Dear Editor,
People should have the freedom to express their ideas on any subject if they are not maliciously offensive to others. Journalists should have the freedom to report if they are not knowingly engaging in untruths. People should not be condemned to death for expressing reasonable views on any subject even on religion. We are not in the medieval age of stoning people to death for innocent comments.
In Saudi Arabia, two writers were sentenced to death for simply writing a few harmless lines to the effect that Christianity and Judaism should be respected. The religious leaders in Saudi Arabia took offence and prosecuted the writers for making such a comment in the land of Mohammed which some ancient laws prohibit. The religious judge condemned the two writers to death even though clearly no apostasy was intended or committed.
These innocent scribes did not attack any faith or condemn any religious belief. They simply penned a view that hurt no one and were rewarded with a death sentence.
Arab human rights activists and writers have condemned the Saudi religious edict calling for the execution of two writers. According to a commentary in the London Guardian newspaper, Arab groups called the religious fatwa “intellectual terrorism” from “clerics of darkness”. They called for rescinding of the fatwa and tolerance for the views of others.
I would be surprised if King Fahd allows the execution to go forward. But the men should not have been prosecuted in the first place. They committed no heresy or apostasy against Islam.
Religious leaders must respect the views of others even when they are not in agreement. Writers should be free to express views on religion but not negate the beliefs of others.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
