(December 26, 2013 at 8:24 am)Dragonetti Wrote: Majority want death for apostasy. Why? Why enforce your beliefs on others?
Nineteen is just barbaric and feels anyone not following her beliefs is an enemy. Why treat people with different world views like enemies of the state?
It's just a way for the religion to propagate. If you say you do not want death for apostates, you get suspected of being an apostate, in fact, if you live in a country where that is an offence that can get you killed, you won't speak up against the majority, and that is a big win in itself. Religion is very useful for the government in countries where religion is indistinguishable from politics, you can sway politics just by evoking religious beliefs. In places like that it's much better to keep your people believing instead of giving them free speech which will inevitably lead to dissent. Plus when apostasy is decided based on the state's criteria, it really could be anything, a different interpretation would probably get you into trouble. It is a useful way to weed out potential dissenters.
This is Iran's blasphemy law I got from the wiki:
Quote:An Islamic theocracy, Iran derives its law against blasphemy from Sharia. The law against blasphemy complements laws against criticizing the Islamic regime, insulting Islam, and publishing materials that deviate from Islamic standards.
So you see, it is a political tool. I've always said that in muslim countries it's almost useless to try to separate the religion from the politics, they are so intertwined because the politics inform religious beliefs, and religious beliefs inform political beliefs.
