Logrolling in our time…and morphing into something else entirely
The funniest blurb of the autumn book season goes to Mark Steyn’s America Alone. Prince Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Ambassador to the United States, had this to say on the front cover, “The arrogance of Mark Steyn knows no bounds.” Will Steyn return the compliment if Prince Turki publishes a book? (We might add that the identical blurb would appear to be appropriate, if this performance by the prince at the CFR is any indication.)
UPDATE
As an example of what the Prince thinks he can get away with (and probably does with the CFR crowd), we offer this tidbit from his talk:
In the year 2003, before his death, the late King Fahd spoke to the consultative assembly about his vision for a reform program for Saudi Arabia. And he summarized it in six points. The first point is to stress and re-stress the direction of the religious ethos, if you like, of Saudi Arabia as that being identified by the Prophet Mohammed—peace be upon him—who when he was asked, “tell us who you are, Muslims,” he said we are a people of the middle—in other words, not zealous but not lax for Islam.
So “people of the middle” of Islam don’t let women drive, hector them in public places with a religious police force, prohibit churches and synagogues in the country, raid houses where forms of worship other than Islam might be taking place, punish people for converting away from Islam, etc. If that’s the “middle,” what would be considered strict?
UPDATE II
Maybe this is the “strict” interpretation of sacred texts?
A Muslim cleric’s claim that women who do not wear the veil are like ‘uncovered meat’ who attract sexual predators sparked outrage around Australia yesterday. Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali, the nation’s most senior Muslim cleric, compared immodestly-dressed women who do not wear the Islamic headdress with meat that is left uncovered in the street and is then eaten by cats. Politicians including Prime Minister John Howard, community leaders and a large number of Muslims condemned the mufti’s comments amid calls that he should be deported to Egypt, his country of origin…
There were women, he said, who ’sway suggestively’ and wore make-up and immodest dress “and then you get a judge without mercy and gives you 65 years. But the problem, but the problem all began with who?” he said, referring to the women victims. Addressing 500 worshippers on the topic of adultery, Sheik al-Hilali added: “If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it..whose fault is it - the cats or the uncovered meat? “The uncovered meat is the problem.” He went on: “If she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab (veil), no problem would have occurred.” Women, he said, were ‘weapons’ used by Satan to control men.
Nah. People from Egypt are probably “people of the middle” too.
UPDATE III
My, my the people of the middle are just coming out all over the place. This from the UK:
Arshad Misbahi, a junior Imam at the city’s Central Mosque is alleged to have confirmed that it is an acceptable punishment in Iraq and Iran. His comments are said to have been made to psychotherapist Dr John Casson who is researching the persecution of gays in Islamic states. But they have been condemned as “encouraging conflict between the area’s large gay and Muslim communities.
Dr Casson said: “He told me that in a true Islamic state, such punishments were part of Islam if the person had had a trial, at which four witnesses testified that they had seen the actual homosexual acts.” He went on: “I asked him what would be the British Muslim view and he repeated that in an Islamic state these punishments were justified. “They might result in the deaths of thousands, but if this deterred millions from having sex and spreading disease, then it was worthwhile to protect the wider community.”
HT: Ace