智慧人生篇章 第75期:不要让宗教蒙蔽双眼

 　　Two weeks ago a young Christian¹ girl, Rimsha Masih was detained in Pakistan near the capital Islamabad.  两周前，一名年轻的基督教女孩里姆沙·马希赫在巴基斯坦首都伊斯兰马巴德附近被捕。

　　The girl who is in her early teens and is said to have learning difficulties  据说这名少女患有学习障碍，

　　was taken into custody² after angry mobs alleged³ the she had burnt or desecrated⁴ pages inscribed⁵ with verses from the Qur'an.  愤怒的暴民声称她焚烧了一部《古兰经》的经文，亵渎了上帝。之后她遭到拘留。

　　In Pakistan, such allegations often fall under the umbrella of the country's blasphemy⁶ laws  在巴基斯坦，在渎神法律保护伞的庇护下，

　　resulting in calls for draconian⁷ punishments against Christians⁸ and other minorities.  穆斯林教徒常常指控基督教徒和其他非主流派别的教徒亵渎上帝。

　　The strange twist to this case however came at the weekend  不过，本起事件在上周末遇到了意想不到的转机，

　　when a Muslim cleric, Khalid Chishti was accused and later arrested for implanting burnt pages of the Qur'an himself in the girl's bag  一位名叫哈立德·奇什蒂的穆斯林牧师遭到逮捕，是他把被烧毁的经书放到了女孩的包里。

　　because as one witness says, he wanted to expel the Christian community from the locality.  有目击者称，他想把基督教徒从当地驱逐出去。

　　The subsequent response by other Muslim clerics calling for justice for the girl  其他穆斯林牧师纷纷站出，为这位女孩主持公道，

　　is almost unprecedented⁹ in a country infamous¹⁰ for extremism and religious intolerance.  在以极端主义猖獗和缺乏宗教包容闻名的国家中，这样的现象实属罕见。

　　We in the West are unfortunately used to hearing such stories from Pakistan,  遗憾的是，我们西方人常听说在巴基斯坦发生类似事件。

　　a situation made worse when often those who try to challenge the brutality¹¹ of the blasphemy laws are killed or assassinated¹² for speaking out.  每当有人因试图反抗渎神法的残酷暴行而惨遭杀害，当地的局势就变得更加险恶。

　　We can't understand how such societies show a lack of compassion¹³ and allow for the abuse of human rights all in the name of God's law.  怎么会有人打着上帝的名义去滥用人权，做出冷酷无情行径，这实在让人费解。

　　We are right to speak out and we are right to use the rhetoric¹⁴ of human dignity and fairness for all.  我们有权发表见解，有权拥有尊严，有权享受平等待遇，

　　But we must also bear in mind that we're not dealing¹⁵ with competing interests here.  但我们同时也要铭记，我们不应利用这些权利去谋求个人利益。

　　Here, in the West, we now live with intellectual and personal freedoms  在西方社会，人人都能各抒己见，畅所欲言，

　　where freedom of expression ensures that conflict and disagreement on all kinds of matters is rarely met with violence.  但遇到分歧时，我们绝不以暴力相向。

　　Freedom of conscience for all may remain a contested issue but there are systems in place which allow for voices to be heard.  宗教自由可能是一个长期存在争议的话题，不过人们有权发表自己的观点。

　　Religious faith is rarely a matter of religious persecution¹⁶, but in a country where communities clash on the smallest of issues,  宗教信仰不是宗教迫害，但在一个分崩离析的国家里，

　　where many face a daily struggle for food, shelter, basic securities and education, a just cause is often a lost cause.  当人们食不果腹，无家可归，得不到基本的生活保障，无法受到教育时，是没有公平可言的。

　　It is the mark of a civilised society when it uses all in its power to help its most vulnerable citizens.  在文明社会中，人们会尽全力帮助弱势群体。

　　Rimsha's case is less about communities and mob justice and more about Pakistan's commitment to courageous¹⁷ leadership.  里姆沙事件的发生虽然反映了当地的暴民政治，但更多的反映出了巴基斯坦领导人的勇敢决策。

　　Unless those in power, in government and in the legal profession are willing to take a collective stand for what is right in the name of humanity  如果这些执法掌权者没有共同维护人权，

　　not in the name of religious laws, Pakistan will face disillusionment by the international community.  而是宣扬宗教法律，巴基斯坦将受到国际社会的警醒。

　　Human rights for all isn't an embattled cliche¹⁸ of the last 50 years 过去50年来，人权并不是我们一再提及的陈词滥调，

　　but remains¹⁹ a universal struggle often highlighted by the plight²⁰ of a single individual 而是全世界人民的奋斗目标，这一目标在我们身处困境时犹为重要。

　　and in our age of instant global communication, no country can hide either the individual or the injustice²¹ from the rest of the world. 在这个全球信息化时代，没有哪个国家能掩盖个人行为或者任何不公平的现象。

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

3 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

4 desecrated   

毁坏或亵渎( desecrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army desecrated this holy place when they camped here. 侵略军在这块圣地上扎营就是对这块圣地的亵渎。
• She shouldn't have desecrated the picture of a religious leader. 她不该亵渎宗教领袖的画像。

5 inscribed   

v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接

参考例句：

• His name was inscribed on the trophy. 他的名字刻在奖杯上。
• The names of the dead were inscribed on the wall. 死者的名字被刻在墙上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 blasphemy   

n.亵渎，渎神

参考例句：

• His writings were branded as obscene and a blasphemy against God.他的著作被定为淫秽作品，是对上帝的亵渎。
• You have just heard his blasphemy!你刚刚听到他那番亵渎上帝的话了！

7 draconian   

adj.严苛的；苛刻的；严酷的；龙一样的

参考例句：

• You can't expect the people to obey such draconian regulations.你不能指望人民服从如此严苛的规定。
• The city needs a draconian way of dealing with robbers.这个城市需要一个严苛的办法来对付强盗。

8 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

9 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

10 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。

11 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

12 assassinated   

v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• The prime minister was assassinated by extremists. 首相遭极端分子暗杀。
• Then, just two days later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. 跟着在两天以后，肯尼迪总统在达拉斯被人暗杀。 来自辞典例句

13 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

14 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

15 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

16 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

17 courageous   

adj.勇敢的，有胆量的

参考例句：

• We all honour courageous people.我们都尊重勇敢的人。
• He was roused to action by courageous words.豪言壮语促使他奋起行动。

18 cliche   

n./a.陈词滥调(的)；老生常谈(的)；陈腐的

参考例句：

• You should always try to avoid the use of cliche. 你应该尽量避免使用陈词滥调。
• The old cliche is certainly true:the bigger car do mean bigger profits.有句老话倒的确说得不假:车大利大。

19 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

20 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

21 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。