Countries controlled by the great religion of Islam have criminals? What a (typing sarcastically) surprise!
Daily Kos today reports that "Iran's ambassador to Spain has compared chopping off the hands of thieves to a 'surgeon amputating a limb to prevent the spread of gangrene.'" Seyed Davoud Salehi also argued that the death penalty was necessary "to preserve the health of society as a whole."
"Our laws allow for the amputation of the hand that steals. This is not accepted by the West, but the field of human rights should take into account the customs, traditions, religion and economic development," he said in comments reported by the newspaper El Mundo.
Fair enough. What makes me laugh is that, with the chance of losing a hand, people in Iran still steal. And do whatever earns them the death penalty. Assuming that Iran executes more than just political activists.
Off goes a hand, or a head ... Iranian criminals must be as deep-down stupid as U.S. criminals. "I'll never get caught," is the apparent thought.
If I were running a medical company, I'd hire lobbyists to promote hand-chopping penalties in the U.S., just so I could sell more prosthetics.
Viva Mammon!
ooo ooo ooo
Pardon me while I Wiki the reference to Mammon. OK. Got it right on the first try.
Which brings me to a delightful story broadcast by NPR the other day. Mike Huckabee's stump speeches are full of biblical references, which fly right over the heads of non-fundamentalist listeners.
Your average Joe-on-the-Street doesn't get the point of The Rev's preaching.
Stephen Prothero, author of "Religious Literacy," was quoted about America's prodigious ignorance of things religious, including the Christians' Bible. History, economy, statistics, science, religion ... a goodly percentage of Americans are significantly dumber than Beavis and Butt-head.
Ignorance can be fixed; Stupid is forever.
ooo ooo ooo
House-cleaning last night, I found two bumper stickers I bought during the last presidential election, not for my bumper but for my sanity:
I Love My Country
But Fear My Government
People never lie so much as
after fishing, during a war,
or before an election
They're from www.northernsun.com, assuming it's still in business.
-30-
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