the state of religion in politics
A curious religious debate is raging in Egypt. The question is: should you keep your clothes on when having sex?
It began when Dr Rashad Khalil, an expert on Islamic law from al-Azhar university in Cairo warned that being completely naked during intercourse invalidates a marriage. His ruling was promptly dismissed by other scholars, including one who argued that “anything that can bring spouses closer to each other” should be permitted.
Another religious scholar suggested it was OK for married couples to see each other naked as long as they don’t look at the genitals. To avoid problems in that area, he recommended having sex under a blanket.
And so it goes. Meanwhile, the new president of Iran — Mohammad Khatami — is a certifiable nut. In the United States, we have the problem where George Bush keeps claiming that Jesus is telling him to do this and do that — Jesus wanted Bush to bomb Iraq, you see.
— Just to remind you.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad believes he is being divinely guided to help bring about the reappearance of the Imam Mahdi, the Shia Muslim equivalent of the Messiah, which would herald the Last Judgment and the end of the world. Some of his most devoted followers believe that he is Imam Mahdi. It’s never a good thing when significant parts of various nations have this in mind for a positive result of International affairs:
Others view him as an Islamisist version of Hugo Chavez, the populist Venezuelan president I personally cannot make heads or tails of, despite my aversion to the former IMF regimes that have flourished throughout Latin America (hrm) — but he certainly is making a good career of demagouging the United States government — and remember, everybody, it’s not just about George Bush — for [ahem] “Mr. Danger is not a person but an imperial system of hegemony that personifies within himself all other names and figures.”
Actually, come to think of it, this makes him something like what a President Pat Buchanan though nobody has ever confused Pat Buchanan with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It’s a strong reliance on the culture war, wedged with the economic battle for the lower-class “common man”, losing their way in the new economic structure. Toss in some Holocaust denying to boot, and the case becomes air tight. (This was Pat Buchanan’s idea:
)
Of course, Israel has its set of nutcases, who keep wanting to kill off anybody who gives a whiff of approaching some peaceful resolution to the irretractible conflict.
I’ve decided that “Pat Robertson” is a noun and a verb, as well as a verb. To pull a Pat Robertson is the phrase I have in mind. The embattled mayor of New Orleans pulled a Pat Robertson on MLK Day. He talked to King past the grave, (is that pulling a John Edward, of “Crossing Over” fame?) and then … got weird:
And as we think about rebuilding New Orleans, surely God is mad at America, he’s sending hurricane after hurricane after hurricane and it’s destroying and putting stress on this country. Surely he’s not approving of us being in Iraq under false pretense. But surely he’s upset at black America, also. We’re not taking care of ourselves. We’re not taking care of our women. And we’re not taking care of our children when you have a community where 70 percent of its children are being born to one parent.
We ask black people: it’s time. It’s time for us to come together. It’s time for us to rebuild a New Orleans, the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans. And I don’t care what people are saying Uptown or wherever they are. This city will be chocolate at the end of the day.
Was there a Chocolate City in Willy Wonka? Never mind. Nagin a Republican turned Democrat, Democrat supporting the Republican gubernatorial candidate last time around, and more to the point a man who received a greater proportion of white votes than black votes in his election. Now he tells us what Martin Luther King, Jr is thinking across the grave, tells us how angry and vengeful God is, and expresses quite awkwardly the perils of getting New Orleans back in business.
So. Islamic radicals who have sex with their clothes on, and await the coming apocalypse. Jewish radicals who sanke-handle for the death of Israeli presidents. Christian nutcases who exploit racial fears and express the desires of the vengeful God in the Sky. Pick your poison.