A man found in possession of books and talismans was beheaded earlier today in Saudi Arabia. [BBC]

  • relawson

    Wait, did they take the books and talismans? Doesn’t that mean THEY now posses said books and talismans and then be subjected to the same punishment???

    • Dave Clegg

       To be fair, they are very practised at book burning. I doubt they will posses them for long…

  • SomeGuyNamedMark

    Congrats Saudi Arabia on having a 21st century economy and an 8th century culture.

    • Wreckrob8

      Saudi Wahhabism is about maintaining the political and financial power of the House of Saud. Whether it is true or not to the original intentions of the Qur’an is a moot point.

    • http://twitter.com/matcatastrophe mat catastrophe

      Maybe they should take lessons from us, since we’ve made it to the 14th or 15th century.

      Sort of.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Christopher-Lee/100001074475538 Christopher Lee

    Poor bastard – this is what I expected after Blizzard nerfed Force Armour.

  • http://twitter.com/rvitelli Romeo Vitelli

    This is hardly the first time anyone has been executed for sorcery in Saudi Arabia.  Even being a fortune teller can be enough.

    http://drvitelli.typepad.com/providentia/2011/09/sudanese-immigrant-beheaded-in-saudi-arabia-for-sorcery.html

    • http://twitter.com/incarnedine_v Dan Hibiki

       that has an obvious up side:
      -I knew it! I told you Prometheus would suck!
      -Hey, that’s right… He’s a WITCH!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=26109648 Jim Davison

    If he wasn’t a sorcerer, then God would have intervened to stop the execution. If he were a decently powerful sorcerer, he could have avoided the execution as well. This shows that the Saudis are really not concerned with prosecuting all sorcerers, just the inept.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3J2FCT2VHD6DDIACR23NEVTEJQ Jesus

    Too bad being in possession such nonsense of it is no more meaningful than praying to Yahweh.  Or Jesus.  Or Buddah.  Or Aten.

  • dragonfrog

    Obviously we don’t execute people for it (max 6 months imprisonment, I think), but it is a crime to falsely claim to have powers of sorcery in Canada.

    The claims must be fraudulent though – actual sorcery is legal, just phony sorcery with the intent of tricking someone isn’t.

  • Jonathan Badger

    I take it the 1980s educational TV series “Tomes & Talismans”  wasn’t a big success in Saudi Arabia.

  • BombBlastLightingWaltz

    Let us all remember while operation our motor vehicles, that that gas comes from this sort of place. Driving along, remember your abhorrence to violence and supporting its execution of persons who read, want to be educated, alternative life style and existentialists. 

    Fill’er up!

  • jmidden

    I’m an East Coast Liberal, but this kind of sh*t seriously strains my compassion and acceptance of some cultures. Sorcery and witchcraft, hmm? Might as well see if he weighs the same as a duck.

  • oldtaku

    The death penalty is a bit much, but he was a fraud exploiting the gullibility of others for profit and getting laid.  Again, beheading is over the top (har), but he was a predator.