Deciding to “come out” to your family is still quite an ordeal for gay youngsters in the west, but in the Middle East it can be catastrophic. Having a gay member of the family brings shame on the entire household; it can cause fathers to lose their jobs and make brothers and sisters unmarriageable.
Some families respond to a son or daughter’s coming out with physical violence or by throwing them out of the house. Others send them off to be “cured” by psychiatrists who offer ludicrous remedies and charge a fortune.
Not surprisingly, some gay and lesbian Arabs try to escape these problems by taking refuge abroad. In theory at least, the US, Britain, Australia, Canada and several other countries now provide asylum for those who are persecuted because of their sexuality – but the chances of actually getting it are slim.
Who would “choose” to be this way, given the often horrific consequences?
…or another “Jenin Massacre”? We won’t find out until the investigation is complete, but expect the press to do its best to make it the former, without waiting for the facts.
Having a Pat Robertson moment (or, more likely, a Pat Robertson life), one of the many irredeemable lunatics that passes for religious leaders in the Middle East claims that bird flu discovered in Israel is a sign of Allah’s wrath. He also “…asked for congregants to ‘pray for Allah to dry out the sexual organs of the Jews with a disease so they won’t be able to reproduce anymore.'” Can’t you just feel the love emanating from the Religion of Peace?
As the article dryly notes, though:
Muhammed made his comments in spite of predictions the virus found in Israel may surface through migrating fowl in the nearby Palestinian territories.
The article also mentions cases appearing in Egypt. What did they do to piss off Allah? Turkey I can understand, what with their satanic secular state and all, but Egypt? What with all of the disasters going on all over the place, it’s apparently pretty hard to stay on his good side, even if you’re a Muslim. Maybe even especially if you’re a Muslim, judging by (for instance) the tsunami last year. If what the moderate Muslims say about their religion is true, I’d be more a little convinced if Allah would start smiting all these false prophets.
Having a Pat Robertson moment (or, more likely, a Pat Robertson life), one of the many irredeemable lunatics that passes for religious leaders in the Middle East claims that bird flu discovered in Israel is a sign of Allah’s wrath. He also “…asked for congregants to ‘pray for Allah to dry out the sexual organs of the Jews with a disease so they won’t be able to reproduce anymore.'” Can’t you just feel the love emanating from the Religion of Peace?
As the article dryly notes, though:
Muhammed made his comments in spite of predictions the virus found in Israel may surface through migrating fowl in the nearby Palestinian territories.
The article also mentions cases appearing in Egypt. What did they do to piss off Allah? Turkey I can understand, what with their satanic secular state and all, but Egypt? What with all of the disasters going on all over the place, it’s apparently pretty hard to stay on his good side, even if you’re a Muslim. Maybe even especially if you’re a Muslim, judging by (for instance) the tsunami last year. If what the moderate Muslims say about their religion is true, I’d be more a little convinced if Allah would start smiting all these false prophets.
Having a Pat Robertson moment (or, more likely, a Pat Robertson life), one of the many irredeemable lunatics that passes for religious leaders in the Middle East claims that bird flu discovered in Israel is a sign of Allah’s wrath. He also “…asked for congregants to ‘pray for Allah to dry out the sexual organs of the Jews with a disease so they won’t be able to reproduce anymore.'” Can’t you just feel the love emanating from the Religion of Peace?
As the article dryly notes, though:
Muhammed made his comments in spite of predictions the virus found in Israel may surface through migrating fowl in the nearby Palestinian territories.
The article also mentions cases appearing in Egypt. What did they do to piss off Allah? Turkey I can understand, what with their satanic secular state and all, but Egypt? What with all of the disasters going on all over the place, it’s apparently pretty hard to stay on his good side, even if you’re a Muslim. Maybe even especially if you’re a Muslim, judging by (for instance) the tsunami last year. If what the moderate Muslims say about their religion is true, I’d be more a little convinced if Allah would start smiting all these false prophets.
(That title is a euphemism for having one foot in geezerhood), I don’t need an alarm unless I need to get up very early after getting to bed late. I generally wake up pretty early anyway. And when I do need some external assistance, the plaintive little “beep, beep” of my watch is generally sufficient.