Celebrate A Life…Save A Life
Posted by Michelle Moquin on July 6th, 2010
Torn.
I went to bed last night with much on my mind. On the one hand there is so much to be blessed about in life, so much to be grateful for…and on the other, there is so much disgust and devastation. I woke up to joy and HOPE, followed by frustration and anger. Ah…who am I kidding? I wake up every morning feeling mixed emotions - that is life. So…what to write about?
Torn between two…
…I decided to write about both.
TODAY is the Dalai Lama’s 75th Birthday.
This inspiring, uplifting, incredible spiritual leader of Tibet has spent over 50 years in exile. And yet in spite of this, he continues to preach peace and compassion, in HOPE for a more peaceful world. Many are inspired by His Holiness’s words of wisdom, including myself.
But the question is, “What are we doing separately and as a collective community to bring about peace and create a peaceful world for all?” And truly if we really want to be real and honest, the question is, “Does everyone really want peace to come to all?” I think we know the answer to that question. As much as we want to believe that everyone wants peace for everyone, many people do not. But I feel like I’m going negative here when I want to celebrate His Holiness’s birthday. His unwavering desire and commitment for world peace.
On this day when my thoughts can pull me in contrasting directions, I choose which way I want to go and I choose to hold onto HOPE and led by faith, sometimes blindly. Faith. I used to struggle with faith..possessing it. But over the years I have turned into a big believer, and faith is my friend.
This is my thoughts: If not believing makes things not happen, then the opposite is just as true: “Believing will make things happen.”
So…I grasp onto the Dalai Lama’s words of wisdom, mix them in with my own, and toss in the HOPE that President Obama brings us in these challenging times. What do I end up with? A recipe for my own designer brand of brew for HOPE & FAITH: My PEACE POTION :) It works for me. And somehow I believe, I have faith, that my peace potion mixed in with the collective HOPE of this planet will see us through.
If you want to mix your own peace potion for his planet, perhaps the words of His Holiness will help you mix your own designer brand of brew.
What do you think?
Happy Birthday His Holiness!
So…we have celebrated LIFE, now it is time to save a LIFE.
Sakineh Mohammadie Ashtiani, Iran Mother, Could Be Stoned To Death At Any Moment
A 42-year-old mother of two faces the punishment of death by stoning in Iran after authorities convicted her of adultery. And according to Mina Ahadi, who heads the International Committee Against Stoning and the Death Penalty, only international pressure can help save her.
As Ahadi told CNN: “Legally it’s all over. It’s a done deal. Sakineh can be stoned at any minute.”
The woman, Sakineh Mohammadie Ashtiani, who is from Tabriz, was convicted of “adultery while being married” in 2006 and has already received a punishment of 99 lashes. Should the execution go forward, Ashtiani will be buried up to her chest (for men it is to the waist) and then pelted with stones that are large enough to inflict severe damage but no so large as to kill the person instantly, says Amnesty International,citing Article 104 of Iran’s Penal Code.
Here’s how Ashtiani’s case reached this point, as reported in the Guardian:
Sakineh already endured a sentence of 99 lashes, but her case was re-opened when a court in Tabriz suspected her of murdering her husband. She was acquitted, but the adultery charge was reviewed and a death penalty handed down on the basis of “judge’s knowledge” – a loophole that allows for subjective judicial rulings where no conclusive evidence is present.
Mohammad Mostafaei told CNN last week that Ashtiani may not have been fully capable of understanding the court proceedings due to the fact that she speaks Turkish and not Farsi.
Her son Sajad told the Guardian recently, “She’s innocent, she’s been there for five years for doing nothing.”
Amnesty International, citing Ashtiani’s case among others, called for Iran to halt all executions last week.
Whenever I read or hear of this barbaric act, I am stunned.
This woman will be buried up to her chest and stones will be hurled at her. Stones not large enough to kill immediately, but large enough to cause her a great deal of pain and eventual death. It is shocking to me that we allow such a barbaric act to be legal. This brutality has got to be buried for good. No pun intended at all.
“The majority of those sentenced to death by stoning are women, who suffer disproportionately from such punishment,” the human rights group said in a 2008 report.
On Wednesday, Amnesty made a new call to the Iranian government to immediately halt all executions and commute all death sentences. The group has recorded 126 executions in Iran from the start of this year to June 6.
“The organization is also urging the authorities to review and repeal death penalty laws, to disclose full details of all death sentences and executions and to join the growing international trend towards abolition,” the statement said.
Ahadi, who fled Iran in the early 1980s, told CNN that pressure from Amnesty and other organizations and individuals is likely the only way to save Ashtiani.
“Experience shows (that) … when the pressure gets very high, the Islamic government starts to say something different,” she said.
In Washington, the State Department has criticized the scheduled stoning, saying it raised serious concerns about human rights violations by the Iranian government.
“We have grave concerns that the punishment does not fit the alleged crime, ” Assistant Secretary of State P.J. Crowley said Thursday. “For a modern society such as Iran, we think this raises significant human rights concerns.”
Calling Iran’s judicial system “disproportionate” in its treatment of women, Crowley said, “From the United States’ standpoint, we don’t think putting women to death for adultery is an appropriate punishment.”
Human rights activists have been pushing the Islamic government to abolish stoning, arguing that women are not treated equally before the law in Iran and are especially vulnerable in the judicial system. A woman’s testimony is worth half that of a man, they say.
Article 74 of the Iranian penal code requires at least four witnesses — four men or three men and two women — for an adulterer to receive a stoning sentence, said Ahadi, of the International Committee Against Stoning. But there were no witnesses in Ashtiani’s case. Often, said Ahadi, husbands turn wives in to get out of a marriage.
Mostafaei said he could not understand how such a savage method of death could exist in the year 2010 or how an innocent woman could be taken from her son and daughter, who have written to the court pleading for their mother’s life.
The public won’t be allowed to witness the stoning, Mostafaei said, for fear of condemnation of such a brutal method. He is hoping there won’t be an execution.
Mostafaei, who himself did jail time in the aftermath of the disputed presidential elections in June 2009, said he realizes the risk of speaking out for Ashtiani, for fighting for human rights. But he doesn’t let that deter him.
He last saw Ashtiani five months ago behind bars in Tabriz. Since then, he said, he has been searching for a way to save her from the stones.
This is where we mix our peace potions and collectively do something…and if I may add, mixing in a little ass kicking is in order too.
Please take action.
Peace to all.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my ‘loyal’(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the ‘Donate’ button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my ‘Donate’ page)
July 6th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
Done, thanks for both, yep…woke up with mixed emotions today myself, sent you an email after I recuped myself, maybe you can help me, maybe you cannot lah, or maybe the universe will send me a sign : ) caio for now, Zen Lill