Dear Haruna,

I cannot agree with you more, although a sensitive subject;
religion should be given a closer look in our daily lives. Especially when
religion is given as a reason to be cruel to each other! There are close to
700 different faiths practiced or being practiced on this planet.Common in
almost all of their dogmas is the respect for all
Gods creatures especially humankind. On close examination it seems
some of them are purposely designed to saveguard the continues perpetuation
of mankind.This is good especially for human species!
But God has given us another gift which is our brains endowed with the
ability to reason.This ability to think an communicate actually separate us
from other creatures.To put away that God given ability to think and feel,
in pusuit of any faith, in my humble opinion is equal to closing ones God
given eyes in hopes that the same God will show you the way in a busy
triffic in your dreams at night! As unreasonable as it may seem this is the
plight not of religion alone but some human groups such as political
parties.It seems as if loyal members seem to give in their individual sense
of reason and adopt the groups opinion on
all activeties there in.
    To stand out and point out reason as a means of direction by any
individual is almost invariably meet with some certain perscution.
This is just one of humanities inherited flaws!
                     kalilu


>From: Haruna Darbo <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Fwd: Nigerian court sentences unmarried pregnant girl to
>        caning
>Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 07:46:01 GMT
>
>I totally agree with you on the idea of shared responsibility and equal
>justice. We needed a woman's point of view. I am a muslim by birth, but I
>do
>not subscribe to any religion's dogma and doctrines beyond the tenets of
>the
>ten commandments. I hope there are muslims, christians, buddhists, etc.
>like
>me.
>
>I have always believed religion to be extremely sexist. The idea that the
>female is the weaker gender with fewer scruples is preposterous. I can't
>remmember who it was recently who wandered why so many Gambians tend to
>display symptoms of mental lethargy. The answer could be found in the
>gradual replacement of common/natural sense and discipline with religious
>fanaticism.
>
>cheers!!
>
>
>>From: Ginny Quick <[log in to unmask]>
>>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
>><[log in to unmask]>
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>Subject: Re: Fwd: Nigerian court sentences unmarried pregnant girl to
>>        caning
>>Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2000 15:08:06 -0500
>>
>>Hello, I have a question about this story.  Hopefully, someone can help me
>>answer it.  My question is not so much whether or not the sharia law
>>should
>>be enacted and used.  What I want to know is, where is the father of this
>>girl's baby?  I mean, she couldn't have gotten pregnant all by herself.
>>Would he suffer the same punishment as she is going to have to?
>>      I just wanted to know because there was no mention of the father in
>>this case, and shouldn't he be as guilty as the girl is?
>>Ginny
>>----- Original Message -----
>>From: "MOMODOU BUHARRY GASSAMA" <[log in to unmask]>
>>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>>Sent: Sunday, September 17, 2000 2:16 PM
>>Subject: Fwd: Nigerian court sentences unmarried pregnant girl to caning
>>
>>
>>Nigerian court sentences unmarried pregnant girl to caning
>>September 15, 2000
>>Web posted at: 11:30 PM EDT (0330 GMT)
>>
>>
>>GUSAU, Nigeria (Reuters) -- A pregnant teenage girl has been sentenced to
>>180 strokes of the cane by a Muslim sharia court in northern Nigeria,
>>officials said Friday.
>>
>>Human rights activists have reacted angrily to the sentencing of
>>17-year-old
>>Bariya Magazu after a trial likely to fuel controversy over the
>>introduction
>>of the strict sharia penal code in parts of northern Nigeria.
>>
>>Separately, Roman Catholic bishops of Nigeria issued a statement calling
>>on
>>President Olusegun Obasanjo "to address the sharia issue with the
>>seriousness and sense of urgency that it deserves."
>>
>>The court in Zamfara state, the first of Nigeria's regional governments to
>>proclaim sharia law, tried Magazu on charges of having had pre-marital
>>sex.
>>
>>Multi-ethnic Nigeria has been sharply divided over sharia since late last
>>year when Zamfara embraced it. Hundreds of people died in two bouts of
>>Christian-Muslim bloodletting over plans to introduce it in neighboring
>>Kaduna state earlier this year.
>>
>>Non-Muslims oppose sharia for its tough sanctions, such as stoning for
>>adultery and amputation of hands for theft.
>>
>>Zamfara officials said the court in the state capital Gusau had earlier
>>this
>>week found Magazu, who is several months pregnant and being looked after
>>by
>>her parents, guilty of having sex illegally.
>>
>>"The court sentenced her to 180 strokes of the cane, and she will be
>>publicly flogged 40 days after she puts to bed (gives birth)," an official
>>told Reuters.
>>
>>Rights groups described the sentence as barbaric and a violation of the
>>girl's fundamental human rights.
>>
>>"It's shocking and really very embarrassing. It is baffling why the
>>Zamfara
>>government would go ahead to enforce sharia to the extent of having to
>>give
>>a small girl 180 strokes of the cane," said Samson Bako of the
>>Constitutional Rights Project.
>>
>>Bako said a coalition of rights groups would consider court action against
>>the central government if it failed to stop the spread of sharia in the
>>country.
>>
>>Despite opposition, sharia appears popular in the predominantly Islamic
>>north where some half a dozen states have adopted it or are about to do
>>so.
>>
>>In their statement issued Friday after a five-day meeting in Kaduna, the
>>bishops said their original fear that non-Muslims would suffer under a
>>sharia regime had been justified.
>>
>>"The reality on the ground in states that have adopted sharia shows that
>>non-Muslims are being negatively and unjustly affected," the statement
>>said.
>>
>>In many cases Christian bodies were denied land on which to build places
>>of
>>worship, it said.
>>
>>While reaffirming their faith in a unified Nigeria, the bishops said they
>>believed Nigeria's constitution needed to be reviewed to reassure people
>>of
>>all faiths.
>>
>>"There should no longer be room for special provisions for any religion
>>within our constitution," their statement added.
>>
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