Is it Right to Kill ?

Last week, a Somali woman was stoned to death for having sex with a man. Another one will be stoned once she gives birth. A man was stoned to death because he committed adultery. And before that a rape victim was stoned to death for being raped.

All in the name of Islamic law as interpreted by illiterate, gun-wielding hooligans.

But wait. If the death sentence was delivered in the context of a stable Muslim state, following proper Islamic procedures, and was even carried out by a "civilized" lethal injection, would it be right?

Is it right to kill because two consenting adults had sex?

This is the issue. The argument that Islam makes it particularly hard to punish those who break the rule of no sex outside marriage does not address this issue. Yes, we need four adult witnesses who actually witness sexual intercourse (unmarried women's pregnant bellies complicate this a bit). And, yes, men and women are to be punished equally. But this strictness and egalitarianism do not change the fact that adultery and sex outside marriage are criminalized. True, it never stopped Muslims from having sex outside marriage, but that's not the issue either. The Somalia cases force me to think about one question only:

Is it right to kill because two consenting adults had sex?

That is the question.