The Contract the Islamic State Group Is Forcing Christians to Sign in Syria

From The Blaze.com (Sept. 6):

These were the 11 articles of the contract, as translated by Middle East Media Research Institute:

1. Christians may not build churches, monasteries, or hermitages in the city or in the surrounding areas.
2. They may not show the cross or any of their books in the Muslims’ streets or markets, and may not use amplifiers when worshiping or during prayer.
3. They may not make Muslims hear the reciting of their books or the sounds of church bells, which must be rung only inside their churches.
4. They may not make Muslims hear the reciting of their books or the sounds of church bells, which must be rung only inside their churches.
5. They must not perform religious rituals in public.
6. They must respect Muslims and not criticize their religion.
7. Wealthy Christians must pay an annual jizya of four gold dinars; middle-class Christians must pay two gold dinars, and the poor must pay one. Christians must disclose their income, and may split the jizya into two payments.
8. They may not own guns.
9. They may not engage in commercial activity involving pigs or alcohol with Muslims or in Muslim markets, and may not drink alcohol in public.
10. They may maintain their own cemeteries.
11. They must abide by ISIS dress code and commerce guidelines.

[read more]

That’s pretty fascist I’d say. Just like the Soviet Union, the Islamic State thugs don’t allow other religions to practice either. Even though the articles refer to Christians they could apply to other non-Muslim religions too.

If the reader notices, most of the articles are “may not” or “must not.” Only three are “must”—well, they’re restrictive too. Only one “may”—# 10.  Kind of an odd one.

The Left would like articles 7 and 8. Article seven sounds like a progressive tax system.