I have no idea what went down, or how, or who really said what. I wasn’t there, and neither were most everyone else who has an opinion on the matter. All I know is that what is at stake here, literally and figuratively, is a life and death argument over spit.
Apparently a Pakistani Christian woman better known as Asia Bibi, was working the fields, outnumbered by Muslim women, when she drank from the well. Bibi’s “filthy” Christian lips touched their communal drinking cup. An argument escalated where religious insults where hurled from both sides and suddenly someone must die due to blasphemy. That’s quite a short trip from point A to point B.
Out of this whole incident, my focus was drawn to one word:
Filthy.
Many races and religions have been deemed unclean by others, also followed by death and justification thereof. The most famous union of such words might be:
Dirty Jew.
Go ahead, play along. Keep the word “dirty”, or replace it with lazy or stupid. Then, change “Jew” to another race, color, gender or creed. Any new combinations will unfortunately not make for a unique pairing of words.
As we have learned, just because the majority cries foul doesn’t mean they’re right.
Back to case in point. Instead of entertaining hearsay arguments of who said what, a scientific approach would reveal irrefutable evidence. It isn’t mentioned who all brushed, flossed, and rinsed prior to using the cup. Therefore, all parties should be subject to an oral hygiene inspection, including a full report regarding bacterial populations, and any cavities or gum disease. This would determine who really has the foul mouth. Then, that person’s mouth should be washed out with soap.
Disaster averted.
In light of what is happening, you can’t tell me that my proposed resolution isn’t any more ridiculous.
The United States sends Pakistan a lot of money:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_aid_to_Pakistan
Ironically, large chunks of dough are for education and fighting terrorism.
Perhaps some of this funding is responsible for the learned minority’s backlash regarding archaic blasphemy laws. Conversely, how can the Pakistan majority even know what a terrorist is, when the general public is lined up in the streets holding up signs in favor of killing a woman, in the name of God, over a cup of water?
Wilfred Knight
Author of Sex in the Name of God
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