MEN in Syria who offer an “honour killing” excuse for offing their female relatives will no longer have their sentences limited to a year .
They can now expect to serve a sentence of TWO years!
Justice Minister Ahmad Hamoud Younis said the change was made by the decree of President Bashar al-Assad, following a recent increase in “wife-killings … on the pretext of adultery”.
President Bashar Al-Assad: the man's all heart
According to the BBC, the new law says a man can still plead extenuating circumstances in crimes of passion or honour, but will have to serve a prison term of no fewer than two years in the case of a killing.
Activists say some 200 women are murdered each year in Syrian “honour” cases by men who had come to expect lenient treatment under the law.
The legislation covers any man who “unintentionally” kills his wife, sister, daughter or mother after catching her committing adultery or having “unlawful” sex. It also covers cases where the woman’s lover is killed.
Reports say women’s rights activists have given a cautious welcome to the change, with one group calling it a “small contribution to solving the problem”.
Their objection remains, however, that the new law still apparently invites men to murder women if they catch them having sex or suspect them of doing so.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
July 4th, 2009 at 11:14 pm
Draconian!
July 5th, 2009 at 6:29 am
Not to sound callous, but if you ask me any spouse who cheats deserves to be killed. Man or woman. Adultery used to be prosecutable in the USA as a felony. We have gotten a little too lax, and now adultery is a rampant practice that leads to divorce. Its a crime, at least morally, and deserves to be punished – severely. Law turns the other cheek and society does as well. The only one who cares is the victim-spouse. Its unacceptable. People and society and law alike are perfectly content with dishonor and violation of vows. The notion of marriage is growing meaningless due solely to woman's liberation and sexual equality.
July 5th, 2009 at 8:22 am
Arsehole!
July 5th, 2009 at 8:55 am
Button your lip remigius! Brother Cogito is the new, scripurally correct MALE (as so wisely specified by the Apostle Paul) spokesman for the Landover Baptists, just in case you were not aware of that fact! These entirely scriptural views are like a breath of fresh air to all us nigger-hatin`, homo-bashin, family lovin`, red-necked Bible believers!! These are views which we seldom hear nowadays – more`s the pity – but it`s people like Brother Cogito who have made this great country what it is today!! Hallelujah and praaaaaaaaaaaaaaise the Lord; and God bless you Brother Cogito!!!!!
July 5th, 2009 at 9:11 am
Just in case readers are wondering what has happened to Sister Talitha: We do thank her profusely for her sterling efforts in promoting the Church on the internet, but in line with the teachings of the New Testament she has now been "moved sideways" to take responsibility for the Sewing Class. She will not now have to bother her pretty little head with all those big questions about doctrine which the Good Lord in His infinite wisdom has so ably equipped us menfolk to take care of (and which, as I`ve said before, we have done such a good job of doing, so far!!). I feel sure that He will greatly use Sister Talitha in her new capacity, just as He may well have done in the past, even when she was acting in direct contradiction to His clearly revealed will ! After all, God chose to speak through an ass once before, didn`t He?
July 5th, 2009 at 9:16 am
"We have gotten a little too lax, and now adultery is a rampant practice that leads to divorce."
Yes, especially amongst the religious:
Religion % have been divorced
Jews 30%
Born-again Christians 27%
Other Christians 24%
Atheists, Agnostics 21%
(Source: http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_dira.htm)
Still, CES's parody is chillingly close to the mark: in Dawkins' documentary The Root of All Evil, he interviews this Amurcun who was an associate of Paul Hill (right-wing xtian fundamentalist, executed for murdering an abortion doctor). Dawkins asked him whether he thought that adulterers should be executed (as demanded by the Bibble). He gave it a few seconds thought, and replied in all earnest:
"Yes."
July 5th, 2009 at 9:55 am
Button your lip remigius! Brother Cogito is the new, scripturally correct MALE (as so wisely specified by the Apostle Paul) spokesman for the Landover Baptists, just in case you were not aware of that fact! These entirely scriptural views are like a breath of fresh air to all us nigger-hatin`, homo-bashin`, family lovin`, red-necked Bible believers!! These are views which we seldom hear nowadays – more`s the pity – but it`s people like Brother Cogito who have made this great country what it is today!! Hallelujah and praaaaaaaaaaaaaaise the Lord; and God bless you Brother Cogito!!!!!
July 5th, 2009 at 11:16 am
How wrong can a Heathan be?
I am very much still here, in all my True Christian™ GLORY.
How dare you talk about some "NEW" Testament?
There is no such thing. The King James Bible is the only TRUE Word of God, not some scrap of toilet paper used by prissy softie salad bar Christians to try and make themselves feel better.
Crack open a REAL book. Read how God will kill you, your children AND your childrens children. Read about how he kills babies and will send you to an eternity in Hell if you don't worship him properly. He may even send you there anyway. SHOUT GLORY!!!
There are many Asses in here Barriejohn but none of them think of Jesus in the same way that I do.
YIC
Talitha
PS
God Bless Cogito.
July 5th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
I think you may be a little confused her, Sister Talitha! (Probably the time of month, etc – just shows the perfect wisdom of our Dear Lord and Saviour in choosing THE MAN to be His mouthpiece on earth, `steada all them mixed-up wimminfolks: Praise His Name!!) I sincerely hope that you will be attending Bible Class this afternoon, as you would obviously benefit greatly from the teachings of the GOOD BRETHREN who are responsible for this aspect of our witness for The Lord. (That is, if you can keep your mind from wandering off onto those girly topics of boyfriends, sporting dudes, celebrity lifestyles, and glossy magazines!)
July 5th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Shit fer brains!
July 5th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
I am aware that the satirists posting comments on this topic are merely impersonating braindead True Believers (there's another kind?). But no one is mentioning how totally the concept of adultery has been distorted and falsified since the fifteenth century. From the composition of the biblical Big Ten, until the composition of Le Morte d'Arthur, adultery meant the crime of robbing a man of his right to pass on his inheritance to his biological heirs, by ejaculating sperm that would contribute to the generation of a bastard, defined as a child of many fathers, into the man's wife.
See the definition of adultery in Dictionary of Contemporary Mythology.
July 5th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Adultery was still recognized as an impregnation taboo, not a recreational taboo, when Thomas Malory showed Sir Lancelot swearing to his god that Queen Guinevere was not guilty of adultery even though Lancelot was tupping her. Malory wrote at the height of the "courtly love" era, when lovers copulated non-adulterously by practising coitus interruptus. Since Lancelot withdrew before emitting his sperm into Guinevere, that meant that they were not guilty of adultery.
The only reason non-procreational, non-consequential behavior is today viewed as "sinful" is that the law-making god, whose taboos originally made sense, is today regarded as so capricious that its laws do not have to have a logical purpose.
See relevant chapter in For This We Thank Our Fuhrer.
July 5th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
Now dont get the wrong impression people. Perhaps I was a bit harsh. If anyone does deserve to be "killed", it shouldnt be by the hand of their spouse. It should be by the hand of the State after prosecution and a guilty verdict. But even then, serving several years in prison might be enough to straighten an adulterer out. Im not suggesting murder and Im certainly not suggesting vengeance. But I do think adultery should be prosecuted as a felony and not just shrugged off like it some domestic change-of-heart. Any one of you could be on the shitty end of a liar and a cheater and a manipulator, and the state apparently doesnt care. What are you going to do? Get a divorce? Im pretty sure thats exactly what the adultering spouse wants. Reward the behavior, eh? Infidelity shouldnt be wrong? That attitude I usually only hear from skanky people who arent interested in marriage in the first place and are perfectly content with being an adulterers secret. Marriage is a legal construct as much as it is a social and religious one. Or have you forgotten? Many people argue that marriage is "only" a legal construct when it serves their purposes to do so. No the legality of it makes you cringe?
July 5th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Oh well, as long as it`s the STATE that`s murdering them it`s OK then! I`m so glad we got THAT straightened out!!
July 5th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Not all True Believers are "brain-dead" – I was one who wasn`t, and that`s why I am an "ex-believer"! It`s also the reason why I think that all criticism of religious belief, whether serious or satirical, is worth persevering with, whatever response it evokes. I know there are millions of others like me who can see that none of it holds up to critical examination at all, but haven`t yet got the courage to "come out" publicly and say so. (See http://thebeattitude.com/2009/.....t-feels-... ) I wouldn`t personally be prepared to be too judgmental about people who live in that sort of climate, but I do feel that it`s a case of "Little drops of water: Little grains of sand".
July 5th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Not all True Believers are "brain-dead" – I was one who wasn`t, and that`s why I am an "ex-believer"! It`s also the reason why I think that all criticism of religious belief, whether serious or satirical, is worth persevering with, whatever response it evokes. I know there are millions of others like me who can see that none of it holds up to critical examination at all, but haven`t yet got the courage to "come out" publicly and say so. (See http://thebeattitude.com/2009/.....t-feels-... ) I wouldn`t personally be prepared to be too judgmental about people who live in that sort of climate, but I do feel that it`s a case of "Little drops of water: Little grains of sand".
July 5th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
oh apparently i have signed up at a site i do not belong to at the beginning i thought it was a great site not biased with any religion against other what i have found that this site is totally goes against islam and waiting for catching any news (MAY NOT COMPATIBLE WITH FAITH OR OPINIONS) bye
July 5th, 2009 at 11:54 pm
I do not categorize curables as True Believers. A True Believer is by definition incurable, and therefore braindead.
July 6th, 2009 at 2:53 am
If youre already against capital punishment then there is no point in trying to argue. But since you havent claimed to be against capital punishment in general then why should adultery not be an appropriate offense? It ruins lives. Should murderers be killed by the state? What about serial killers? And what about rapists who leave their victims alive, is that emotional damage a lesser crime or a worse crime? I can only assume youre an adulterer, yourself, looking for validation?
July 6th, 2009 at 10:32 am
First sentence – spot on!!!
July 6th, 2009 at 10:38 am
is just it me or comments on this sight getting is bazaar moore and moore?
(MAY NOT COMPATIBLE WITH BRAIN-DEAD JERKS)
July 6th, 2009 at 10:42 am
Yes, don't let the door bang you on the arse on the way out.
July 6th, 2009 at 10:51 am
Are you receiving treatment for that painful condition, Tim? I do feel for you!
Does anyone inderstand why these stupid fundamentalists are not allowed to even read views that are contrary to their own? If their beliefs are so rational and sensible, as they claim, then what damage could possibly be done by learning about the views of others? Or could it possibly be (perish the thought) that their belief system is so fragile that exposure to rational thought would bring the whole edifice tumbling down around their ears?
July 6th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
Oh my gosh Barry I have now heard it all. Women should unite to stop these killings.I have heard it all now.- just lost for words.
July 6th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
What about the women who are executed for "allowing themselves to be raped" under "Muslim Law"? That has to be the most unbelievable piece of legislation ever enacted!!
July 6th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
that ,s really funny you got me laugh out loud by your saying (( at last signs of progress in one corner of the "islamic" world )) signs according to whom ? to you to your faith let me tell you that i have huge respect for christianity religion and for all christians who love me and hate me oh regarding talking on hatred ….. you may rest assured that the hatred at this site that even a blind man can see .ll never affect my idea toward the amazing people of UK or rather brition judgement on all people based upon an action of sprinkling of them is absolutly wrong ………. do not worry i won,t bang up the door
July 7th, 2009 at 10:40 am
There is no hatred on this site only trying to bring to notice the injustices of religon not top bring down the people who believe it. Lets all come together to stop injustices and killings that are carried out just for the sake of a religous belief.
This freethinker site is a love site so let us not get at each others throats just say we will try and live our lives and make this a better world for those to follow.
July 7th, 2009 at 10:41 am
There is no hatred on this site only trying to bring to notice the injustices of religon not to bring down the people who believe it. Lets all come together to stop injustices and killings that are carried out just for the sake of a religous belief.
This freethinker site is a love site so let us not get at each others throats just say we will try and live our lives and make this a better world for those to follow.
July 7th, 2009 at 11:26 pm
helloo
thank you for your polite responce ELaninek but there is no injustice of religion there are religious oppressors i guess religion is innocent of what certian of its followers do
so far i ve not seen any love word at this site i am sorry i do not want to get a bad idea on this site perhaps i ,ve already did i do not know exactly but i hope that love and forgivness will take over the world perhaps this is an idealistic sight but who knows it may come to fruition i hope so