Saudi Arabia ban Synangogues!

legal-eagle

Undemoratic, inciting racial hatred blah blah blah....don't even mention those nice democratic Swiss people without addressing this issue!

Agent Smith

unless you have a link to back this up. I feel i should be able to mock you...

legal-eagle

Here you are my ignorant friend:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabia#Religion

wes

So Saudi Arabia is our moral compass now?

Also, don't the Saudi have the same right as the Swiss to tell those evil foreign religions to go f*** off as well? Damn, some people are just so inconsistent with there silliness.

legal-eagle

Are you comparing the democratic decision of the Swiss to ban minarets with the VERY undemocratic Saudi Arabia banning any kind of non-muslim practice at all?

If you had to live in either one which would you rather Switzerland or Saudi Arabia? Which one would infringe most on your personal and cultural rights?

Dannyboy83

So the Saudis ban synagogues (despite no trespass against them).
The Swiss ban minarets ( despite no trespass against them).

And yet we still cannot even demand that the members of Catholic church, who have raped, pillaged and trespassed against an unknown but large number of our own citizens must resign.

hmmmmmmmmm.........................

wes

legal-eagle wrote: »

Are you comparing the democratic decision of the Swiss to ban minarets with the VERY undemocratic Saudi Arabia banning any kind of non-muslim practice at all?

Comparing 2 stupid idea's seems perfectly reasonable to me.

Also, just because a majority of people support something stupid doesn't make it suddenly alright. The democratic governments of the US engaged in a war to look for imaginary WMD's for instance, which is a perfect example of a democratic country doing something incredibly stupid.

Also, again why don't the Saudi's have the same right to do as they please in there country? Why the double standard?

legal-eagle wrote: »

If you had to live in either one which would you rather Switzerland or Saudi Arabia? Which one would infringe most on your personal and cultural rights?

I would live in neither.

994

Comparing 2 stupid idea's seems perfectly reasonable to me.

2 stupid ideas of massively different magnitudes. The Swiss don't allow Muslims attach a tower to their mosques. In Saudi Arabia, not only are non-Islamic religious buildings illegal, but so are e non-Islamic religious items and articles - the Bible is illegal. Muslims who leave the faith are executed.

donaghs

wes wrote: »

Comparing 2 stupid idea's seems perfectly reasonable to me.

I don't agree with it. But to say that the democratic process banning a style of tower, is the same as what goes on in Saudi, is just insane. Its a sort of relativism which makes a mockery of serious human rights issues.

AlekSmart

http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-43639120091103

Oh dear we don`t really like the entire business do we...?

And yet we still cannot even demand that the members of Catholic church, who have raped, pillaged and trespassed against an unknown but large number of our own citizens must resign.

I`ll bet,Dannyboy83,that the clerical brothers are SO grateful they were`nt attached to the dioscese of Riyadh.... !

johnathan woss

wes wrote: »

Also, again why don't the Saudi's have the same right to do as they please in there country? Why the double standard?

The double standard is that some Muslims come to the west and insist on wearing the burkha, want to live by sharia law rather than the secular law of the state, etc.

ei.sdraob

are they even allowed to practice other religions in Saudi?

hinault

legal-eagle wrote: »

Here you are my ignorant friend:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabia#Religion

ahem.

All non-Islamic religions are banned in Saudi Arabia.

Quite different to the situation pertaining to Switzerland.

Nice try though.

hinault

ei.sdraob wrote: »

are they even allowed to practice other religions in Saudi?

No.

wes

johnathan woss wrote: »

The double standard is that some Muslims come to the west and insist on wearing the burkha, want to live by sharia law rather than the secular law of the state, etc.

So the Saudi can't do as the please in there own country then, which is what I was talking about. Also, quick question how many Muslim Women wear the burka in the West? I think you will find they are a small minority. Also, if it not against the law of the land, then I fail to see the issue btw. How exactly can you demand to wear something, when there is no law against it in the first place? If I want to wear a funny hat, will you have a issue with that too? Seems a bit odd that your so obsessed with what some Women are wearing.

Also, you will find that foreign contractor families live in there own communities where the various Saudi laws don't apply to them. So lets not pretend that people from the West don't insist on special treatment when the go abroad.

wes

donaghs wrote: »

I don't agree with it. But to say that the democratic process banning a style of tower, is the same as what goes on in Saudi, is just insane. Its a sort of relativism which makes a mockery of serious human rights issues.

I am not saying there exactly the same, but that people should have issue with both stupid actions, but instead we see a ridiculous double standard were the Saudi's are condemned by the same people who support the ridiculous Swiss decision, in fact that the point of this thread. Come is it really so hard to say both decisions are silly?

Also, I do love how as long as you get a majority to back up a stupid decisions apparently that makes it alright. So presumably if the Saudi held a referendum on banning foreign religions and the vote went through, presumably that would be ok by posters on here then. Just, because something is done democratically doesn't make it right or better than something done in another way, we have seen plenty of democracies do some really nasty things, especially in the last decade, so it doesn't really work as a defense as well as it use too.

**edit**
So basically, what it comes down to is that Saudi Arabia should be our moral compass, and the West can do bad things as long as the Saudi's do bad things. Presumably the Saudi's can justify there nonsense by invoking Western invasion or something as well. As long as someone else is doing something bad, that makes it alright then. Good to know.

biko

The Saudis are probably the most ignorant and racist among the ME countries and I don't think they believe it's a problem. It doesn't surprise me one bit that they don't allow other religions there.

More info

who the fug

wes wrote: »

Also, you will find that foreign contractor families live in there own communities where the various Saudi laws don't apply to them. So lets not pretend that people from the West don't insist on special treatment when the go abroad.

Saudi laws apply to every part of their country except those covered by diplomatic status, so unless you are a diplomat there no if buts or exceptions.


Just because you are on a compound you are not immune to the police.

wes

who the fug wrote: »

Saudi laws apply to every part of their country except those covered by diplomatic status, so unless you are a diplomat there no if buts or exceptions.


Just because you are on a compound you are not immune to the police.

I think you will find that Women on those compounds don't wear Burqa's.

who the fug

wes wrote: »

I think you will find that Women on those compounds don't wear Burqa's.

If the Mutaween can gain access, they will be in the proverbial

wes

who the fug wrote: »

If the Mutaween can gain access, they will be in the proverbial

But they can't, as there barred from doing so.

Nodin

Magnus wrote: »

The Saudis are probably the most ignorant and racist among the ME countries and I don't think they believe it's a problem. It doesn't surprise me one bit that they don't allow other religions there.

More info

Nasty, snobbish, elitist....treat Sunnis like crap, Shia worse again..mind you, that generally only refers to the ones allowed to deal with Foriegners.....

Victor

I wonder how many Synagogues are in the Vatican?

dynamopiev

Victor wrote: »

I wonder how many Synagogues are in the Vatican?

zomgs.

that's silly.

Victor

But Saudi Arabia is the Muslim equivalent of the Vatican.


EDIT: OK, Its bigger and has more sand, but both are essentially religious states. This makes both India and Israel look positively unreligious.

dynamopiev

except with a population of 28,000,000 and a land mass of 830,000 sq miles, compared to Vatican City being the world's smallest country in population and area.

biko

Vatican and Mecca are the embodiment of their respective religions, you won't find other symbols there (except maybe from Freemasons *stir stir*)

dynamopiev

It would be more comparable if the Vatican was the whole of Italy and the whole of Italy banned synagogues. If Mecca was an independent city state of the size of Vatican City then i dont think it would be at all noteworthy that they had banned synagogues.

irish_bob

Victor wrote: »

But Saudi Arabia is the Muslim equivalent of the Vatican.


EDIT: OK, Its bigger and has more sand, but both are essentially religious states. This makes both India and Israel look positively unreligious.

altogether spurious arguement

jackthekipper

It's the kind of nonsesne you'd expect from the country that gave the world Bin Laden, 15 of the september 11th hijackers and a population of sexually repressed men.

Nodin

And women.




(That's a bit pythonesque, now I think of it)