Saudi Arabia plans to Behead Ali Hussain Sibat on Friday this Week for Charges that he Practiced Sorcery

Ali Hussain Sibat with two of his five children

News Flash: He may not be executed this Friday … story here: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/04/01/saudi.arabia.sorcery/index.html?hpt=T2

Unbelievable talk about irony … the Saudi’s plan on executing a popular television personality (from Lebanon) for having a belief in the supernatural. It appears that as long as you believe in the supernatural stories about Mohammed and Allah that you are okay, but if you believe in any other supernatural events etc., you are a heretic. Frankly this is disgusting and represents a complete lack of basic appreciation for your own history as well as a fear of change. Saudi Arabia while a “modern” country in many respects is also very much in the dark ages. They have nearly no rights for women and continue to stone and behead people for “crimes” against their religion. For all the talk of Islam being a peaceful religion … I must say that there is nothing peaceful about in-equal gender rights and a disregard for peoples rights to worship as they choose and or to study and research anything other than the party line.

This situation reminds me to some extent of my wife’s former faith. She was born into the Jehovah’s Witness faith (cult) and if you attempt to read anything that is not an “official” document prepared by the church, and that offers other viewpoints, insights or a way of thinking, it is simply not permitted. Islam is full of violence … it was spread through the world at the point of a sword and many in the faith endorse stoning a woman for adultery as well as cutting off the hand of a thief. What other “faith” has suicide bombers? I appreciate that some say that Islam is the religion of peace, but from where I stand, there is nothing peaceful about it. If the Catholic priests stood at the pulpit and called for the destruction of those who do not see things the same way as they do or who are different from them i.e. the “infidels” I am sure that we would have an issue as a society, add stoning people and chopping heads off and I am pretty sure that they would be outlawed for inciting violence. Please note that I do not give the Christian faiths a pass here, they too have been responsible for the deaths of millions of people around the globe and Christianity was also spread at the point of a gun or sword for many hundreds of years.

I do have an issue with any closed minded faith where they preach that they are the only way and that all other religions are false. I have issue with people who believe that they are the “chosen” race and with people who believe that miracles only took place during a short time period roughly 2000 years ago … I personally witness miracles (if you want to call them that) on a daily basis. I routinely communicate with the spirits of the deceased as well as with the spirits of living and passed animals and even plants. I suppose that I too would be up for beheading if I was to visit Saudi Arabia.

For the kingdom of Saudi Arabia to execute this man would be a huge step backwards for them. Even in Lebanon where Ali Hussain Sibat is from, the very most they might do to him is sentence him to two months jail time. Frankly the way he was presented on television, it was more entertainment than anything else and to be killed for that by a foreign country is an outrage. He was not even doing “readings” or practicing as a medium or psychic at the time that he was arrested by the Saudi’s he was simply on a religious pilgrimage. By the king of Saudi Arabia allowing this death sentence to be carried out, he will be hurting relations not just with Lebanon, but with the world at large.

I was considering a visit to the middle east, however I think that perhaps it would be best for me to stay as far away as possible. What is happening in Saudi is similar to the Salem Witchcraft Trials that took place during the 1600s. To make matters worse, read this quote from an article I found at NPRs web site.

“Sarah Leah Whitson, the Middle East director at New York-based Human Rights Watch, says the problem is that Saudi Arabia has no specific law governing such crimes.

Instead, judges view people who believe in the supernatural as heretics and often sentence them according to the judges’ own personal training in Sharia, or Islamic law. Whitson says this means anyone could be targeted.” The full article may be found here.

For another article from CNN regarding this outrage, click here.

I really am getting tired of closed minded individuals who tell me that their “god” is superior to anything I am aware of and that it is only demons that are pretending to be the spirits of animals and our loved ones. Why is it that people feel a need to kill those who do not agree with their narrow minded version of life and events. Why is it that  those who attempt to study for themselves with material of their own choosing … risk death by doing so. I believe that it is fear and tradition. Fear of the unknown, fear of being wrong, fear of change, fear of (above all things) losing their power over other people.

In many “religions” the man has rights, but the woman does not. In many “faiths” you are forbidden to look at anything that does not support the religion’s ideology. By restricting freedom to study and worship as you choose, the leaders of the religions are able to control the masses through fear and intimidation. My wife was disfellowshipped for a rumored transgression as an 18 year old girl and was summoned to stand in front of her congregations elders and to either repent and toe the party line, or to be banished from the faith. She was banished and her family stopped speaking with her as did nearly all of her friends. Fortunately for her she was able to escape the cult and now lives a much more fulfilling and rewarding life.

Recently I was told by a religious zealot that I had better be sure that what I was doing was genuine, because if not … I would have an eternity to burn in hell and think about it. Why is it that people claim that their faith is full of love and peace and then go around making statements to the opposite effect.

Ali Hussain Sibat is also married with five children … how can Saudi Arabia execute this man with a clean conscience … and taking into consideration that he harmed no one.

One final thought … if it wasn’t for all the oil that we purchase from Saudi Arabia, do you think that we would put up with their human rights violations?

For more about myself and what I do visit www.charlespeden.com.