Ethics

Yay, We Brought Freedom to Afghanistan

By Ed Brayton

Meet the new boss....same as the old boss:

An appeals court in Afghanistan upheld 20-year prison sentences Sunday for two men who published a translation of the Quran that drove religious leaders to call for their execution.

The controversial text is a translation of Islam's holy book into an Afghan language without the original Arabic verses alongside. Muslims regard the Arabic Quran as words given directly by God. A translation is not considered a Quran itself, and it is believed a mistranslation could warp God's word.

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on February 18, 2009 (boomark / email).