ABU-DHABI, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia's religious police are insisting that authorities of Medina, one of Islam's holiest cities, should build separate sidewalks for women, the Kuwaiti al-Qabas newspaper reported Friday.
The country's Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, tasked with enforcing Sharia law, believes men and women should not be allowed to mix on the streets of the Islam's second holiest place, where the Prophet Muhammad is buried.
The clerical police, or Mutaween, are authorized to arrest unrelated men and women caught socializing, anyone suspected of being homosexual or a prostitute, and to enforce Islamic dress codes.
41 comments
The typical Mutaween's life expectancy in an American city would be about ten minutes.
There's a story about an American female soldier (Desert Shield era) who was rudely accosted by one of these guys, and she promptly knocked him to the ground.
[ignore the previous post]
I have one question: how the hell do you enforce arresting "anyone suspected of being homosexual?" It's a stupid as arresting somebody for having a darker skin color than you except for you can't see it.
"I have one question: how the hell do you enforce arresting "anyone suspected of being homosexual?" It's a stupid as arresting somebody for having a darker skin color than you except for you can't see it."
The arrests are probably made on rumors and denouncements.
Many Muslim countries seem to have actually regressed socially from what they were six or seven hundred years ago.
Let me see if I have Saudi law "straight:" you cannot socialize with women, but you (men) cannot socialize with men, either, lest you be suspected of being gay? If all contact is forbidden for a social animal, this may explain why there are so many screwed-up people from fundy-land.
Madame Scarlet and Liberty Libertine, the incident occurred shortly after the first GIs deployed to Saudi in 1990. I don't know whether the woman was in uniform or not.
As a consequence, the Ministry of Vice and Virtue decided to ease up on foreign females for the duration.
The story circulated widely in-theatre, and may have received some media coverage. Alas, no link is available.
Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, etc., they're all ridiculous.
Shhh Lia,
Why does this say its in Abu Dhabi, when the article says in in Medina? Abu Dhabi isn't even in Saudi Arabia! It doesn't make any sense. Unless theirs is an little known town by the same name as the UAE's Capital near Media or something, but still, weird.
This is so sad. One of the best things about the modern world is the (generally) free interaction between males and females. After all, separate us, and it's like cutting the collective human brain in half. It's not as productive, it's not as dynamic, it's not as much fun.
See, even the Middle Ages weren't this bad - I mean, the popes had children and orgies and stuff. People weren't nearly as holy as they were supposed to be, and they just kind of got away with it.
What they need is a serious Renaissance and Enlightenment. But the problem is they don't have the same historical foundation upon which to build such reforms like Europe did.
<< Explain to me why we are allies with these morons. >>
Susan: Delighted to do so. You might want to take notes. Ready? Here are the three main reasons why we are allies with these morons:
1. Oil.
I hope that was clear to the whole class.
Let's hear it for those who never evolved from the stone ages.
Oh now really, Mudflappus, you're too harsh. Bronze or Iron age is a little fairer.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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