Today is the last chance for Asia Bibi, a Christian woman in Pakistan who's been sentenced to death for her faith. She was sentenced to death by hanging in 2010. Her crime? On a hot day, thirsty and overworked, she drank from the same water container as some Islamic women she was working with. They demanded she convert to Islam. Then, they say, she insulted Muhammed, the Muslim prophet. She denies having ever done so. She only wanted a drink of water from a dirty water container. But even if she did, what insult would ever be bad enough to warrant death by hanging?
How, in 2018, is it still okay for a country to have anti-blasphemy laws that carry automatic death sentences? Laws that are widely backed by millions of people, by the way, so this is no radical idea.
Today is the last chance Bibi has to appeal her death sentence.
Her lawyer spoke with journalists:
"I am a 100 percent sure she will be acquitted. She has a very good case."
But even if she succeeds, she would remain in prison for years.
Her lawyer is himself in great danger, simply by defending her. He has around-the-clock security at his house.
"I have lost my health," he told journalists. "I am a high blood pressure patient, my privacy is totally lost. You have to be in hiding. [Everyone knows who I am, and they] look at this house and they know this is the home of a person who can be killed at any time by angry mullahs."
He also has watched as others who tried to defend Bibi have been murdered. This level of intolerance is nauseating. It's barbaric. Yet you will not hear about it on college campuses. You won't see it reported on any mainstream network. You won't read about it in the New York Times. Apparently religious liberties don't apply to Christians. Because a woman is being sentenced to death for being a Christian. By a government. Not by some radical faction, either.
How long are we going to skirt around such dangerous ideas?
How long are we going to skirt around such dangerous ideas? How long are feminists and social justice types going to scream about mansplaining yet remain silent on atrocities like those happening all throughout the world in the name of a certain religion. Forgive me if I don't even want to say the name. The cost of misspeaking is just too high.