Stoning

For the intoxicating effects of certain substances, see Stoned.

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Stoning is a form of capital punishment in which the convicted criminal is put to death by having stones thrown at them, generally by a crowd. In some cultures, this was seen as allowing the larger community to participate in the administration of justice. Stoning has been used since ancient times to punish people judged as criminals; these included prostitutes, adulterers, and murderers.

Related Topics:
Capital punishment - Stone - Criminal - Prostitute - Adulterers - Murder

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In the Old Testament of the Bible, stoning is specifically prescribed as the method of execution for crimes such as murder, or blasphemy. However, the Talmud seriously limits the use of the death penalty to those criminals who were warned not to commit the crime in the presence of two witnesses, and persisted in committing the crime also in front of two witnesses. It was said about the death penalty that if a court killed one person in seventy years, it was a barbarous court and should be condemned as such.

Related Topics:
Old Testament - Bible

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Furthermore, the Talmud describes the stoning punishment (called Skila in Hebrew) in different terms than the stereotypical notion of hurling rocks at an immobile defendant/victim. Rather, the defendant is brought to the top of a large scaffold, and thrown off. After that (if the defendant was not already dead) very large rocks were dropped on top of the defendant. The punishment, the harshest one in Talmudic law, was intended to be as quick and painless as possible given the nature of the punishment. (That is, there are quicker and more painless punishments, but the Talmud specifically condemns long, drawn out, and tortuous punishments).

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Stoning became criticized as cruel and its use in most places was abandoned for methods believed to be more humane, such as hanging and decapitation. However, it is still practiced in some Islamic countries governed by Sharia law, including Afghanistan, Iran, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates. The person to be killed is wrapped in a sheet and buried; male convicts are buried from the waist down, female convicts are buried deeper to prevent the breasts from becoming exposed. The crowd then pelts the victim with stones small enough so that one cannot cause death by itself. In some places, if the criminal manages to struggle free and escape, further punishment is cancelled.

Related Topics:
Humane - Hanging - Decapitation - Islamic - Sharia - Afghanistan - Iran - Nigeria - Saudi Arabia - Sudan - United Arab Emirates

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Stoning punishments have been handed down recently in Nigeria for the crimes of adultery and sodomy. http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2005/09/nigerian-scholars-promoting-sharia-law.php http://www.gaynz.com/news/default.asp?dismode=article&artid=2805

Related Topics:
Adultery - Sodomy

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