Islam, the religion of peace?

A video was released on the internet today of a 19 year old girl, covered by her burkha, buried up to her waist in the ground, being stoned and then shot to death in Afghanistan in August of 2010. Why, you ask? Because she declined to take part in an arranged marriage (after being sold to a man for $9,000) and ran away to be with the man she loved in Pakistan. This according to the "Sharia" or holy law of the Koran is considered adultery and is punishable by being stoned to death. The young woman who's name was Siddqa was lured back to her home village in Afghanistan after being assured that no harm would come to her or her husband, Khayyam if they returned to see her family.  This was a fatal mistake, they were drug out of her families home in the middle of the night, convicted by a "kangaroo" court of local religious officials and sentenced to death by stoning.  At this point she was buried up to her waist in a 4 foot deep hole in the ground and pelted with rocks the size of her head. However she survived the stoning and was then shot in the head at point blank range by an AK-47.  Her husband was then led out into the same space with his hands behind his back and was also stoned to death.

The videos of these kinds of barbaric acts are scarce, but the occurrence of these kinds of atrocities are far too frequent in countries that are ruled by religious laws.  Yet we still hear members of the Islamic faith trying to sell us the idea that it is a peaceful religion.  I would go so far to say that no religion can claim to be peaceful, least of all Islam. The entire globe is in the grip of fear due to constant threats from religious zealots who claim that Allah has charged them with the task of taking the lives of those who do not believe the same things they do.

The ignorant, archaic ideals that drive people to commit these kinds of crimes need to be stamped out in every country and culture around the globe!  How do we accomplish a task of that magnitude?  I have no idea, but I choose to join the ranks of people who simply believe in the sanctity of life for no other reason than the fact that I value mine and I want my fellow human beings to have the most productive and fulfilling life as possible.