)?
4. Wouldn't the world be fantastic if we could all have respect and tolerance towards each other? We could each have our own religion and respect that our neighbour has his or her own religion, but that's OK, what my neighbour does has no effect on me.
5. Why is it, that certain religions have no tolerance of other religions?
6. Who or what gives any religion the power to say "Our religion is the one and only"?
7. If there was no threat of violence or death, I wonder how many religious people would change their religion or give up religion totally?
8. If you are religious, do you truthfully feel that your chosen religion is tolerant?
9. If you were Muslim/Islamic and living in Iraq, and your son decided he wanted to be ''trendy'' and dress similarly to an Emo, and then he was punished and killed for that even though he was heterosexual, how would you feel?
Do you support what the news story reports? Are you against it? I welcome all comments from any person whether religious or not.
Get Real
Morality police stone 'emos' to death in Iraq
- From: AAP
- March 12, 2012
"Emo" teenagers have been targeted by moral police. Picture: File
- Fifteen "emo" teens been killed by morality police
- Stoned, beaten to death or shot in path month
- "A new surge of anti-gay violence" linked to bashings
IRAQI teenagers widely perceived to be gay are being brutally killed in Baghdad with Shi'ite militias distributing lists of targets warning of further assaults.
At least 15 teenagers, described as "emos" for their tight-fitting black clothes and alternative hairstyles, have been stoned, beaten to death or shot dead in the past month, medics say.Reports have also said some of them had their heads smashed with concrete blocks.
Human rights groups say the death toll is far higher amid accusations of a cover-up by security forces.
Witnesses in the conservative Shi'ite Muslim bastion of Sadr City in north Baghdad say a militia group calling itself the Brigades of Anger has posted leaflets naming 22 youths to be "punished".
Medical officials said at least 15 have been killed in the past month, including seven who were stoned to death, five who were shot and one who was beaten to death. At least two victims were girls.
In Western youth culture, emo refers only to appearance and musical preference and carries no connotation about a person's sexual orientation.
In Iraq, however, the term is widely associated with being gay, which remains taboo in the conservative Muslim country.
The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, based in New York, said a "new surge of anti-gay violence" since February in Iraq had led to nearly 40 people kidnapped, tortured and murdered.
"There are no excuses for such heinous human rights violations," said Cary Alan Johnson, the organisation's executive director.
"We demand that the Iraqi government put a stop to the wanton persecution and killing of gay people, and that the perpetrators be punished."
Iraq's interior ministry said in a March 8 statement that it had not recorded any anti-gay or anti-emo killings. It said the recent murders in the capital had been for "revenge, or social, criminal, political or cultural reasons".
In a February 13 statement that remains on its website, however, it said emos were "devil-worshippers" and the ministry "has official approval to eliminate them as soon as possible".
In the statement, police Colonel Mustaq Talib Mohammedawi, described as chief of Baghdad's "social police", said his forces would enter the capital's schools as part of its efforts to target the "phenomenon".
The violence has drawn criticism from religious leaders, with Shi'ite cleric Mohammed al-Yaqoubi arguing that any response to emo teenagers should be confined to "advice, guidance and knowledge".
Iraqi human rights ministry spokesman Kamil al-Amin said any government response should not extend beyond "education".
Human Rights Watch warned in August 2009 of Iraqi militias torturing and executing men they suspected of homosexuality, and accused authorities of turning a blind eye to the violence.
The New York-based group said hundreds of men were kidnapped, tortured and killed that year in a wave of violence that began in the Sadr City stronghold of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
London-based Amnesty International wrote a letter to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in April 2009 urging government protection for homosexuals.
Homosexuality is forbidden in Islam, frowned upon in Arab society and illegal in many Middle Eastern countries. Iraq has no law against homosexuality but prominent religious authorities have harshly condemned it.
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