OPINION:
Brunei, a country that just adopted Shariah law, halted its plans to stone to death gays and adulterers after facing substantial outcries from the international community.
How nice of Brunei.
“Brunei says it won’t enforce death penalty for gay sex,” BBC News wrote in a headline.
“Brunei Says It Won’t Execute Gays After Protests of Stoning Law,” The New York Times reported.
And The Times went on with this: “Critics of the country’s newly enacted Islamic laws said several other harsh punishments remain on the books, including whipping and amputation, and they have called for continued opposition until the laws are completely revised.”
So no deaths by stoning — just some good old-fashioned hand amputations instead.
Sharia, thy name is grateful?
Here’s a thought: Any government concession that puts its citizens in the position of saying ’thank you for not killing us for having gay sex’ is probably not so much a concession as it is a revelation of a horrific system of governance.
Free societies don’t slaughter its gay citizens. Free societies don’t kill adulterers. And free societies certainly don’t expect its gay or adulterous citizens to turn around and say, Thank you, Mr. Government, for not stoning me to death — Thank you, Mr. Government, for only chopping off my hands.
But who said Shariah is free, right?
Aside from the Democrats and leftists and Muslim apologists of the world, that is, who like to scream loudly of equality and women’s rights and tolerance and diversity for all, while turning blind eyes to the tragedies of strict Islamic law.
“The sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, said Sunday that his country had gone decades without carrying out the death penalty, and it would continue its de facto moratorium on executions despite the new punishments codified last month under a harsh interpretation of Islamic law,” The Times went on to report.
Again, how nice.
So gays and adulterous won’t be killed — they’ll just live under the shadow of a law that says they could be killed at any moment. For instance, at a moment when the international community isn’t looking. Or, at a moment when the sultan’s whims change. Or, at a moment when the pressures from Shariah proponents grow too great and the government caves to the stone-throwers.
This is not a concession. This is not a freedom.
This is an underscore of the horrors and disgusting intolerance and soul-rotting realities of Shariah — which should serve as a warning to any country with growing Muslim populations.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.
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