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for RELIGION  |
Imagine letting girls burn
for being improperly clad
of TheColumnists.com
It's been a pretty rough six months for religion.
First, 19 of the devout slammed three airliners into New York's Twin Towers and the Pentagon, killing about 3,000 people.
Then the Rev. Jerry Falwell said some things about the attacks being the fault of gays and liberal groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union. People rolled their eyes from coast to coast.
Then a Texas mother drowned all five of her children in the belief that she was saving them from Satan.
Then we find out that the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in some localities has been covering up widespread, unspeakable acts by some of its child-molesting priests. The fury over that continues.
Then the Rev. Billy Graham was embarrassed over some recently revealed remarks he made about Jews many years ago in a conversation with President Richard Nixon.
And now, we have one of those things that when we read or see or hear about it, we have difficulty comprehending.
Imagine, if you will, a gaggle of 15 teenage girls. Whispers and giggles, awkwardness, thoughts about boys, dreams of the future.
Now imagine all 15 of them suddenly dead.
The girls died because the religious police in Saudi Arabia wouldn't allow them to be rescued when their school caught fire. Yes, there are countries that have religious police to enforce obedience to the dictates of the state religion. The Taliban had them in Afghanistan. The Saudis still have them.
Why wouldn't the religious police allow the girls to be rescued?
Because the girls weren't wearing the kind of dress the Saudi religious police deem appropriate for going outside a building. Yes, even a burning building. So the religious police forced them to stay inside the burning building. So the girls died.
A Saudi newspaper reported the religious police as telling men who tried to rescue the girls, "It is sinful to approach them."
Religious decency must be preserved, after all. Even if it costs the lives of 15 innocents.
The religious police in Saudi Arabia are officially known as the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. Vice, one may presume, such as rescuing screaming 13-to17-year-olds from a flaming building.
The Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice can detain anyone for up to 24 hours if they believe the person guilty of a "crime of vice." That would involve, for instance, a woman going out of the house without the black cloak called an abaya.
Women aren't allowed to vote in Saudi Arabia, of course. They're not even allowed to drive.
Most of us are raised these days to be tolerant of other cultures, of other religions, even when they are idiotic. People have a right to their beliefs, we are told. Be understanding of different cultures, even if they involve, say, female genital mutilation.
And most of us try to live up to that ideal, most of the time. But our western liberal outlook should not be stretched to include tolerance of murderous nuts. And that's what the religious police in Saudi Arabia are.
Their actions have been depraved. A religion that once provided a haven for Jews fleeing Christian persecution has been turned into a dress code.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have both called for investigations, of course. But if the Saudi government does order the religious police who are responsible for the girls' deaths brought to trial, you may be assured that there will be religious leaders who will leap to their defense. We will hear fiery words about the purity of religion and non-sequitur rantings against Western decadence.
As of this writing, there
has been no outcry from the Bush Administration. Saudi Arabia
is an important ally, remember. It has oil. And we need its support
in any move against Saddam Hussein. It's an internal matter,
after all. And if the Saudi leadership were to crack down, there
might be a revolution led by the militant mullahs.
So, the kingdom's goofball religious police will probably be
allowed to continue on the prowl against religious offenders.
It's been a bad six months.
© 2002 by Charles M. McFadden. The illustrations are from
IMSI's Master Clips Collection, 1895 Francisco Blvd. E., San
Rafael, CA, 94901-5506, USA.
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