Remember the old saying that for people to do evil things, you need religion [note: ok, the quote is actually from Steven Weinberg and is “Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you’d have good people doing good things and evil people doing bad things, but for good people to do bad things, it takes religion.”, but I wanted to save the space! Sue me!]? Well, here’s another great example of why this is true. You’ll find our usual moral compass can often be hijacked when following the code of ethics of now extinct civilizations.

Case in point: It is against Iranian law to execute a girl if she is a virgin. That’s why any young woman facing execution in Iran are typically ‘married’ to the prison guards who are then instructed to rape them. This is how the Ayatollahs want things to be run, and because they have religious infallibility on their side, they get their way.

I won’t even get into the details of why these women are killed in the first place; it could be from accidentally killing her male attacker (this is a fairly popular one, as it seems these are not the types of women you want to be messing with), or being a political dissident. The disturbing thing here is the guard being interviewed in this article doesn’t even sound like he wanted to do this at all. In fact, if anything, he seems most disturbed by his actions. How could he not be?

I could tell that the girls were more afraid of their ‘wedding’ night than of the execution that awaited them in the morning. And they would always fight back, so we would have to put sleeping pills in their food. By morning the girls would have an empty expression; it seemed like they were ready or wanted to die.

“I remember hearing them cry and scream after [the rape] was over,” he said. “I will never forget how this one girl clawed at her own face and neck with her finger nails afterwards. She had deep scratches all over her.”

Instinctually, there are bound to be certain religious doctrines we find morally repulsive, but the unfortunate thing here is our cultural and religious traditions discourage us from abandoning these terrible and dehumanizing practices.

France sure thinks so; President Sarkozy is backing moves to make it illegal in his country, and according to this article, Britain should follow suit. Saira Khan is a devoted Muslim woman who says the burqa not a religious tradition, but rather an ultra fundamentalist practice originating in Saudi Arabia that has no place in modern society. She believes these outfits are a type of female oppression, robbing women of their ability to interact with society and alienating them. Even worse, the practice has caused some women to develop rickets (a softening of the bones due to a lack of vitamin D) due to a lack of exposure to sunlight.

Many of my adult British/Muslim friends cover their heads with a headscarf – and I have no problem with that.

The burqa is an entirely different matter. It is an imported Saudi Arabian tradition, and the growing number of women veiling their faces in Britain is a sign of creeping radicalization, which is not just regressive, it is oppressive and downright dangerous.

The burqa is an extreme practice. It is never right for a woman to hide behind a veil and shut herself off from people in the community. But it is particularly wrong in Britain, where it is alien to the mainstream culture for someone to walk around wearing a mask.

I’m normally uncomfortable with the idea of banning anything; it doesn’t really set a precedent I’m too happy about (after all, what’s to prevent people from banning other religious symbols and practices, or even non-religious ones), but in the case of burqas, I can understand why it’s necessary. After all, although I’m sure many Muslims claim the decision to wear them is entirely up to women, we all know the ‘choice’ to do so was never theirs to begin with. The burqa has come to symbolize the fundamental incompatibility of conservative Islam with modern society, and is a repressive tool to control and segregate women.

I think it’s important to mention not all forms of traditional Muslim clothing are being targeted here: just burqas. The custom has no place in a country where women are treated as equal members of society. Banning anything isn’t something we should take lightly, but we cannot allow an obviously sexist and demeaning tradition from taking place on our soil. Being tolerant of religion does not mean we must accept every single tradition and ritual of any religion. We don’t allow many voodoo ceremonies for both health and animal cruelty reasons. Forcing women to completely veil themselves and act in a submissive manner towards men does not reflect the values that define our modern society. There are plenty of places where this sort of thing is allowed; to those who object to the burqa being banned, might I suggest relocating there.

The Kunduz province in northern Afghanistan is in turmoil. Although there is a German military base there, 600 soldiers have to patrol and defend an area the size of Massachusetts. The Taliban has been gaining ground rapidly, threatening to kill school girls if they try to attend class. School administrators are powerless to do anything about it, and scared parents are capitulating to the treats.

If you recall, the Taliban takes a very literal approach to the Qur’an, which discourages the education of women. The region right now is a mess, and if this trend continues, it is only a matter of time before these guys take over again.

Afghanistan is a complete mess of a country. The place has never (and I mean never) had a stable government for more than 60 years since the 11th century. Because each province is almost a miniature country in itself, small yet organized religious/paramilitary forces can impose their will on the population with little resistance.

All of this violence and conflict is entirely based on religion. Softies like Karen Armstrong might try to tell you that at their core, all religions preach peace, compassion and tolerance, but the true purpose of religion is control; Islam means submission, not compassion. In this case, the ability to control the population of Kunduz with fear, intimidation, and murder. Wow, what a religion of peace, eh?

People sometimes criticize me for taking such a strong stance against Islam. I’m told it’s a religion of peace by many of its practitioners. I’d like very much to believe them, but the actions of its strictest adherents continues to shock and dismay. Take this story in Saudi Arabia where 15 school girls died in a fire. Their deaths could have been prevented, but the rescue was hindered by the fact the police would not let them out of the building because they were dressed too provocatively.

It’s one of those tragedies you wish was a joke. Surely, no human being could possibly prevent someone from leaving a burning building for not obeying the dress code, right? Well, Saudi Arabia benefits from a religious police force called the ‘Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice’, which is just a long winded nomenclature for what is essentially a thought police. These guys are feared, and they enforce dress codes, prayers and sexual segregation with intimidation, beatings, and incarceration. If you want an example of police who’s main duty is the subjugation of its citizens rather than their protection, look no further.

The school was already a death trap, the doors having been locked down prior to the fire in accordance to segregation policy. The police only added to the tragedy by literally beating anyone who tried to go in or come out. That 15 women died seems of little concern to them; after all, they were only women in their eyes.

I’m supposed to believe the bullshit story this religion is peaceful rather than the misogynistic, barbaric and morally bankrupt belief it is? Sorry, but in my book, a religion is judged by it’s actions. So far, Islam has proven itself to be incompatible with our modern values, and free thinkers like myself will continue to warn people against its tyranny.