Saturday, November 17, 2007
Religious Fundamentalists - Islamic and Christian
Recent reports by the BBC leave no doubt that some Islamic nations practice strange, repressive laws based on the Koran.
Our Friends, the Saudis
BBC
"An appeal court in Saudi Arabia has doubled the number of lashes and added a jail sentence as punishment for a woman who was gang-raped."
Although the State Department's human rights report for 2006 mentions undesirable practices and conditions, the U.S. treads softly where Saudi Arabia is concerned. It is a major supplier of the oil we consume.
The victim was initially punished for violating laws on segregation of the sexes - she was in an unrelated man's car at the time of the attack. When she appealed, the judges said she had been attempting to use the media to influence them. The attackers' sentences - originally of up to five years - were doubled.But the victim was also punished for violating Saudi Arabia's laws on segregation that forbid unrelated men and women from associating with each other. She was initially sentenced to 90 lashes for being in the car of a strange man. |
Fundos Ascendant in Egypt
Egypt, the second largest beneficiary of our foreign aid program (Israel is first) passed a law to discriminate against those who convert from Islam.
- Rights groups have criticised Egypt for forcing converts from Islam and members of some minority faiths to lie about their true beliefs in official papers.
- Egyptians over 16 must carry ID cards showing religious affiliation. Muslim, Christian and Jew are the only choices.
In Iran, the Mullahs Ban a Garcia Marquez Novel
How do Iranians feel about living under such rulings? It is not only censorship of books and films but also the constant fear of incurring the wrath of religious zealots who have nothing better to do but act as moral guardians based on their interpretation of outdated scriptures.
BBC The latest novel by Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez has been banned in Iran - but only after censors noticed its title had been sanitised. The book, Memories of My Melancholy Whores, was published in Farsi as Memories of My Melancholy Sweethearts. The first edition of 5,000 had sold out before the authorities realised. The novel tells the story of a man who wants to mark his 90th birthday by sleeping with a 14-year-old virgin in a brothel and ends up falling in love. Iran's culture ministry said a "bureaucratic error" had led to permission being granted for the book's publication, the Fars news agency reported. The official responsible had been sacked, Fars said. The book sold out within three weeks of arriving in Iranian bookshops. But the book angered religious conservatives who drew the authorities' attention to its original title and content. |
Christian Fundamentalists
Here in America there is no dearth of members of fundamentalist churches who would love to have the power that Mullahs in Islamic nations enjoy. The late Rev. Jerry Falwell, founder of Moral Majority, and Rev. Pat Robertson talked about "moral decay" and loss of God's protection for what took place on 9/11. Later, they both backed off from what they had said. See transcript of comments September 13, 2001, edition of the 700 Club.
Fortunately, while the Bush administration has encouraged attacks on secular positions, American fundos remain far from being a dominant force.
"Bigotry is the sacred disease."
--Heraclitus
