BoCo

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Christian beaten to death in hospital by Muslim cop
Policeman: 'I have offered my religious duty ... I'm spiritually satisfied'
Posted: May 30, 2004, 1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com


Samuel Masih was buried in Lahore, Pakistan, yesterday following injuries he received from a Muslim policeman who beat the 27-year-old Christian with a hammer as he lay in his hospital bed recovering from a bout of tuberculosis.

Masih had been in jail since Aug. 23, 2003, awaiting trial on charges of blasphemy under Pakistan's strict "Law 295" – which forbids desecrating the Quran and "defiling" the name of Islam's prophet, Muhammad. On the day of his arrest, Masih was collecting garden rubbish, which he heaped temporarily against the wall of a mosque in Lahore's Lawrence Gardens section while collecting more that he planned to burn later. This action brought the blasphemy charge, which carries a maximum two-year prison sentence.

He had been held in the Lahore Central Jail for nine months when he had a severe tuberculosis attack and was transferred to a local hospital. According to reports in the Lahore Daily Times, the constable assigned to guard the prisoner's room at the hospital, Officer Faryad Ali, savagely beat Masih with a hammer used for cutting bricks after learning he had been accused of strewing garbage near the mosque's walls.

Faryad Ali, who has been jailed and charged with murder, reportedly told investigators it was his religious duty as a Muslim to kill the Christian man. According to Voice of the Martyrs, he is reported to have said, "I have offered my religious duty for killing the man. I'm spiritually satisfied and ready to face the consequences."

"This is another example of the danger our brothers and sisters in Pakistan face every day," said Todd Nettleton, VOM spokesman.

Baboo Emmanuel, Masih's father, told the Daily Times he did not know his son was in jail until approximately four months ago. A whitewasher by trade, Masih was frequently away for extended periods while working. But even when informed of his incarceration for blasphemy, the family did not pursue the case because of fear of the police. No one defended him on the charge.

"Poverty, society’s pressure and the lawless wild police system prevented me from following my son's case, Masih's father told the Daily Times.

The Christian minority's fear of the police and Pakistan's blasphemy laws were themes echoed by Lahore Archbishop Lawrence J. Saldanha who led the procession of 500 mourners at Masih's funeral.

"Sections 295 B and C and Section 298 A, B and C of the PPC are vague and can be interpreted in ways that cause suffering and death and devastating pain to society," Saldanha said. "The existence of these laws gives rise to injustices. It is usually the poor and weak who are the victims."

Masih's father, emboldened by the support of several human-rights non-governmental organizations and media publicity, is asking the government to investigate the basis for the blasphemy charge against his son. No one in his senses would attempt blasphemy, he insisted to the Daily Times. "Particularly a person who belongs to a minority would never dare to do so because of the extreme sentence provided in the law," he said. Emanuel believes his son became a victim because he belonged to a minority.

According to human rights groups, Pakistan's blasphemy law is much abused and frequently used to settle personal grudges. Where convictions are made, most are overturned on appeal. However, Reuters notes that several Christians and Muslims accused of blasphemy have been killed by "religious fanatics" while in prison or police custody.

"This is a brutal act of terrorism committed by the police constable and a clear misuse of blasphemy law," said Shahbaz Bhatti, president of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance. "This is the time that government should abolish blasphemy law."

President Pervez Musharraf has called for a review of Pakistan's system of strict Islamic law, including the laws against blasphemy introduced in the 1970s during the regime of military dictator Gen. Zia-ul-Haq.

At first, the police reportedly refused to let the family take Masih's body to the church for a Christian funeral, insisting they take the corpse home and bury him quickly. The assistant superintendent of police told the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan this was done to avoid any political protests.

"This is an individual’s case against an individual," he said. "We do not want to make it a political issue."

The family was latter permitted to take the body to Sacred Heart Cathedral for the funeral which was peaceful and without incident.
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LINK

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lurkette

Do you have something to say about the article? It's generally frowned upon to just post something without commentary.

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- Anatole France

BoCo

I think the article speaks for itself.

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zxello

/rant on

fucking religious fanatics piss me off, its your not fucking RELIGIOUS DUTY to end another mans life, its your stupid fucking better-than-thou attitude and selfish need to see the XX number of virgins in paradise for 'killing an infidel'. fuck your stupid muhammed, the dude thought up your religion in a FUCKING CAVE. agghhhh!

/rant off

well that was my ethnically insensitive rant for the week, that actually makes me feel ALOT better now that I have said that.... wow.... if that offends someone, get over it.

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Old signature just wasn't doing it for me anymore, so now I have this new one. It's equally as stupid but at least it looks really long. I'm probably just going to keep typing until I run out of things to babble about and see how many people actually read this. I once ran down a hill, fell down and hurt my elbow; my mom said I would be ok, she kissed it and made it all better. I've run out of things to say now, so if you have read this whole thing, congratulations you get a gold star!

fnaqzna

Really? Last I checked Christians (and Jews) have their own versions of fanatics as well.

BoCo

/sarcasm on

But you must remember, zxello, the man placed a bag a garbage against the wall of a mosque.

/sarcasm off

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Kostya

More accurately: Muslim policeman kills Christian = to Christian prison guard kills Muslim POW = Hindu milkman kills Zoroastrian vegetarian travelling salesman.

Your approach is ridiculous.

Killing is the issue here.

I mean according to Muslims see, Muhammad didn't 'think up' his religion, it was the final and ultimate revelation. It just so happened to occur in a cave, or so we've been told. What's your point, their religion isn't legitimate enough cause Muhammad recieved his revelation in a cave? Moses went up on a mountain alone to get the Torah, Jesus hung out in caves an awful lot.

Admittedly this event is terrible, but it has nothing to do with Islam and a lot to do with that guy being an idiot. Those ultrahardline Christians who shot abortion doctors said the same thing.

H12

Yep, bingo...and those doctor-killing Christians are just as blind as Faryad Ali is. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't "Thou shalt not kill." one of the Ten Commandments? Just because someone doesn't believe in the same religion as you does NOT give you the right to kill, and one should be ashamed for thinking that.

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Esco

Well, the guy killed him because he felt it was his religious "duty". I'd say it, along with the other examples of Muslim extremeism, certainly makes it a "religious" issue.

For the most part, most major religions have evolved past the "torture and death" methods in the name of religion. Why has this religion been slower to evolve?

BoCo

The commandment is "Thou shalt not murder." There's a difference between killing and murdering.

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filtherton

Wasn't timothy mcveigh a christian? Why has christianity been so slow to evolve?

waltert

I think all I religions lend themselves to fanatics. It'll be a happy day when I see religion phased out of politics....either that or humans exterminate themselves. There was a woman in TX who murdered her 3 children with rocks because "god told her to"...crazy bitch, I dont know how you can deny the death penalty to someone like that...

nanofever

Guess what, every religion has its fanatical members who use the religion as a shield to perform horrible acts. This article is simply more anti-Muslim propaganda pumped-out by a pro-neocon mouthpiece. I really wish the "Religious Right" would read this and learn what happens when government gets entangled with religion. Our founding fathers had enough sense to separate the two, I wish that current politicians and citizens both would learn from past and current examples.

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Originally Posted by Norseman on another forum:
"Yeah, the problem with the world is the stupid people are all cocksure of themselves and the intellectuals are full of doubt."

pan6467

In regards to topic murder is murder, no matter who does it. And what many seem to forget is that there are fanatics in all religions. Christians have theirs, (there are some that bomb abortion clinics, the KKK is loaded with supposed Christians, as are the Neo-Nazi Aryans.)

One of the ways most every organized religion keeps it's power is to say that that particular religion is the "only true religion of God". By that alone it inspires a certain percentage of fanaticism of the religion and hatred towards other religions. Hatred and fanaticism combined almost always leads to violence. So this headline could have read Jew kills Christin, Hindu Kills Maoist, whatever. But by having it the way it does read, it inspires more hatred and fanaticism and fuels those who believe this terrorism and war basically come down to religion. (Which the terrorism and war truly have nothing to do with religion.)


Every Bible I've ever read, the 6th Commandment says "Thou shalt not kill", it doesn't say "thou shalt not murder".

One could say the Bible meant murder, BUT, you state killing and murder are different so, if that is the case, one cannot substitue murder for kill in the Bible.

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I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

nanofever

"The individual commandments 6 to 10:


6th Commandment; Verse 13: "Thou shalt not kill."


The Hebrew word "ratsach" is translated as "kill" in the King James Version, Revised Standard Version, American Standard Version, and some other translations of the Bible. However, it is difficult to apply this in practice. Killing chickens and beef cattle is legal now as it was in biblical times. Nobody today is concerned about pulling vegetables from the garden, even though it kills them. The word "ratsach" is commonly believed to describe the premeditated killing of a human. It requires that the victim be a human being. Many translations translate "ratsach" as "murder" in this verse.


This Commandment is not absolute. Not all murders are forbidden. Hebrew Scriptures specify many grounds for which this commandment is to be ignored, and a guilty party executed. Persons found guilty of temple prostitution, engaged women who are seduced by a man other than her future husband, women who practice black magic, some women who are raped in urban areas, children who cursed their parents, some non-virgin brides, Jews who collect firewood on Saturday to keep their families from freezing, persons proselytizing in favor of another religion, persons worshiping a deity other than Yahweh, strangers who entered the temple, etc; all were to be executed.


A few centuries ago, it was believed that male sperm contained large numbers of tiny babies which only required a woman's womb to grow and be born. Under that belief system, masturbation could be considered an act of mass murder. We now know that pregnancy requires conception, and that a unique DNA is formed at that time. But society has never reached a consensus on the definition of when human personhood begins. Unfortunately, the Ten Commandments and the rest of the Bible give us no guidance on this matter. Thus, it does not help us decide about when, if ever, abortions are acceptable. If the Bible had defined when the start of personhood occurs, there might not be so much conflict over abortion today.


There are tens of thousands of violations of this commandment yearly in North America. Most are done by criminals who shoot people. A few dozen murders are committed by civil servants, who are employed by the state to kill inmates on death row with premeditation. Soldiers are often called upon to murder other humans, sometimes in self-defense, and other times in order to achieve a military objective. There are other biblical passages and a great deal of theological reasoning which have provided justification for the latter two actions.


Joshua and his army violated this commandment on numerous occasional as they marched through Canaan, apparently with God's approval. They were often ordered by God to commit genocide by killing every Pagan man, woman, youth, child, and newborn who lived in various cities of Canaan.


Some pacifist Christians take this commandment very seriously. They will not violate this commandment, even during times of war. Quakers, Mennonites and others are frequently able to volunteer for alternate service during wartime in order to conform to this commandment.


Historically, many Christian groups interpreted the Commandment as if it read "Thou shalt not murder people inside your group." The Christian Church has committed genocide many times in its history, exterminating such groups as the Cathars and Knights Templar. Starting in the late 15th century and continuing for 300 years, both Protestants and Roman Catholics rounded up heretics and suspected Satan worshipers; the church executed many tens of thousands of them -- often by burning them alive. The Crusades against the Muslims are another indication of the misuse of this Commandment. In recent times, Serbian Orthodox Christians organized a major religiously-motivated genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina, largely against Muslims.


The Westminster Larger Catechism extends this commandment to include the "immoderate use of meat, drink, labor, and recreations; provoking words, oppression, quarreling," etc. It is not clear how they expanded the meaning of this verse to such an extreme."

http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_10c9.htm

These seemed to be the best answer that wasn't pandering to one agenda or another (abortion, death penalty, ect). The majority of my googling did say that word is actually "murder" not kill and that the KJV bonked on this one.

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I'm leaving for the University of California: Santa Barbara in 5 hours, give me your best college advice - things I need, good ideas, bad ideas, nooky, ect.

Originally Posted by Norseman on another forum:
"Yeah, the problem with the world is the stupid people are all cocksure of themselves and the intellectuals are full of doubt."

mingusfingers

Stupid people doin stupid stuff...I wonder if there's a way to pick them out, and round them all up into a big pit of mud.

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Hrothgar

I'm still having difficulty getting past the whole "killed by a hammer" thing.

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KWSN

the shame about this is that it becomes an easy thing to use for making up generalizations about religions. it could have been two white guys in new jersey and one MIGHT have been muslim, but that wouldn't have been bought up. sigh.

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zxello

I don't give a shit what religion you are, if you use your religion as an excuse to kill someone, then your a dumbass religious fanatic. I personally, am agnostic, so I actually think this gives me a little bit of a 3rd person point of view on this, because my 'religion' doesn't affect why I dislike religious fanatics.....

oh, and note : the ten commandments apply to christian / catholic / jew, not muslim / islamic =P

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Old signature just wasn't doing it for me anymore, so now I have this new one. It's equally as stupid but at least it looks really long. I'm probably just going to keep typing until I run out of things to babble about and see how many people actually read this. I once ran down a hill, fell down and hurt my elbow; my mom said I would be ok, she kissed it and made it all better. I've run out of things to say now, so if you have read this whole thing, congratulations you get a gold star!

zxello

it wouldn't have been brought up in this situation either had it not been the fact that Faryad publicly declared that he killed the man because he was christian.

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Old signature just wasn't doing it for me anymore, so now I have this new one. It's equally as stupid but at least it looks really long. I'm probably just going to keep typing until I run out of things to babble about and see how many people actually read this. I once ran down a hill, fell down and hurt my elbow; my mom said I would be ok, she kissed it and made it all better. I've run out of things to say now, so if you have read this whole thing, congratulations you get a gold star!

Phaenx

The whole "but christians are bad too" argument doesn't hold so much water with me nowadays. I've studied them quite a bit this past quarter in college and muslims have a high enough oddness percentage that makes me naturally suspicious of them now.

So I'm going to stick with an otherwise uncool blanket generalization and continue to think their culture is fucked up and wierd.

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glasscutter43

Another example of people killing each other over who has the best imaginary friend.

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Book 'em Danno

brianna

to use your logic: there are way more black in jail than whites so i'm going to just assume from here on out that all african americans are violent criminals.

pre-judging 1.3 billion people (the estimated nubmer of islams in the world http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html) based on what the US media chooses to report about the actions of a few is immature and ignorant.

KWSN

and it would be nice if the media ignored it. any motive is the same, it's a murder.

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Your arms are broken!

zxello

well, is it not a fact that in SOME areas, certain races and in the case of this murder, certain religions ARE more violent than others and deserve a blanket generalization? (just a thought, not my actual opinion)

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Old signature just wasn't doing it for me anymore, so now I have this new one. It's equally as stupid but at least it looks really long. I'm probably just going to keep typing until I run out of things to babble about and see how many people actually read this. I once ran down a hill, fell down and hurt my elbow; my mom said I would be ok, she kissed it and made it all better. I've run out of things to say now, so if you have read this whole thing, congratulations you get a gold star!

MSD

World Net Daily is about as biased as you can get. Their far-right Christian fundamentalist slant is helped by obscure stories like this that, when sensationalized, fuel the bigotry that they promote and cherish. The only function of the site is to reinforce the views of those who agree with them and, I can only imagine, separate them further from reality.


It showed up a few hundred years later

BoCo

What they do is report a lot of stories that the rest of the more left-biased media won't.

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MSD

I will admit to this, but I must also add that they weave in a pattern of hate that serves to further polarize the far-right readers and further alienate the left-wingers and moderates. What concerns me is that those right-wingers who see sites like this as the only like-minded thinkers will subconsciously assimilate this pattern of hate into their own minds, many without even realizing it.

BoCo

I'm about as far to the right as one can get, yet I hate no one, only their actions.

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Kostya

I find it interesting that you use the word evolved there.

Firstly, I fail to see how Christianty could possibly have evolved past murder and torture, since Jesus didn't advocate it, and in fact according to the Gospels completely opposed it. It's not part of Christianity to kill or torture.

Similarly Muhammad gave strict and unequivocal instructions that 'Children of the Book' that is Christians and Jews are not to be harmed outside a battle situation. What this policeman did was nothing to do with Islam since it's not part of the religion.

What it is a person killing another person, under the banner of a religion that doesn't advocate his actions in the slghtest just as the people who bombed abortion clinics did something Jesus would never have agreed with.

Phaenx: I'm not saying Christians are bad, nor am I saying Muslims are bad, since people who do these things are Muslims and Christians in name only.

So my point is no it is not a religious issue.

BoCo

The policeman specifically said that he killed the man because he was a Christian, and he felt it was his responsibility as a Muslim.

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denim

So the Crusades, backed by the Popes of their time IIRC, didn't happen. gottit. Tell the Moslems that.

Stud

OH MY! I would never use World Net Daily as a source and I would be embarrassed if anyone used it in support of my argument(s).

This is no better than the ultra-liberal rags that float around.

Say what you will about CNN and BBC but they are head and shoulders about this cr@p.

Stud

Not in anyone who is now livings lifetime. If you want to go back far enough you can justify any hatred. That is not healthy.

denim

There's this thing called "reality", right? I'm just reminding you of it. Both Jews and Christians have gone through a virulent phase. The main problem now is that the Moslems don't have the benefit of difficult travel and communication to help them mature. Instead, they have to do it very quickly.

Stud

I have no idea what you mean by that.

brianna

ok, fine it was about this one man's very warped interpretation of religion. *Claiming* an action in the name of a god or a religion does not implicate the entire religion.

Stud

The fact that I do not see these mysterious followers of this specific religion condemn these acts and acts like it does implicate the entire religion in my eyes.

denim

Figures. Very sad. Perhaps you should read some history about the topic before you post further.

zxello

but that does make him a religious fanatic, and for everyone that keeps saying this isn't a religious issue, and/or these people do this 'for their religion' by name only, then they are doing it for their religion.

and this isn't just one man, this kind of thing happens EVERY day!

__________________
Old signature just wasn't doing it for me anymore, so now I have this new one. It's equally as stupid but at least it looks really long. I'm probably just going to keep typing until I run out of things to babble about and see how many people actually read this. I once ran down a hill, fell down and hurt my elbow; my mom said I would be ok, she kissed it and made it all better. I've run out of things to say now, so if you have read this whole thing, congratulations you get a gold star!