sherri

Norm, you and your facts/statements , anyway corrected that for you.......

Well!! I've been quite busy lately (still busy with work stuff) so I didn’t get much time to read/comment but noticed some degree of sanity here until I came across this thread :curse: , anyway I missed you Norm

sherri

Saying Saudi is a true Muslim country, governed according to the principals of Islam is like saying bald is a hair colour! and the bit about being a Muslim confine you to question the antics of fellow followers is a bit like "We shouldn't try and cure cancer because people will die of diseases regardless”.

Do you think the current Grand Mufti would pass a lashing sentence, Stoning for adultery and/or a death sentence against any Saudi Royal if they are ever accused of a crime that permits such ramifications in sharia law? I guess not! Well you may not have been told by your clerics but such “discretion” is not permissible in Islam.

There is a significant amount of racism, intolerance and prejudice in Saudi, Middle East and rest of the Muslim countries, is that taught in Quran and/or what Prophet Mohammed preached? I have spent nearly 7 years of my life studying Islam and other Abrahamic religions and can safely say that the way Muslim countries are governed and what goes on within the vast majority of Muslim circles has nothing to do with Islam. Islam and all other Abrahamic religions advocate equality, tolerance and morality. There is a rational behind the stuff we have perceived as ludicrous (and many other names/descriptions) but the ignorant wouldn’t get it.

In my view, Saudi culture is the chief culprit, responsible for misrepresenting Islam and setting a bad precedent, spreading its culturally manifested interpretation of Islam to rest of the “Islamic” world. Their antics have done nothing but to bring many calamities on Muslims. A careful study would reveal that Saudi has played a key part in most, if not all, recent time “conflicts” involving Muslims, so to blame the West and/or Israel for illegal campaigns and/or a reason for all your worries is a bit juvenile IMO. Also, just because the most sacred places in Islam are in Saudi/Arab region doesn’t mean that Islam is your proprietary and you are prone from any kind of criticism and/or should be cherished regardless of your antics.

I hope this encourages you to learn a wee bit more about your religion (without mixing cultural demeanour) and the next time when you open your gob to discuss Islam, you are a little more educated on the subject.

Please do not take any of the above personally.

khitan004

This whole topic is pointless anyway. Even if women were given equality in voting, isn't this country an absolute monarcy?

I actually like the form of government they seem to be setting up, with the King acting as the 'house of lords' to an elected council 'house of commons'. That would not be any less democratic than the situation in the UK. I honestly believe as long as citizens are happy, it is irrelevant what form of government you have. You can either allow your citizens to find their own happiness with certain freedoms (conservativism), give the people what they want to make them happy (socialism), persuade the people that they are happy with what they have (fascism) or persuade the people they are unhappy and buying shit will make them happy (capitalism)

UKCityGent

they would choose the paper with the pretty color and with the diamontes on

Boomhauer

The difference is that in the West there is introspection and criticism but in the Gulf, the locals never ever accept and admit to the horrors they unleashed on the world and continue to do so.

As far as Palestine goes, I agree that the West shares a lot of the blame but so do the Saudis who feign sympathy with Palestinians but behind the scenes are quite happy to ally with Israel and the US.

In Iraq, the Saudis also aided Saddam against non Arab Shia Iranians.

Afghanistan's Taleban received Saudi support and were it not for the Taleban's aiding and abetting of Bin Laden/AQ (most of the hijackers were Saudis), the US/West would not have gone into Afghanistan.

Norm_uk

I've said this all along - whilst I am obviously pro-western/patriotic etc as well as being somewhat radical I am happy to explore the crimes of my civillisation and admit to them. The issue with this region is the state of denial over almost everything - the desire to play the victim card and blame everyone else for all their ills. It smacks of arrogance to walk through life declaring they are blameless when the facts speak otherwise.

"Palestine" is a construct at best - a sick use of a mostly refugee people to keep alive the myth that once land is conquered by Muslims it is forever Muslim (this is why groups like Al Queda claim Spain, Romania and the Balkans as Islam today). There has never in all of history been a Palestinian people, a Palestinian state or a Palestinian culture. It is the wriggling of one invader crying foul at being bested by another re-invader. Before 1948 the Arabs in the area were simply Arabs, not Palestinians (and rightly so, Palestinian is the name of an ancient invader people from the Aegean!). Some 630,000 Arabs left Israel in 1948, while close to a million Jews were forced to leave the Muslim countries, where they had lived in many cases before the Arabs had the written word. Don't take my word for it, look it up.

You're quite right about the Saudis - they saw Iraq as a buffer against Iran/Shia Islam and were happy to do business with uncle Saddam for a very long time indeed. Countries don't have friends - they have interests.

The Taliban made a huge mistake sheltering international terrorists. No Afgahn was ever involved in terrorism outside their borders - whilst the Taliban are utterly deplorable they simply did not have the global jihad mandate of Bin Ladin and other groups.

N.