Just how screwed up are the Saudis??

[TehBorken]

[span id="intelliTXT"] [font color="#000000" face="Verdana,Sans-serif" size="4"]Saudis Nix Pictures of Women in Newspapers[/font][font size="1"]
[/font][font face="Verdana,Sans-serif"][table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"][tbody][tr][td bgcolor="#cbcbcd"][table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"][tbody][tr][td height="2"]
[/td][/tr][/tbody][/table][/td][/tr][/tbody][/table] [font size="1"][span class="L8"][span class="oldL8"][/span][/span][/font][/font][/span] [font face="Verdana,Sans-serif"][font color="black" size="2"]RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - King Abdullah has told Saudi editors to stop publishing pictures of women as they could make young men go astray, newspapers reported Tuesday.[/font][/font][/p] [font face="Verdana,Sans-serif"][font color="black" size="2"]The king's directive, made in a meeting with local editors, caused surprise as the monarch has been regarded a quiet reformer since he took office in the ultra-conservative country last August.[/font][/font][/p] [font face="Verdana,Sans-serif"][font color="black" size="2"]In recent months, newspapers have published pictures of women - always wearing the traditional Muslim headscarf - to illustrate stories with increasing regularity. Usually the stories have had to do with women's issues. The papers have also started publishing a range of views on causes that are not generally accepted in Saudi Arabia - such as women having the right to drive and vote.[/font][/font][/p] [font face="Verdana,Sans-serif"][font color="black" size="2"]The king told editors on Monday night that publishing a woman's picture for the world to see was inappropriate.[/font][/font][/p] [font face="Verdana,Sans-serif"][font color="black" size="2"]"One must think, do they want their daughter, their sister, or their wife to appear in this way. Of course, no one would accept this," the newspaper Okaz quoted Abdullah as saying.[/font][/font][/p] [font face="Verdana,Sans-serif"][font color="black" size="2"]"The youth are driven by emotion ... and sometimes they can be lead astray. So, please, try to cut down on this," he said.[/font][/font][/p] [font face="Verdana,Sans-serif"][font color="black" size="2"]Although the king has broached topics - such as women eventually acquiring driving licenses - that were previously seen as nonstarters, his instruction to editors indicates that Islamic conservatives remain a powerful force in the kingdom and brake on reform.[/font][/font][/p] [font face="Verdana,Sans-serif"][font color="black" size="2"]The country adheres to a strict interpretation of Islamic law. Women are not allowed to vote and stand in municipal elections - the only type of election permitted in the kingdom.[/font][/font][/p] [font face="Verdana,Sans-serif"][font color="black" size="2"]The king also called on editors to stop printing stories that portray the country in a negative light.[/font][/font][/p] [font face="Verdana,Sans-serif"][font color="black" size="2"]"Don't write anything that can be harmful to the country. Some reporters, they want to stand out and they end up going too far and this should not be allowed to happen," Abdullah said according to Okaz.[/font][/font][/p] [font face="Verdana,Sans-serif"][font color="black" size="2"]The king added that newspapers should ignore the foreign press, especially when what it publishes is "against Islam or against Arabs."[/font][/font][/p] [font face="Verdana,Sans-serif"][font color="black" size="2"]All media in Saudi Arabia are either state owned or state guided.[/font][/font]  

[weird al]

[FONT face=Verdana size=2]"Some reporters, they want to stand out and they end up going too far and this should not be allowed to happen," Abdullah said according to Okaz.[/FONT]

[FONT face=Verdana size=2][/FONT]

[FONT face=Verdana size=2]When intrepid reporters dare to stand out, you can be sure that the bulk of the citizenry will be right up there behind.[/FONT]

[Trollio]

It's a hard thing to do, but there is no substitute for removing all preconceived notions of good or bad from your head, and reading the actual Koran and two particular Hadiths.
 
 You have to try to remove all expectations of human nature from your mind, everything you've been taught by your mother about how people behave, and just see the texts for what they are.
 
 Then read Ibn Warraq.
 
 You may come to some shocking conclusions that will not make you feel happy about humans and what we have done to ourselves over the centuries.
 
 The Saudis, IMHO, are very, very screwed up. There are crystal clear reasons for it. Those reasons have nothing to do with oil, Jews, the British or the Americans. You can't blame the state of your house on those who got there after the tornado hit.
   

[Future Canadian]

Wow, I thought right wing christians were repressed. I think there's some sort of collective mental illness there. And the clash of our cultures will probably get worse before it gets better.  

[Gopher]

I'm optimistic enough to believe that it WILL get better, but certainly not in my lifetime.

[kitten]

Mohammed devised a code of ethical standards which were very enlightened for his time.  The trouble lies with the imams who sought more power for themselves by decreeing laws that were far removed from Mohammed's teaching, and declaring them as the will of Allah.  The original teachings have been so perverted that there is little resemblance to the original concept.