Malala Yousufzai – Dissenter
Here in the US, we take for granted that the worse thing expected by speaking out against the religious right is name calling, verbal threats, and maybe some vandalism. It’s easy for us to imagine not risking our life just for speaking out because it rarely happens. Malala Yousufzai, a Pakistani girl who spoke out against the Taliban when they closed her school in 2009, was shot in the head by the Taliban in an attempt to assassinate her.
Malala Yousufzai, a Pakistani girl who rose to prominence after speaking out against Taliban militants who closed down her school in 2009, was in critical condition on Tuesday after Taliban gunmen fired on her school bus in the Swat valley.
Taliban gunmen in Pakistan shot and seriously wounded on Tuesday a 14-year-old schoolgirl widely admired for speaking out against religious extremists and in favour of women’s rights.
The army launched an offensive and retook control of Swat later that year, and Yousufzai went on to receive the country’s highest civilian award. She was also nominated for an international children’s peace award..
Since then, she has received numerous threats. On Tuesday, gunmen arrived at her school and asked for her by name, witnesses told police. Yousufzai was shot when she came out of class and walked towards a bus.
So the Taliban, who make our religious nut jobs seem sane by comparison were so threatened by this young girl that they tried to kill her 3 years after she started speaking out. And these are the guys the US wants to negotiate with so we can completely get out of Afghanistan?
To be clear, what this girl has experienced is real religious persecution. Not that crap whining about providing birth control coverage to your employees or crying over not being allowed to use bible verses for your football banners.
So let’s tone down the “we’re being persecuted…” rhetoric, okay?
Not agreeing with your beliefs and making sure the government protects freedom of religion for ALL is not persecution.
