Several hundred Christians have moved out of their homes in Islamabad, Pakistan, to hide in a forest and try to survive. They are even building a church building out of tree branches.
It seems one of their number, a young girl of indeterminate age (11 to 16) with some possible mental problems was accused by one of her neighbors of burning pages of the Quran. There seems to an overwhelming lack of evidence for this act, but "good" Islamists protested in front of her house and she was arrested by the police.
Burning pages of a Quran is considered blasphemy by Islamists and punishment can mean life in prison.
And that's why several hundred Christians ran off to hide in the forest. They knew that trouble was sure to find them if they stayed in their homes. They knew that mobs have converged on suspected blasphemers to beat and even kill them. According to an article in the Huffington Post, "Last year two prominent politicians who criticized the blasphemy law were murdered, one by his own bodyguard who then attracted adoring mobs. In July, thousands of people dragged a Pakistani man accused of desecrating the Quran from a police station, beat him to death and set his body alight."
It is mind-boggling that in this day and age, someone may be murdered for burning pages of a book, while the murderers are considered to be heroes by some kind of religious quackery.
Christianity and other religions aren't off the hook, either. Throughout history, religion in its various forms has often resorted to horrible atrocities to keep people in line. Although the human race has evolved physically, it hasn't evolved very far spiritually.
And the next time someone tells you that religion helps people be good, tell them they don't know what the hell they're talking about!
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