Two Iranian Christian women jailed for distributing bibles

They were later declared "National Security Risks."

http://www.fcnn.com/index.php?option=com_conten...

National Security Risks? Two Christian women constitute a threat to Iran's security? How powerful an influence Christianity must wield! Might it be that the Iranian authorities recognise the appeal Christianity would have to the people under their jackboot, leading to ultimate collapse of their barbaric rule? I reckon so.

More people are killed by Islamists each year than in all 350 years of the Spanish Inquisition combined. (source) The Wikeepedia
IN DEFENSE OF THE INQUISITION:





Other offenses
Two priests ask a heretic to repent as he is tortured.

Although the Inquisition was created to halt the advance of heresy, it also occupied itself with a wide variety of offences that only indirectly could be related to religious heterodoxy. Of a total of 49,092 trials from the period 1560–1700 registered in the archive of the Suprema, appear the following: judaizantes (5,007); moriscos (11,311); Lutherans (3,499); alumbrados (149); superstitions (3,750); heretical propositions (14,319); bigamy (2,790); solicitation (1,241); offences against the Holy Office of the Inquisition (3,954); miscellaneous (2,575).[citation needed]

This data demonstrates that not only New Christians (conversos of Jewish or Islamic descent) and Protestants faced investigation, but also professing Catholics could be targeted for various reasons.

The category "superstitions" includes trials related to witchcraft. The witch-hunt in Spain had much less intensity than in other European countries (particularly France, England, and Germany). One remarkable case was that of Logroño, in which the witches of Zugarramurdi in Navarre were persecuted. During the auto de fé that took place in Logroño on November 7 and November 8, 1610, 6 people were burned and another 5 burned in effigy.[36] In general, nevertheless, the Inquisition maintained a sceptical attitude towards cases of witchcraft, considering it as a mere superstition without any basis. Alonso de Salazar Frías, who, after the trials of Logroño took the Edict of Faith to various parts of Navarre, noted in his report to the Suprema that, "There were no witches nor bewitched in the region after beginning to speak and write about them".[37]

Included under the rubric of heretical propositions were verbal offences, from outright blasphemy to questionable statements regarding religious beliefs, from issues of sexual morality, to misbehaviour of the clergy. Many were brought to trial for affirming that simple fornication (sex without the explicit aim of procreation) was not a sin or for putting in doubt different aspects of Christian faith such as Transubstantiation or the virginity of Mary. Also, members of the clergy itself were occasionally accused of heretical propositions. These offences rarely lead to severe penalties.

The Inquisition also pursued offences against morals, at times in open conflict with the jurisdictions of civil tribunals. In particular, there were numerous trials for bigamy, a relatively frequent offence in a society that only permitted divorce under the most extreme circumstances. In the case of men, the penalty was five years in the galley (tantamount to a death sentence). Women too were accused of bigamy. Also, many cases of solicitation during confession were adjudicated, indicating a strict vigilance over the clergy.

Inquisitorial repression of the sexual offences of homosexuality and bestiality, considered, according to Canon Law, crimes against nature, merits separate attention. Homosexuality, known at the time as sodomy, was punished by death by civil authorities. It fell under the jurisdiction of the Inquisition only in the territories of Aragon, when, in 1524, Clement VII, in a papal brief, granted jurisdiction over sodomy to the Inquisition of Aragon, whether or not it was related to heresy. In Castile, cases of sodomy were not adjudicated, unless related to heresy. The tribunal of Zaragoza distinguished itself for its severity in judging these offences: between 1571 and 1579 more than 100 men accused of sodomy were processed and at least 36 were executed; in total, between 1570 and 1630 there were 534 trials and 102 executions.[38]

In 1815, Francisco Xavier de Mier y Campillo, the Inquisitor General of the Spanish Inquisition and the Bishop of Almería, suppressed Freemasonry and denounced the lodges as “societies which lead to atheism, to sedition and to all errors and crimes.”[39] He then instituted a purge during which Spaniards could be arrested on the charge of being “suspected of Freemasonry”.[39]

Well said Beejj, I can't improve on what you've said, but I can try to add to it. These Iranian actions, once again, put the lie to the words of all Muslims. A religion of peace does not act intollerantly to other religions. Also, Isn't imprisonment like this a form of terrorism? Christians did things like this during the Inquisition, and learned how wrong it is, but Isalm has been doing it for 1300 years and still hasn't learned.

This isn't a case of exremist Muslims acting on their own either. Iran is a Muslim theocracy, Muslims rule the country, moderate Muslims dare not speak out or they suffer the same fate or worse. Where are the world's Muslim moderates here? Why are they not speaking out against Iran? Until the actions of moderate Muslims produce more concrete results, I have to conclude they either don't exist, or are impotent.

This inflames me to such an extent that I, a confirmed atheist, would commit murder to ensure these women might distribute Bibles. If you think that puts me in the same shit cart as Muslims, then think more deeply.

This is highly revealing, though, isn't it? Do Christian countries and Israel forbid the distribution of the Koran? Of course not. Why, then, do intensely Muslim countries forbid distribution of the Bible? There can only be one logical answer: that they are afraid. The Bible is a book that, for all its faults (in my opinion - a purely personal opinion) gives people hope and a reason for striving to live, whereas the Koran imprisons people to the ravings of a particularly nasty piece of work who had his axe to grind. The Bible has an undeniable nobility (and incomparably beautiful prose in the King James version, which I adore: what can equal David's lament?), but the Koran, for all its attempts at linguistic decoration is the agenda of a man who seeks power.

Islam, your days of influence are short-lived, and you know it.

I'm pretty sure you would not like the results if you were found with a Koran during the Insurrections. Our western societies progressed and with it the major religions in them. Most Muslim countries and Islam still has to make this progression, and it will take a long time, probably multiple generations.

I agree, liquidpele. How long will it take them? Probably forever.