Religious Freedoms

I am very confused about the boundaries of religious freedom.

A recent news story in BBC, "Stoning Victim 'begged for mercy'" highlights everything that is wrong with religious fundamentalism. It was the story of a 13 year-old rape-victim, who apparently yelled "don't kill me, don't kill me" before she was stoned to death by more than 50 men. Allegedly more than a thousand people watched the stoning. The stoning was, according to the Somalian court authorities, a necessity of Sharia law.

This is just not right! And, I do not know any person, Muslim or non-Muslim alike, who would defend the position of the Somalian court authorities. My father, who becomes a pretty devout Muslim, like millions of other Muslims around the world, would be disgusted with the stoning and condemn it with all his heart. I am sure, he would claim that real Islam is a religion of tolerance and love. I believe in my father's sincerity, but this does not change the fact that many Somalians (and their government) believe in a particular interpretation of Islam that preach violence and inequality of women.

I, as an intellectual, cannot find a reasonable line of thought to define "acceptable religion" and the "unacceptable religion," especially given that religions are not supposed to change or vary. Obviously, categorizing all the world's religions through one extreme incident is completely illogical. However, it brings to mind that there are countless interpretations of Islam (similar to other religions). So, there are questions that I want to raise: when it comes to religious tolerance, who shall we tolerate and who we shall not? How shall we separate willful submission to a greater power and outright corrupt oppression of the disempowered? Most importantly, where shall we draw the line between faith and reason?

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