An Iranian woman faces being stoned to death after being accused of committing adultery with two men involved in the killing of her husband, the Jerusalem Post reported Wednesday.

If the barbaric sentence is enforced it would be the first stoning to take place in the hardline Islamic Republic in years, the Israeli paper said.

Infidelity is outlawed in Iran and usually punished with lashes or prison. Execution is permitted under Iranian law but stoning is rare, experts say.

Sakineh Mohamamadi e Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother-of-two from the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz, is accused of having affairs with two men, who were accused of murdering her husband in 2005.

Ashtiani was originally sentenced to 99 lashes for having “illicit relationships” and sent to jail, where she remains.

She was then tried for murder and found guilty, and the sentence of death by stoning imposed, the Post said.

According to the Guardian, she was convicted on the basis of “judge’s knowledge—a loophole that allows for subjective judicial rulings where no conclusive evidence is present.”

Due in part to international outcry, Iran is reviewing the stoning verdict. She is still expected to be hanged, however. And while this has received a lot of coverage throughout the world, Iran has imposed a nationwide media blackout of the story.

Barbaric acts like stoning and honor killings are often done in the name of Islam, but the Quran—unlike the Bible—does not explicitly call for stoning adulterers. The practice is instead based on the disputed sayings of Muhammad, known collectively as the “hadith.”

Authorities in Egypt have arrested a number of American youths on charges of preaching the Mormon doctrine, a faith regarded as a supplemental testament to the Bible.

The youths were arrested by the State security intelligence service in the Luxor Governorate on June 8.

The arrest came after several Egyptians, who saw them exercising their weird rites, made complaints against them.

The number of people arrested has not been disclosed as yet and it is not known whether they were taken to the State security service in Cairo or referred to the supreme State security prosecution on charges of contempt of religions.

Moreover, no information was disclosed about the deportation of the American youth to their country.

The restrictions on religious freedom in Egypt are a joke. Atheism is also criminalized in Egypt, so we ought to be especially sympathetic to these Mormons’ plight.

This is a developing story that has yet to be confirmed by the State Department. I’ll update this post as details become available.

Austin Dacey, author of The Secular Conscience: Why Belief Belongs in Public Life, and former Center for Inquiry representative to the United Nations, is coming this Saturday!

His lecture, called “Blasphemy: Hate Speech or Human Right? Inside the struggle for freedom of expression at the United Nations” will be held in the University of Utah Fine Arts Auditorium (375 South 1530 East) on Saturday, February 27, beginning at 4:00pm ~ the doors will open at 3:00, and seating is first-come-first-served, so come early to grab your good seats!

Following Dr. Dacey’s lecture, he will be joined by local Salt Lake Community College Professor of Philosophy, Dr. Mark Hausam, for a debate entitled, “Is Morality Possible Without God?”

We owe SHIFT our support, so try to make it—it’s really your loss if you miss out. I’ve meet Dacey, and he’s a very compelling thinker.

SHAFT will be organizing a carpool to the event. Meet Saturday at 1:30 PM (sharp!) in the Aggie Ice Cream parking lot (750 North 1200 East). Please be considerate and chip in gas money. And if you’re able to provide a ride, it’d be greatly appreciated. The more SHAFT is represented there, the better.

How about that bishop at the end, huh? What a tool. I mean, I know dissenting opinions are not really allowed in the Mormon church (or pretty much any other), but I’m always kinda dumbfounded when I see this sort of censorship in action.

I really wonder what the congregation thought. Most were probably relieved that someone shut up the mean guy who was making their brains hurt, but I have to wonder he didn’t spark more than a few thoughts.

Todd himself seems to have left the church, according to the video description.