Saudis order elderly woman to 40 lashes for mingling

[Gwynplaine]

Here are some excerpts from the story:

Saudis order 40 lashes for elderly woman for mingling

A Saudi Arabian court has sentenced a 75-year-old Syrian woman to 40 lashes, four months imprisonment and deportation from the kingdom for having two unrelated men in her house, according to local media reports.

Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam called Wahhabism and punishes unrelated men and women who are caught mingling.

The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, feared by many Saudis, is made up of several thousand religious policemen charged with duties such as enforcing dress codes, prayer times and segregation of the sexes. Under Saudi law, women face many restrictions, including a strict dress code and a ban on driving. Women also need to have a man's permission to travel.

"It's made everybody angry because this is like a grandmother," Saudi women's rights activist Wajeha Al-Huwaider told CNN. "Forty lashes -- how can she handle that pain? You cannot justify it."

"This is the problem with the religious police," added Al-Huwaider, "watching people and thinking they're bad all the time. It has nothing to do with religion. It's all about control. And the more you spread fear among people, the more you control them. It's giving a bad reputation to the country."

The "religion of peace" and it's theocratic creations at it's finest, eh. Keeping you safe from your own corrupt moral failings since antiquity! Aside from the obvious absurdity I wanted to point out a couple things that bothered me in those last few quotes.

"Forty lashes -- how can she handle that pain? You cannot justify it." The unspoken implicit idea however is that a younger, more virile woman could withstand the painful wounds, and so she stops just short of actually denouncing "lashings" as such. She only seems to be against this particular case because the woman is old, so it's "different". Despite this supposed "human rights activist's" pitifully pragmatic defense, no person (let alone women, or the elderly) should be subject to "lashings" as punishment for supposed crimes.

" 'This is the problem with the religious police," added Al-Huwaider, "watching people and thinking they're bad all the time. It has nothing to do with religion." On the contrary, it has everything to do with religion. If you take the religious concept of "original sin" then give it the teeth of government law enforcement, it can't turn out any other way.

[Mizango]

She disobeyed God's law and she should be punished. Had she only stayed in the kitchen...... Darwinism win again per say.

[Senoska]

Who reports these people?

[Fhloston]

lolIslam

If she survives the lashings, at least she'll get deported, and away from those religious lunatics.

[TheShadyMan]

People's ideas on how society should work are different than mine! Oh no! Damn you other Religions!

[Dimmauk]

Women ban on driving. Women also need to have a man's permission to travel.

Have you seen Middle eastern women drive? I understand that law.

[Neosutra]

People's ideas on how society should work are different than mine! Oh no! Damn you other Religions!

Because human rights is a matter of opinion right?

[Gwynplaine]

lolIslam

If she survives the lashings, at least she'll get deported, and away from those religious lunatics.

It'd be interesting to know where they intend to deport her to. I'd assume she'd just be forced to leave to a neighboring country but who knows.

[Kuya]

Boy it sure is people who don't know the difference between Muslim countries in here. While you're all at it, maybe you might want to ask your US government why it supports the region's most oppressive monarchy, when it's all for democracy and shit.

[Correction]

Have you seen Middle eastern women drive? I understand that law.

Have you seen Middle Eastern MEN drive? None of those monkeys should be allowed anywhere near a car.

[Elvis]

Islam isn't the problem.

The CULTURE of patriarchal oppression and dominance is the problem.

There is crazy shit in the Bible as well. And at one point we burned witches at the stake. We justified slavery because blacks were the 'Children of Ham'. We justified our colonization of someone else's land because we were chosen by God over them (Manifest Destiny).

There IS a problem with that society. No one likes getting stoned to death. Or burned at the stake. Or lashed.

But it's not the religion - although it plays a role of course. And keep in mind that this behavior is sanctioned by the State. And that State is sanctioned by OUR State.

We could nurture democracy in Saudi Arabia but then we'd lose our lucrative deal on ME oil.

Side-note: There are several easy rhetorical, yet compelling points to be made by the oppressive Saudi society that dismiss the demonetization of Islam. Socio-economic blah blah. Geopolitics. History of the people/culture.

And still, I'm more interested in Fascist Germany. How did they get crazy there? We're talking about a society that was the center of Europe - culturally/economically/blah blah. Secular/advanced - and YET, insane.

So purely on that question of religion and oppression - what role did it play? It's somewhat easy to overlook religion (for the Leftist at least), like I said, in favor of these other factors like poverty/political repression when discussing oppression in the ME.

[Mizango]

Boy it sure is people who don't know the difference between Muslim countries in here. While you're all at it, maybe you might want to ask your US government why it supports the region's most oppressive monarchy, when it's all for democracy and shit.

It all boils down to Jesus Kombat.

Christian God = Savior we will pwn j00 bitches.

Islam God= Derka Derka, u gaiz r dum and oppressive!

[Kuya]

Ham lol.

[Khajit]

Boy it sure is people who don't know the difference between Muslim countries in here. While you're all at it, maybe you might want to ask your US government why it supports the region's most oppressive monarchy, when it's all for democracy and shit.

Same reason they support Israel I bet. It makes them money. You wont be hearing about any of the stuff like this happening until they stop being "useful"(like Saddam attacking people other than the ones the US wanted him to) and then the civil rights violations will be all over the news to give support for the idea of invading the country and putting in a more "friendly" government.

[Kuya]

Anyway, it's HILARIOUS to watch some Americans even remotely speak negatively about this when it is their government that keeps this monarchy, that installs sharia law, in power.

But nevermind that, you guys have nothing to do with this, no problems, nope, nothing at all, let's all go and argue about Radiohead some more.

edit: let's blame islam or religion some more, even though there are other muslim countries with no sharia law as its main law, and ignore who actually keeps this crazy theocratic monarchy in power.

[Elvis]

I think we can still be concerned about the nature of the behavior. I mean, I don't feel like I have any control over our country's foreign policy.

I don't think the average American is going to change our deal w/ the Saudis.

But I think the understanding should be that we have a stake in the oppression in the ME.

So, basically - put the craziness in context.

[Kuya]

You're right, the least we can do is actually keep things in context.

[archibaldcrane]

Whatever would we do without the 3% of our country's total oil consumption that is provided by Saudi Arabia!

Fuck them, I'll take the 10 cents-a-gallon hit. Shit is ridiculous.

[TheShadyMan]

Because human rights is a matter of opinion right?

Actually, yeah. You can't prove what is and is not human rights, what people consider the basic rights of a human vary from one person or another. The idea of 'rights' altogether is a human construct. I don't agree with it, but I don't really have a means of proving which idea of rights is 'better' because 'better' is also a pretty subjective term.

[archibaldcrane]

To quote Bill Maher (who I generally think is a dickhead) - "We're better. Our way is better."

Fuck Saudi Arabia. The only country that can't get bombed -back- to the stone ages.