Phylllis Chesler

Amazingly, the Newspaper of Record does not use the word “Muslim.” They refer to “religious authorities,” “a religious court,” and to “religious scholars,” but they name no religion. Is it Buddhism, perhaps, which once flourished widely in Afghanistan? Or, is the unnamed religion paganism, perchance? Alexander the Great for example was a proud pagan, and he cut through Afghanistan on his way to India, leaving shamanistic and pagan practices in his wake. The Sassanids, who once also ruled in Afghanistan, were Zoroastrians.

Afghanistan, once the crossroads of the world, was not a Muslim country until Arab Muslims colonized the entire Middle East and Central Asia by the sword from the seventh century on; the bloody, proselytizing task was completed by the tenth century.  Islam is now the religion which rules Afghanistan, the very religion which the New York Times does not name. http://pajamasmedia.com/phyllischesler/2010/08/17/is-wanting-to-marry-the-one-you-love-a-crime-is-stoning-the-proper-punishment/