What Do You Think?

[amyfongste]

The center of the Islamic world, the home country of Mecca, should be the best example of what Islam is and the example of what all Muslims everywhere should emulate.

This story gives a fairly clear example of the kind of garbage that goes on in Islamic controlled areas.

Do you want to be told what you can and cannot wear even something as simple as makeup? Do you want to be told who you can or can not talk to and when you can talk to them? Do you want to be told what you can or can not talk about or tell people? Do you want to be told how to live every detail of your life and arrested if you violate those rules?

Is this really the kind of life you want? If Islam and Muslims get to take control of each of our nations this is what we have to look forward to.

It is not about one country or one area fighting against this cult. It has to be every non-muslim everywhere from every nation doing everything they can to fight against the spread of this evil and dangerous menace to the world.


copied from:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110324/wl_nm/us_saudi_1



Witness: Searching for reforms in King Abdullah's Saudi Arabia

Reuters
By Ulf Laessing Ulf Laessing
Mar 24, 2011


RIYADH (Reuters) – The moment my wife and I left our apartment compound in downtown Riyadh, a jeep screeched to a halt in front of us and a bearded man stepped out.

"Is this your wife? I want to give you some advice. Don't let her wear makeup," said the religious policeman, dressed in a traditional white robe.

"If she uses makeup, other men will only look at her," he added, raising his forefinger to stress his point and staring hard at me.

A woman wearing makeup or not completely covering up would go unnoticed in most parts of the world, but in Saudi Arabia it can be enough to get you detained for "immoral behavior."

Encountering religious police roaming the streets to uphold the kingdom's values of an austere version of Sunni Islam was one of the most striking experiences of living in Saudi Arabia.

It was also a reminder that the Gulf Arab state remains a deeply conservative country despite hype in the West praising King Abdullah for reforms such as overhauling outdated state education or liberalizing the economy.

"Moderate" and "reformer" are regular descriptions of Abdullah by Western diplomats, intellectuals and business people since he took office in 2005. Some even call him "liberal."

But during my two years as Reuters correspondent in the Saudi capital, I did not notice any changes in a strict social code banning unrelated men or women from mixing and forcing shops and restaurants to close five times a day for prayers.

In fact, I felt the country got slightly more conservative, not just because of religious police cops roaming the streets.

Shortly after I arrived, the cabinet shelved plans for a municipal vote in which women had hoped to participate for the first time. The move shocked reformers longing for changes in a country without an elected parliament or political parties.

Weeks later, authorities canceled Saudi Arabia's only film festival. We few accredited foreign journalists had planned to cover the Jeddah event, but at the last minute, officials told us in private that it would not take place.

No explanation was given, but diplomats pointed the finger at Interior Minister Prince Nayef, a half brother of Abdullah and a conservative who won a promotion in March 2009 and could one day become king.

Getting to the bottom of any government decision was my biggest challenge in a country famous for its secrecy, but following Nayef's promotion, I got the feeling that what little reform impetus there was soon petered out.

REFOMERS' REPUTATION IN SHATTERS

Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy ruled by the Al Saud family in alliance with clerics where conservative and more open-minded princes are in constant battle, with the result that little actually happens -- one step forward, one step back.

True, there was one reform push while I was there, with the launch of the first mixed-gender university in September 2009 -- the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) near Jeddah which reveled in almost unlimited funds.

It was a bold move for a country which imposes strict sex segregation, but the inauguration gave the impression that Saudi Arabia was more concerned about window dressing rather than looking to kick start much-needed education reform.

Riyadh flew in hundreds of journalists, academics and Nobel Prize winners to the campus, built in a remote spot far from the prying eyes of clerics. We attended a lavish ceremony and met students and professors who praised the academic freedom.

I found out later that only a fraction of the students were Saudis, while those we talked to on the campus had been briefed by a foreign PR agency what not to tell us -- such as the fact the campus Internet was censored, like in the rest of Saudi.

Soon afterwards, reporters were no longer welcome while even some academics were discouraged from visiting. The few that made it were not allowed to take photographs of unrelated students studying together for fear of annoying the clerics.

It was as if the government wanted to forget the place.

SOURCES GETTING SILENT

The impression of non-reforms only increased when rumors started to flow in July 2010 about the king's health after he abruptly canceled a visit to France without offering a reason.

It was impossible to find out anything concrete, but I sensed that government activity slowed down. No major project got under way and Abdullah traveled to New York to undergo back treatment which kept him away from home for three months.

There was certainly no sign of a much-delayed bill that would help ordinary Saudis get affordable housing -- and touch on the sensitive issue of why so much land was owned by royals.

Since his return last month, Abdullah has unveiled handouts worth $130 billion to insulate his oil-rich kingdom from protests battering other Arab states. He also moved to strengthen internal security forces and the religious police.

Just days later I saw religious cops driving around my neighborhood in jeeps, urging people via loudspeakers to go to the mosque for evening prayers.

With Riyadh watching Arab protests tapping its borders, my job got harder as sources and commentators got more reluctant to talk. Newspapers stopped publishing controversial editorials.

"I don't comment anymore," one of my best sources said just before I left.

State security agents knocked at dawn at my hotel room after I had covered Shi'ite protests in the eastern province. A week later the government withdrew my accreditation.

[GurlRusz]

Amy made an interesting point being that Saudi Arabia is the home country of Mecca it would stand to reason that the country and area would have the responsibility to set the example that all Muslims and Muslim/Islamic countries should follow as far as tolerance, laws, etc.

I found the following summary of the Saudi constitution

Copied from:
http://www.saudinf.com/main/c4.htm

Islam as the Constitution of Saudi Arabia
It is the fundamental assumption of the polity of Saudi Arabia that the Holy Qur'an [and and the Prophet's Sunnah] is more suitable for Saudi Muslims than any secular constitution. This assumption must be viewed in the context of a nation which is completely Islamic. Hence, no churches, synagogues, temples or shrines of other religions exist. No proselytizing by other faiths is allowed.

The entire Saudi population is Muslim; the only non-Muslims in the country are expatriates engaged in diplomacy, technical assistance or international commerce.

- - -- - -

So much for tolerance of anyone other than Muslims being allowed to be a Saudi citizen. Or ever being able to be considered as equals. The only reason any non-Muslim is apparently tolerated is when Saudi needs or wants something that Muslims are incapable of doing or do not want to do themselves.