Apostasy in Saudi Arabia and Utah
12th March 2015
On March 3, 2015, Religion News Service online carried two stories next to each other, both dealing with judicial measures against apostasy, though under greatly different circumstances. Dictionary definitions of apostasy (from the Greek apostasis/”departure” or “defection”) differ depending on cultural context, but there is a simple meaning, very close to how the term is used in the vernacular today: an abandonment or renunciation of a religious or political faith to which an individual is supposed to adhere. In the first RNS story the judicial process was initiated by an Islamic court in Saudi Arabia, in the second story by the authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (also known as Mormons), whose headquarters are in Utah. The urge to connect these two dots is irresistible (at least to me).
Hint: Mormons don’t kill people for apostasy.