Faith, according to many, can impart many good behaviors. But then it can also do this:

The boy accused of blasphemy who cut off his hand

In short: at a mosque in Pakistan, a 15-year-old boy mis-heard a question raised by the imam: “Who among you doesn’t believe in the teachings of the Holy Prophet? Raise your hands!”

He raised his hand. He was promptly accused of blasphemy by the imam. This being one of the worlds many Dumb Regions, the accusation of blasphemy is taken quite seriously (it often leads to an official death sentence, coupled with unofficial lynchings; in court, you’re generally not allowed to defend yourself, and even the accusation can’t really be brought out in court because *that* would be blasphemy). So, the kid did what I suppose makes sense if you are a religious nut who has been accused of committing blasphemy with your hand: he chopped it off and tried to hand it to the imam on a plate.

Since this is a Dumb Region, the locals did not drag the kid to a hospital to try to reattach the hand; they bandaged him up and buried the hand. They did not shake their heads and bemoan the fate of the poor, crazy dumb kid… they have decided to revere his act of religious devotion. People from surrounding villages have started to swing by to express their admiration.

Gah.

But on the other hand (snerk)…

I can see an opportunity here. Is it possible to advertise and promote this act among others of his religion who are equally religiously nutty? Get them to believe that it is an act to emulate? Beyond the utility of having people who might otherwise be building suicide bombs disarming themselves (heh), there’d be just the sheer entertainment value.