Via Pharyngula I came across this takedown of Cherie Booth's recent idiotic and discriminatory judgement passed down on a man for violent assault.
A C Grayling on why being religious shouldn't mean you get away with shit.
Apparently punching a man inside a bank and then following him outside to punch him again and break his jaw is really bad, unless you are a religious man, in which case it is only slightly naughty and your punishment can be suspended. This man is so clearly religious that he thought it was acceptable to break someones jaw over an argument about who was next in line. Deeply religious fella.
So, whilst I agree with Booth that this kind of behaviour is clearly indicative that Miah was a religious man (Islam, a peaceful religion) it is utter bollocks that Booth's subjective opinion about religion and what it is and does is used to let him get away with what he did.
The Crusaders were religious men too, after all. Oh wait, Booth is a Catholic, bad example. How about the Aztecs?
No, I can't think of a good reason to seperate church and state.
The Azteks had one fine tradition. Any member of a higher caste who committed a crime would be dealt with more severely than a member of a lower caste, because as responsible leader or priest, for example, the should be setting an example, or as a rich person they had less need to steal or whatever.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm not suggesting that the kinds of punishment they meted out to such crims should be meted out to Cheries' hubby, but....