Published in Christian Renewal magazine, 13 June, 2007
As I was reading through the news not long ago, two articles caught my eye.
The first, reported by the L.A. Times on 5 May, began: “Paris Hilton, her long blond hair tied back in a ponytail and oversized sunglasses shading her eyes, pulled up to L.A. traffic court near downtown Friday more than 15 minutes late for her probation violation hearing.”
The hotel heiress was sentenced that day to forty-five days in prison for probation violations after being twice caught driving while her license was suspended. The L.A. Times article described in some detail the antics surrounding the case. Just two of several possible examples:
“Asked whether she had understood the terms of the drunk-driving plea that she agreed to Jan. 22, Hilton, 26, said: ‘I just sign what people tell me to sign. I'm a very busy person.’”
Her attorney responded to the verdict: "It's clear she was selectively prosecuted because of who she is. Shame on the system and shame on the city attorney for bringing this case."
Whatever happened to shame on Paris Hilton?
The second article, reported on 3 May by the Daily Mail, began: “A 17-year-old girl has been stoned to death in Iraq because she loved a teenage boy of the wrong religion.”
Du’a Khalil Aswad, “a member of a minority Kurdish religious group called Yezidi” had professed her love for an unnamed Sunni Muslim boy. The religious leaders of her town, including members of her immediate family, condemned her to death – an “honor killing” – for this offense.
Her sentence was executed immediately. “A large crowd watched as eight or nine men stormed the house and dragged Miss Aswad into the street. There they hurled stones at her for half an hour until she was dead.” Her murderers included members of her own immediate family. Her body was buried with the remains of a dog outside the village.
Iraqi security forces witnessed the killing, but did not intervene. Someone actually stood by and filmed the stoning using a mobile phone. When the video made it onto the internet, the murder gained international attention.
Ms. Aswad’s boyfriend is even now in hiding. Her murder sparked reprisal attacks against the Yezidi, including one in Mosul in which 23 were killed.
I saw photos of the slain girl on the internet and even watched the film, and I still remember them: the girl dragged out of the house in which she had been hiding, being thrown to the ground and slowly and brutally murdered. As she lay there dead, people were still crowded around, still screaming at her and cursing her. Someone picked up her lifeless body only to throw it to the ground.
I had never heard of the Yezidi religion before reading about Du’a Khalil Aswad, and I had only rarely heard about “honor” killings. I did some research to learn more.
Yezidi is an ancient syncretistic religion containing elements from the Old Testament, ancient Persian beliefs, and Islam. Yezidi believe that God created the world and then placed it in the care of seven holy beings called the Seven Mysteries. The chief of the seven is Melek Taus, who is also called Shaytan. He is the leader of the archangels and is identified with Satan in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. According to the Yezidi, however, he is not a fallen being as these other faiths believe, but rather is the chief governor of the world origin of good. According to the Kitêba Cilwe (Book of Illumination), which claims to be the words of Melek Taus, he has authority over mankind, issuing responsibility, blessings, and curses as he pleases, and “it is not for the race of Adam to question him.”
The Yezidi faith is highly moralistic. The first of its two central doctrines is an emphasis of religious purity. Thus the Yezidi have a highly developed caste system, strict food laws, and a long list of forbidden things that will make the soul impure.
Their second central doctrine is the reincarnation of the soul after death, which is contingent upon its measure of purity. Should a soul eventually achieve enough purity, it can enter heaven instead of being reincarnated. Should it become impure enough, it will be sent to hell.
Whether Ms. Aswad’s killers thought they were restoring her to purity, punishing her for impurity, or forcing her reincarnation, I do not know. Judging by the film, it was more a situation of an angry mob bent on murder than of thoughtful concern over religious truth.
After reading these two articles, I was overwhelmed by the injustice inherent in both. The injustice involving Ms. Aswad is obvious. The wickedness and cruelty of her murder is frightening. How could a family brutally kill their own daughter? How could armed security force onlookers not intervene? And how could someone not only stand by and watch, but also film the scene and post it on the internet! I cannot forget the photos of her crumpled, lifeless body.
The injustice of Ms. Hilton’s situation is less obvious. Some might say that it is in fact an example of justice, one in which a guilty person is punished for her cavalier attitude toward the law.
The injustice concerning Ms. Hilton’s trial, however, is the amount of press coverage it received. Rarely are probation violations the stuff of international news, but in this case a play-by-play of the trial was reported literally continents away. Were it not Paris Hilton receiving the sentence, no one would have noticed. Because it was Paris Hilton, the attention of millions was diverted away from far more serious things and toward that Los Angeles courtroom.
Injustice is shocking, as it was with the death of Ms. Aswad. It is hard to imagine a person who would not be deeply affected by the photos and film. Horror, shock, anger – all are appropriate responses to injustice. Each reminds us of David’s cry, “How long, O Lord?”
However, although injustice does and should always shock us, it should never surprise us. As Christians, we know why the world seems overrun with injustice: the wickedness of man is great in the earth, and every intention of the thoughts of his heart is only evil continually. Nothing else but Christianity can explain why Du’a Khalil Aswad was stoned to death and why millions around the globe care more about whether Paris Hilton will go to jail.
In Islam, eastern religions, modern humanism, or any other religion, the proposed solution to injustice and evil is to try harder, to do better, to find it within one’s self to overcome. But if we take an honest look at ourselves, what we find is the very sinfulness that breeds injustice.
Only Christianity offers a solution because only Christianity has Jesus. Only in him do we find God himself entering into this unjust world and bearing injustice in all its fullness. Never has there been anything as cold, foolish, vicious, wicked, and unjust as the cross.
Yet Jesus displays his divine power by turning injustice into justice and horror into beauty. Only the Christian can understand: there has never been anything as loving, wise, beautiful, and holy as the cross. Hundreds of years before Jesus’ birth, Isaiah foresaw what the Messiah’s ministry would achieve:
Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law (Isaiah 42:1-4).
Few attitudes are more dangerous to the soul than Ms. Hilton’s lack of concern for what is just, and the only thing worse than Ms. Aswad’s death is the fact that (as far as we know) she knew nothing of the cross. May the gospel continue to change such hearts, even our own, until the day that injustice is no more.
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