God Is Not Great
The Huffington Post reported the other day that a 15-year-old Syrian boy was killed by Islamist extremists - shot in the head, execution-style - after being kidnapped in the city of Aleppo.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights - a UK based group opposed to the Assad regime - said that the boy (Mohammad Qataa) had been arguing with someone about the existence of God, and was allegedly heard to say:
"Even if the Prophet Mohammad returns, I will not become a believer."
Apparently other Local sources dispute this version of events and argue that the comment was misheard, and that the boy was actually arguing with another customer over giving him a free coffee, saying:
"Even if the Prophet returns, I will not give you a free coffee."
Either way young Mohammad was reportedly abducted and than tortured for 24 hours - before being dragged into the middle of a crowded street and executed in front of his mother.
The Observatory said in a statement:
"People gathered around him and a member of the fighting brigade said: 'Generous citizens of Aleppo, disbelieving in God is polytheism and cursing the prophet is a polytheism. Whoever curses even once will be punished like this'. "He then fired two bullets from an automatic rifle in view of the crowd and in front of the boy's mother and father, and got into a car and left."
Now I don't know of any religion in the world - except this violent and extreme form of Islam - where God is invoked as a justification for the brutal, barbaric murder of an innocent young man.
Maybe I missed the TV coverage, but as yet I've yet to witness a huge outcry across the Islamic world - in protest at this kind of cowardly, despicable behaviour.
