The Gospel writers have noted that Jesus called his disciples to a way of life in which any act of violence can be overcome by love. We must not return evil for evil, Jesus taught, but must return good for evil; we must not hate those who wrong us but must love our enemies and pray for those who hate us. The Qur’an never says this. Instead it explicitly declares that Allah does not love those who do not believe in him:
Whereas the practice of slavery enslaves the body, the dogma of apostasy ensnares the mind. Whereas slavery is a shameful practice of the past, some shameless religionists still use the doctrine of apostasy to intimidate and severely punish people who elect to choose their own belief.
Islam is extremely possessive of its subjects. It is a religion that admits anyone into its fold by the person simply uttering a one sentence statement of faith, shahada: I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is Allah’s messenger. By so saying, one becomes Muslim for life and surrenders the right of ever leaving it. Anyone who leaves the Islamic fold is murtad (revert), apostate.
Rape is a cruel violation of a helpless victim. In addition to the physical torment involved, rape reduces the victim to subhuman status. Most civilized countries sternly legislate against, and prosecute rape and sexual assaults in prison. Under the barbaric rule of the Mullahcracy in Iran, however, sexual assaults have become instruments of policy for extracting false confessions, satisfying the boundless sadisms and sexual perversities of the jailers, punishing the helpless victim and leaving him with a sense of dehumanization.
Compelled by the inalienable right of the people to institute their government and replace it when it fails to serve its constituents in the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness, millions of Iranians representing the entire spectrum of society are demanding change from the repressive theocracy to an open secular democracy.
More than three decades of rule by the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) has not only failed to advance the security and well-being of the people, it has ensnared the nation in a stifling theocracy where the rights of the governed are routinely violated for the benefit of the governing.
