I'm up here @ 11:21 PM, Mountain Time, having watched nearly ALL of the film "The Stoning of Soraya M."
I feel disgusted, furious, and contemptuous of fundamentalist Islam.
Some time back, but recently, I was part of a lively discussion on the book, "INFIDEL" which is written by the Somali woman genius, Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
Suffice it to say that after reading that book, and discussing it with friends, as well as my wife, I concluded @ a roughly 95% certainty, Islam is NOT a religion, if a definition of religions entails legitimately seeking a path to peace, love, and compassion.
I've had growing concerns within, about whether Mormonism, too, is a religion.
I've concluded that Mormonism's a cult for otherwise decent people.
Islam as religion, is a sham, a despicable front for ugly, hateful, oppressive men, who want to dominate women at all costs, when taken in context with a Sharia driven state.
***I want to make that distinction. The film, "The Stoning of Soraya M." is about revolutionary Iran, when the Ayatollah Khomeni took charge, and fundamentalist Shi'a had center stage. I do not believe that more moderate Arab or Muslim states that do not live by the Sharia, should be dismissed outright.
Sharia driven states, however, produce what happened (in true life), to this woman.***
I have tried to be an objective voice for the rights of Palestinians and others to live in Peace in Gaza and the West Bank of Israel/Palestine.
I still stand for those principles, and what I saw this evening, in this film, also harkens me back to the male, Orthodox dominated religious state that Israel has become. The Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox Jews of Israel are the same as the Muslim men in this film of "Sharia LAW" as practiced in Revolutionary Iran, shortly after the Ayatollah came to power in the 1970s. Given a chance, they'd more than likely resort to stoning their unfaithful women to death, too. I truly think this would be possible. The Ultra Orthodox choke hold on Israel has turned Israel's political system into something very dark..
I have nothing but contempt for any ascendancy of religion over state in the United States, Israel, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and any other Islamic nation or nation of rigid, hateful, despicable men who wish to dominate women and culture calling down God's name as their imprimatur for approval and actions.

This film, in a nutshell, is about a very, very evil man who is tired of his wife, and realizes as a jailer, that he has new power & sway in the Revolutionary Iran of the Ayatollah. He is involved in a relationship with a 14-year old girl, the daughter of a doctor whom he has imprisoned, awaiting execution, for cooperation with dangerous enemies of the "regime." He is, at his heart, a dark, dark soul, inhabiting every ring of hell that exists, in that he is more than willing to lie, and force or coerce others into lying about his wife, whom he has treated with utter disrespect, violence, contempt, so that he can be "free of her," and be free to have the young 14-year old honey for his own. It's doubtful, in my mind, whether that doctor would somehow see his freedom if this guy has anything to say about it. Once he has the 14-year old daughter, the doctor's history for Ali.

Wife out of the way ... father, doctor, out of the way ... green like to a pedophile's dream relationship.

There are many beautiful parts to this film, but I'll cut straight to the chase.
RUN, don't walk, to your computer, and order a copy of "The Stoning of Soraya M.," but be forewarned: to witness stoning, as ISLAM (my tongue spits out that word right now) requires, means digging a hole about four feet deep. The woman who is about to be stoned is then placed in the hole, her arms tied behind her back, so that she cannot do ANYTHING to protect her face or body from the stones that are about to strike her. As if that isn't enough, the hole is then filled, so that she stands encased in dirt, from the waist down, arms tied behind her, facing the crowd, all of whom has stones.

Ali, the despicable husband, throws two or three stones. He then offers his own MALE children, a stone, a stone so that they may also stone their adulterous, shameful, horrible (innocent) mother. The phony Imam gets his shot (he gets a nice trim to his sorry ass beard, and puts on sunglasses, as some kind of special accoutrements) for the stoning; and the mayor, both of whom are complicitous, for totally self-serving reasons, in this horrible travesty of justice, participate as cowards. Then, the coerced decent man who is supposed to have had shameful dealings with Soraya, also get's his stone, to cast at her.

This is the fear of going against the grain. This is how totalitarian control systems silence people into allowing some self-centered fear to destroy your principles. The husband, Ali, is truly an evil personality. He works in a jail, and knows full well what the histories of all the principal figures in the village were/are, regarding their pasts. He blackmails them routinely.

Soraya, just to be clear, takes stone after stone in the face or head. Blood gushes. Just as I have asked men and women, who talk solicitously to me about how horrible Vietnam was, and how they would like to watch some of the Vietnam War films, but just can't bear to watch (screw that ... watch the films or shut up) ... everyone who has any lingering doubts about the nature of Islam should stay there, in their seats, and watch the whole bloody mess. This is a horrible, horrible thing to sign up for ... but I truly believe, American women, and women all over the free world, should watch this film to the end.

I thought of how lucky I have been, whether Catholic, or Agnostic, or Quaker, or Quaker-Zen believer as I have been or am ... to know that Jesus Christ challenged JEWS of his time, to cast the first stone in killing an adulterous woman of his time ... if, that is, they were without sin.

Somehow, folks, I doubt Jesus would have gained any traction with most of these Iranian Shi'a Muslims.

If this is Sharia, folks, screw the Sharia. If this is a "peaceful religion," folks, then the hell with that peaceful religion.

I saw, in the phoniness and evil decisions the Imam made (he propositioned Soraya to in essence, to become his singaya (whore), if she would grant Ali a divorce and do things the easy way; and the moves Ali made to satisfy his lustful desires for a young girl. I recalled that recently, the TV series, "South Park," was criticized by American Muslims in Brooklyn, N. Y., for daring to show caricatures of Mohamed. I never saw that particular show, but somewhere in here, I recall some artist in the Netherlands or Sweden, Denmark, somewhere, portrayed Mohamed as a pedophile.

With all the bad press Catholics & Boy Scout leaders, gym teachers, etc., et al, have gotten here in the U.S. over pedophilia encounters with under age boys and girls, I now find it just par for the "equal opportunity mockery course" that we mock Islamic Imams, too.

Why not? Pedophiles, let's face it, reside within every religion, and every institution where men (mostly) have control, influence, and domination of young boys and girls. Why should Islam be any different.
In Zen, we say, after all: If you see the Buddha on the road, kill the Buddha.

Thank God that Christianity and Buddhism have managed to pull away from any such barbarous practices as stoning a person for adulterous conduct. I read a book about Islam recently, after reading Ayaan Hirsi Ali's book, by Karen Armstrong. I saw nothing in it that showed me exactly WHERE the "peace fringe" of Islam resides. The Sufis qualify as the "mystical" wing of Islam, but mystical is NOT, peaceful in it's approach to infidels and those who do not believe as Muslims do. It is up to whatever groups within Islam who say Islam IS a peaceful religion, to NOW stand up and discredit Sharia law if Sharia law, somewhere in it's arcana, justifies stoning a person to death.

I feel so upset, and angry right now, my stomach's trembling. What cowards these men are (I DO realize it's a movie, so just bear with me on that expression). This is based on a true story, and I KNOW for a fact, that somewhere recently, perhaps on Utube, allusions have been made to stonings in Afghanisan. That's what the Taliban stand for, isn't it? Sharia?

I want to make this clear:
I stand for justice for Palestinians.
I stand for a just resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.
I stand for just treatment for Arabs and Muslims AS PEOPLE.
They can forget it, though, if they want to tell me HOW, in ANY PART OF ISLAM, stoning a woman to death, for such contemptuous manipulation of whatever system of religious laws exists ... is justified. While I do not believe a Palestinian State would adopt Sharia as the legitimate form of law within, there's no doubt extremists would begin arguing for that if Statehood were granted.
There IS NO JUSTIFICATION for Sharia if Sharia sanctions this despicable practice.
If a Palestinian State, or Pakistan, or Iraq, or Iran, or Afghanistan reverts to Sharia driven legal domination, then there's no way I could support that, either.

It's time, finally, for us all, to write our own letters. I mean, write letters on the Internet, so that googling them will show up. It's time for Americans to post challenges to Sharia leaning Muslims, worldwide. We are in the 21st Century. Stoning a person to death is an abomination. If you read Ayaan Hirsi Ali's book, "INFIDEL," you'll read about female circumcision, and the incredibly stacked deck women must endure in Islamic societies like Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, etc. The WOMAN IS THE ONE, IRREGARDLESS OF WHAT SHE MIGHT HAVE OR MIGHT NOT HAVE DONE, WHEN A MAN BRINGS CHARGES OF ADULTERY. IT IS THE WOMAN WHO IS STONED TO DEATH, NOT AN AMORAL HUSBAND. I HOPE THAT FOLKS UNDERSTAND THE INCREDIBLY DISGUSTING WAYS MANY WOMEN ARE TREATED IN THESE FUNDAMENTALIST ISLAMIC SOCIETIES.

THE CHALLENGE HERE IS, WRITE YOUR OWN LETTER, SO THAT GOOGLING WILL PULL IT UP FOR THOSE ISLAMISTS OUT THERE WHO WANT TO KILL INFIDELS. The truth is: they can't kill all of us. Maybe they will run out of paper, and wind, bringing down fatwa after fatwa on our heads. But this is the 21st Century, and I firmly believe: wherever Muslims and Arabs live, in the Western World, they, not us, must conform to the standards established for the practice of religion in the State.

I saw Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Anderson Cooper, the night the goofy ass Muslim Imam from Brooklyn, N.Y., was interviewed, and asked: did he really sanction violence against the producers and creators of "South Park?" While I can't quote the conversation verbatim, essentially, Anderson Cooper & Ayaan Hirsi Ali agreed that in the United States of America, WE ALL write a letter like this, placing a target on our asses, and see how many of US Islamic religious adherents take out through assassination or poisoning, bombing, terror attacks.

In other words, the way to finally confront this b.s., is to ALL stand up, and make your own statement about
a religion that is so cruel, so ruthless in it's view of women, mothers, daughters, sisters, wives. I think when you SEE those stones hit this poor woman, and knock her back, and see the blood gushing ... you will see what cowards these men are.
Watch this film, therefore, and then write your own letter.
There are many of you who probably despise Islam, and Muslims, and Arabs.
That's not what I'm saying here.
I will from now on remember this film, and my support for any Islamic or Arabic nation where Sharia, in the 21st Century, allows a woman to be stoned to death.
Islam has had and until they find their way to a peaceful expression of Islam, will continue to have, a serious, perhaps even fatal inability to relate to modernity.

I would say the same thing for any religion that allows a segment of their census to justify such horrors. That certainly includes fundamentalist Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews, Sikhs, etc.

I do not, really, know how peace will come to Palestine.
On the other hand, I won't support Americans who act like we're joined @ the hip with Israel on foreign policy issues.

Israel has the population of Houston, TX. Think about that! We tie our fate to a nation with no more people than Houston, Texas!! That's insane! I'm sure not going to kiss my rear end goodbye in a nuclear war started over men who stone their women and Israelis who act like bullies and increasingly, become oppressors of Palestinians.

We've paid our dues for ignoring European Jews during the Holocaust. There's no doubt: the Holocaust may not have happened had Americans, and Europeans such as the British, have announced, when they knew it, that the Nazis were killing Jews in masses. I've studied the Holocaust for 45 years, and I know what horrible things the European Jews suffered through. However, that ticket has been punched repeatedly, until there's literally no more room for another punch. We've paid our dues for abandoning European Jews during the Holocaust.

One has to ask: have we stayed as joined @ the hip with the Slavery & Reparations Movement, as we have with "Israel can do no wrong" sentiments. Of course, not.

The Israelis just last week, could have used a variety of non-lethal means, munitions, techniques, to neutralize those boats taking supplies to Gazans. I know that. All you have to do is google "non-lethal crowd control devices," and you'll see plenty of them available. Having been through both TEAR GAS AND VOMIT GAS in Vietnam, I can tell you ... you get a lung full of both, you'll take off that gas mask as you vomit, or your mask will be filled with vomit.
I know that for a fact. I saw it happen.
Spraying sticky, cobweb type foams onto people, already in a hot, humid climate (such as off Gaza), which makes even the smallest move difficult, would also force people to take off their gas masks, making them vulnerable to Tear Gas and Vomit Gas. So, don't tell me Israel had to board those boats.

Islam cannot be a "peaceful religion" if any element of any Islamic national constitution said: "well, the Sharia IS, of course, the way we should or must govern." Sharia allows stoning to death for adultery.
Therefore, I cannot support that. If Muslims & Arabs want to run their country that way, fine.
This then becomes a Human Rights issue. And the Western World has shown it CAN, and DOES, change in response to oppression -- slavery, exterminationist policies against race or ethnic group, modern racism, kow towing to beligerent Muslims who want whatever society they're in to turn itself inside out for their beliefs, rather than existing within the nation's beliefs.

I hope you will watch the film.
Sharia has already happened in Afghanistan.
In Pakistan, which was the first true Islamic nation, it's happening more and more.
Idiots in Brooklyn, N.Y., support some form of Sharia law retribution for anyone who dares mock Mohamed.

In America, we mock all religious leaders and figureheads, equally. That's the American Way. Americans shouldn't allow themselves to be intimidated by threats that they'll get fatwaed to death.

So be it.

At some point, this phenomenon of Islam demanding the entire world bow to their beliefs about their religious principles, OR ELSE, RISK DEATH, must be resisted.

Watching this film will be a teeth clenching experience: but have the guts to watch.

Best to know what Islamists are: cowards.

Be ready to talk with any Muslim, however, anywhere in the world, who says: Yes, Islam should modernize. Islam should repudiate ALL double standard Sharia laws, and find their way into the 21st Century. And, that they must stand up and say, Islam no longer has any credibility as a peaceful religion if ONE stoning still happens!

I wonder if somehow, someone will knock on my door and blow me away, if this somehow gets out.

I don't really care.

Over time, I've stood for some unpopular ideas, and principles. I'm not about to turn into a pansy over this. I've been called, even recently, a "commie," and a "traitor," and a "liar about what I did in the war," and also a "coward," and a "piece of shit" because I wanted to read the names of the dead in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Big deal. As we used to say, in Army hospitals, when we were recovering from our wounds, and some chicken shit
sergeant told us to do some chicken shit thing:

What you gonna do? Send me to VEEE t NAAAM?

Jerry Eagan