WWMD-2

"Abdul Wahid Pedersen [AWP] is a prominent Danish convert to Islam, and has been a controversial figure in the Danish media for some time. The latest uproar concerns an interview in which Mr. Pedersen refused to condemn stoning as a punishment, and the resulting reactions by politicians and in the media. ... Nowhere does the Bible prescribe crucifixion as a punishment. The crucifixion of Christ (and the two thieves) was not normative, and to assign it such equivalence is a vile canard. ... 'Sharia is the set of rules surrounding Islam, concerning what to eat, how to pray, etc. I consider Islam as a whole, where you have no option of cherry-picking individual parts, for this would set oneset above God. When I'm asked about stoning, I must confirm that stoning exists in Islam. I'm no liar. I acknowledge that it exists, and I can't change the fact that stoning is part of the Islamic system of justice. This then, has been turned into my "supporting stoning. ... If I would condemn stoning, I'd apostasize myself from Islam. ... I've made a choice, I've chosen Islam, and to me Islam is a package deal.' ... If a person commits adultery, the punishment according to Sharia law, and by implication imam [AWP], is execution by stoning. ... 'It is impossible to comprehend how one can actually stone another human being to death, setting aside every trace of empathy and common sense. This is beyond my understanding', [said Henriette Kjaer, a Danish MP]", Baron Bodissey, 22 February 2009 at: http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2009/02/to-stone-or-not-to-stone.html.

Kjaer's biblical illiteracy is astounding. I welcome AWP's comments. He is a breath of fresh air. However, AWP should study the tradition which the Prophet (PBUH) followed, the Bible. "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Take outside the camp him who has cursed; then let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him. Then you will speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. And whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death.' All the congregation shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who is born in the land", Lev 24:13-16 (NKJV). This is clear. "Then Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and they took outside the camp him who had cursed and stoned him with stones. So the children of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses", Lev 24:23 (NKJV). What's the controversy?

"Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought to [Jesus] a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, 'Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?' This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him", John 8:3-6 (NKJV). "The man who commits adultery with another man's wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death", Lev 20:10 (NKJV). Jewish scholars 2,000 years ago knew stoning was Mosaic Law for adultery, what's Kjaer's problem with AWP? That AWP takes his religion straight, no ice, no club soda.