In Saudi Arabia, the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice is a religious police force that has been a constant presence in the Kingdom arresting woman having coffee with colleagues or forcing young girls to burn to death in fire rather than run out without their scarves. Then there was the time that the religious police in Dammam marched into a popular dinosaur exhibit and shut it down without any explanation of why the dinosaurs threatened the virtue of good Muslims. Then there was the flogging of a women who insulted them. Then there are the round ups of religious people for simply praying at home. Then there is the arrest of a man for standing in line with his wife at a grocery store. The list goes on and on. The latest entry is the arrest of young men for simply dancing at a birthday party. Birthday parties have been denounced by Saudi clerics as unIslamic, but this the first such arrest that many can recall that did not involve dancing with women.
The Vice police in Buraydah arrested the men for “loud music and inappropriate dancing.” The charge reflected the medieval views of the dominant Wahhabi sect of Islam. The police said that the young men were in “a comprising situation in their dance and shameful movements.” There was even a birthday cake. There is enough to send the Vice police into a fence. Recall that grand mufti Sheik Abdul-Aziz bin Baz declared that “It’s not permissible to take part in them. Birthday parties are an innovation . . . and people are in no need of innovations.”
The Vice police also noted that they saw the hair styles of the men as non-traditional and said that such styles are dangerous and “can lead to immorality and even homosexuality.”
It appears that the no dancing rule does not apply to other settings.
Source: Fox
It seems all Arab countries are very closed societies. How do they remain that way with so much exposure to other cultures? Movies, TV, the Internet, all show a different world. Maybe that’s why so many on visas never went home. Now the 8th century is back fighting to end what progress they’ve made. Are they going to discontinue electricity, an invention of we heathens?
Nick,
I’ve had legal professionals review the commentary on this blog and they are stunned anyone in their profession would be so flagrant in their contempt for the constitution. I’m not surprised then to find that same attitude reflected towards people of faith. He reminds me of the butter bars we would see coming out of the academy; completely unqualified for anything and void of the humility to know it. They are always the last to know just how ridiculous they prove themselves to be.
Olly, He is derisive of religion and religious people. But, he has bragged about coaching Russell Wilson, which I assume is true. So, he must think Russell Wilson is delusional. Wilson is very proud of his faith. So, if Russell Wilson were to read this blog and comment, would he be derisive of him and his faith as well? It’s easy to be derisive, rude and condescending to people you don’t know, or in the abstract. But, it’s tough to be hatin’ on people you know and profess admiration.
“But shouldn’t they know at least more about it than the casual observer?”
That’s between them and their God. That may be unacceptable to your sensibilities but then again they aren’t accountable to your judgement, are they? I’d suggest you concern yourself with opinions on constitutional law, but shouldn’t you know at least more about it than the casual observer? Or is that a matter of faith, too?
“Leave it to a progressive to tell a Christian how to practice their faith.”
**************
Of course, you’re right Olly, it is their delusion. They can practice it any way they choose. But shouldn’t they know at least more about it than the casual observer? Or is that a matter of faith, too?
Karen, Freedom “From” Religion is a radical atheist organization in Madison run by the Gaylor family. They actually do some good work. I have spoken w/ Ms. Gaylor on some of the positive work they’ve done. You see, I love the Constitution but don’t hate religion. But, most of Gaylor’s work is nitpicky ham n’ egger attorney work. They have a soulmate US District Judge Crabb. Judge Crabb is a Carter appointee and approaching, or in senior status. Nice woman, socialized @ parties w/ her and her husband, an avid sailor. He ran the sailing program @ UW called Hoofers, for decades. She gives Gaylor favorable decisions that the 7th Circuit often overrules. When someone uses the phrase, freedom “from” religion it’s a tell. They are most often radical atheists who hate religion more than loving the 1st Amendment.
Leave it to a progressive to tell a Christian how to practice their faith.
Karen:
Freedom from religion is the law of the land if you mean freedom from government aided or encouraged religion. If you are true to most versions of the Christian and Muslim faiths you must want a theocracy on the Final Judgement Day. A theocracy doesn’t mean you must be any particular religion; it means you must be subservient to the edicts of a particular religion whether you are a member or not and that the civil leadership of a society has a direct connection with the deity of choice. Hey, but for a conservative, you’re pretty close. Not.
Freedom of religion does NOT mean freedom from religion.
The freedom to practice your faith does NOT mean you want a theocracy.
A theocracy means that we all must be Episcopalian, or whatever, or perish.
Extremism + power = bad. This is true of political fanatics, as well.
This is why wealthy Saudi men run amuck and overdo it when they come to the States to unwind after all that repression.
From a casual review of the threads, I see the inevitable conservatives-in-the-US are just as bad. I have to laugh at the naivety. My Dad saw two gay men beheaded in Saudi Arabia.
Moral relevance has been disproven as a debate strategy.
It’s a shame that the Vice Police are such party poopers. Middle Eastern music and dancing are renowned, and each region/tribe is famous for their own music and dance traditions. I learned Turkish, Egyptian, Persian, and some Lebanese styles, and a tiny bit of Kurdish, and they were all very different. My Egyptian instructor said that dancers/instructors in the ME are treated as a low class of people, which is why she enjoyed it so much here.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51rlk2NGYkL.jpg
Yet, Obama dissed a good ally, India, and went to the King’s funeral. He couldn’t make the solidarity meeting in Paris, but he paid homage to The Kingdom.
“Hence why secularism has been, is, and will remain so important.”
Dave,
Given an electorate largely ignorant of constitutional principles; that would be the side to err on. Ironically, our culture suffers and this has a direct effect on the character of those we elect. I like this quote to reflect this point:
“Now more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature … If the next centennial does not find us a great nation…it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces.” – James Garfield 1877
Olly writes: “Our constitutional rule-of-law has been, is, and will be under attack from all manner of ideologies;”
Hence why secularism has been, is, and will remain so important.
http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2013/07/25/oath-keepers-rally-reveals-radical-politics-of-group/
http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/inside-strange-paranoid-world-right-wing-oath-keepers
Speaking of radical right wing nuts.