Amnesty appeals against death by stoning | Iran | Guardian Unlimited
When descriptions of the Iranian penal code read as follows:
The code also states that the stones used should “not be large enough to kill the person by one or two strikes; nor should they be so small that they could not be defined as stones”.
The stoning was due to take place in public, reportedly in the presence of a judge, who was due to cast the first stone. Those present at the gathering were to continue the stoning until the pair were pronounced dead.
One has to wonder whether the geniuses at Monty Python were on to something when they conceived and performed the stoning sequence in Life of Brian (or was it part of Monty Python’s Flying Circus? I forget.) Is it the case that they anticipated the absurdity of this act perfectly, or is it the case that those who plan on perpetrating the act are Monty Python fans?
As disconcerting as beheadings in Saudi Arabia may be, a slow painful death carried out in a country that leads the world in sex change operations is particularly horrifying. It reminds one of the Nazi era in Germany. It is a stark reminder that no matter how sophisticated people may look, how educated they may be, and how cultured they may appear, they are capable of unspeakable cruelty. Worse, they are capable of inflicting such cruelty for no reason at all.
It is a frightening reminder that mankind is still ruled by its baser instincts, no matter what its cultured veneer may project.