Forum: Execution of Bali bombers

Wed, 11/12/2008 10:42 AM  |  Reader's Forum

The law of the land should be applied equally to all. What about the Aussies that are on death row -- when will they be executed? The Aussies will cry foul when and if these people are executed. They will cite human rights concerns against capital punishment.
MOHAMED MOBIN
Toronto

It is a very difficult situation. On the one hand it is important for families of the victims to have closure, and obviously the thought of ending the lives of the bombers seems the apt response to what happened, particularly since the bombers never expressed remorse.

However the impending executions of the bombers gave the bombers far too much celebrity, air time and reverence in the eyes of conservative Muslims in Indonesia.

In order to take a stand on Islam as a religion of peace, the courts should have given them life sentences with no access to media attention, and let them sit in jail long enough to be forgotten and realize the horrific errors of their ways.

I doubt whether the executions or this institutionalized vengeance towards the bombers can really alleviate the incredible loss of the families of the victims, may peace be with them.

Also at the day's end executions themselves are a marker for the barbarity of governments and violence is not a remedy for violence.

The fault of this incident lies in the Indonesian government for not having the wisdom to propagate peace from the beginning (and this includes the Soeharto era).

And the fault also lies with the media, for not having the ethics and vision to argue this incident's range of issues -- including capital punishment -- rather than what they did which was to sensationalize the bombers and their executions. MADIAH
Yogyakarta

Like many Indonesian Muslims, I agree that the Bali bombers' actions are unIslamic. It is up to Muslim leaders to share real Islam with us, to teach us that killing is wrong, that there are many different levels of Jihah and that these people were not martyrs to the cause (whatever that cause itself is).

Dialogue is the only way. A crucial link that is missing here is dialogue between Muslims of all ethnicities and experiences and levels of knowledge because the gap between us is just as large is what these people think the schism between Islam and the West is.

That having been said, I find state-sanctioned murder just as horrible and unacceptable. These men should have been forced to face their victims' families, forced to face the consequences of their actions and to live through them.

They played God and that is an unreligious act on top of being morally reprehensible. If they were really religious, then only God can punish them for their actions during this life. Death for them does nothing for those of us left to pick up the pieces. Why would we encourage the "an eye for an eye" maxim?

History is littered with the bodies of victims of misunderstanding, xenophobia and hate. SORAYA S.
Jakarta

Australia and capital punishment -- Nov. 9, Online

It is quite simple. There is cause and effect. If you kill you will be killed. It doesn't take a genius to figure this out. You will be held accountable. If the country's laws say that if you murder you will be executed -- what could be clearer. No one is forcing someone to murder -- it's a choice. And the consequences are known.
JONO
Jakarta

Comments (4)  |   Post comment
A  |   A  |   A  |   Mail to a friend  |  Printer Friendly Version |  Digg it!  |  Add to Del.icio.us!  |  Add to Reddit!  |  Stumble it!   |  Share on facebook  

Gophur (not verified) — Sun, 11/16/2008 - 2:46pm

the difference between the aussies on death row and the bali bombers.. the bombers killed people... dont forget that... noone has the right to take lives... i dont agree with the death penalty the bombers should of been put in maximum security and deprived of all luxeries for life instead they got the easy way out... justice systems suck

Jon (not verified) — Fri, 11/14/2008 - 8:10pm

Rather we like or not interfaith talks is just a waste of time. We have to understand that in islam the word jihad means to figth temptation or a path to perfection in the eyes of god, until here it sounds great but now jihad is not only a inner transformation but also a civil transformation thus a external transformation towards perfection in the eyes of god. So if you are a muslim you cant stop jihad it is you duty as a muslim to conduct jihad witch means to islamize your life and of course your society. Now we are talking about interfaith talks with people witch have the duty to transform everything to perfection in the eyes of there god. As muslims are told that islam is the alfa and the omega the beginning and the last they believe that every body else on hearth are ignorant or stubborn and wrong there for jihad is a natural action for all muslim. When you try to impose your ideas on others you will encounter resistance as not everybody on hearth have the same believes there for were there is islam there is usually problems as islamist are trying to do the rigth thing witch is imposing islam to there society. The day muslim will turn jihad as a interior means of spirituality transformation then interfaith talk could resume but if not then those talk would be futile as islam will always try to dominate other faith and thus create differences and resistances.

Bingun (not verified) — Thu, 11/13/2008 - 4:47am

Should Abu Bakar Bashir be executed as he continues to incite others to follow the executed bombers to more murders and criminal actions? Why hasn't he been arrested? Newspapers report his venomous words daily, so why do the Police not act?

Marhap OSM (not verified) — Wed, 11/12/2008 - 1:20pm

The Bali (terror) bomb is really an ironic and tragic recurring of human (his)story. French Philosopher Pascal (1623-1662) once saying “Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from a religious conviction”. But I think he completely wrong to trace the cause to religion. Because evil is not to be traced back to the individual but to the collective behavior of humanity. And it does not mean to a religion. But collective people who want to justify their ends or wrong doings, as the employ speech only to conceal their thoughts. And it happened and can be happen (again) anywhere. As Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn remark on: “Any man who has once proclaimed violence as his method is inevitably forced to take the lie as his principle”

What's On

more
more