Every morning, I have a wake-up routine of sorts...make coffee and check my Google newsfeed. For the past month, several articles have stood out to me, but today, one in particular caught my attention. After reading about Teresa Lewis' death sentence, I immediately thought of Siddiqa in Afghanistan, though the parallel may not be immediately clear.
Killing someone is obviously illegal. Teresa Lewis arranged for her husband and step-son to be murdered. Siddiqa was a willing participant in an "illegal sexual relationship". Teresa Lewis is to die by lethal injection on Thursday (and will be the first woman executed in Virginia since 1912). On August 15, Siddiqa and her lover, Khayyam, were stoned to death by their fathers, brothers, cousins, uncles and neighbors (the first Taliban-ordered stoning in nine years). Both were cases of breaking the law. Both were or will be public executions.
Exodus 21:23 states, "But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise." Mahatma Ghandi said, "An eye for an eye and the whole world goes blind." The Bible goes on further to say in Matthew 5, "If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also...You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." I don't know that any of the parties involved in these cases "deserved" their punishments, necessarily. As an American citizen, I look at what happened with the couple in Afghanistan and I hardly think that eloping is a crime. Especially not one worth torture and death. Maybe citizens of Afghanistan see what happened with Teresa Lewis and feel that hers is not a case worthy of capital punishment (not to say that I do). I don't understand the legal system in America, let alone the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan. I do know that both of these stories made me sad.
Always,
Stina
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