It seems very befitting that Amr Khaled would want to become a politician. I knew it from the first day I saw him on television. That man has 3 PhDs in bullshit and 2 in being smug. He is very qualified to switch careers from a vapid televangelist teleimamist to a slimy politician. Both jobs make his audience want to sob.
Preachitician
March 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Dear Church, will you marry me?
June 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment
In Egypt the line between politics and religion is as blurry as my windshield on a rainy day (remind me to replace my wipers!). According to the orthodox Coptic tradition, divorce is frowned upon and remarriage is an impossibility. Therefore, when a Coptic man thought this was supremely unfair (and unconstitutional), he went to the Administrative Court to force the church to marry him–a step he needs to be legally married that is. In an unexpected and controversial ruling, the Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff forcing the Coptic church to abide by “constitutional” rights. The church then appealed to the Supreme Constitutional Court. This begs the age old questions: is marriage a religious institution? Is the state interfering in religious freedom? Is religion intruding on constitutional rights? Why the hell does this man want to remarry given the church probably gave him hell for divorcing? Ok never mind on the last question; afterall, who doesn’t deserve a second chance? One hopes this case brings to light the absurdity of religious intrusion in personal life. And similarly state intrusion in personal life (such as declaring a religion on ID card, switching religions, not allowing Egyptians to marry Israelis, not allowing Muslim women to marry non-Muslim men, etc.). Unfortunately, the insatiable need to regulate identities and human behavior is an obsession of religions and states alike, and their marriage is as overbearing as a used car salesman.
The Muslim Sisterhood
July 21, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Supporters of MB nominees, Mr. Esam Mukhtar (male) and Dr. Makarem al-Diri (female), marching on the streets holding signs that say, "Islam is the Solution."
A recent law in Egypt requires at least 64 seats of the 444-member parliament in Egypt to be filled by women. This affirmative action policy aims to elevate the status of women, and some assume it is an attempt by the ruling NDP to offset the Muslim Brotherhood MPs. How will MB adjust to this? This article hints that the organization may nominate more Islamist women to vie for these seats despite a patriarchal dominance in the group. Others suspect this move may be too avant garde for the religious organization. So will the MB tango with the government? People tend to overestimate the ideological rigidity of religious organizations in the face of electoral politics. If there’s anything the MB has taught us, it is that Islamists are willing to transform themselves and society in the ever-metamorphosing political fray. Although women do not hold high leadership positions in the organization, they are an overlooked crucial bedrock of the grassroots movement. As this article suggests, they have already been running on electoral tickets in various provinces, and have become more visible fixtures in culture and politics. Their roles will surely continue to evolve if not by the 2010 parliamentary elections then soon thereafter.
A Ramadan Soap Opera
September 20, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Saudi men learning to live very contradictory and confusing lives
I stumbled upon this article in The Economist and thought of how emblematic it is of Saudi Arabia.
Sheikh Saleh Luhaidan, chief injustice of the kingdom, found himself in some deep religious pigsty when he called for the death of media moguls whom he called the “apostles of depravity” probably for showing a strand of hair on a woman during the “holy” month of Ramadan (as opposed to the other 11 unholy months of the year). In fact, these media moguls also happen to own MBC and Rotana which display Lebanese singers’ obsession with plastic surgery and terrible songs on a daily basis. Sheikh Luhaidan, who himself wants to make love to the 7th century, found out the hard way that these wealthy moguls are in fact well-connected to the royal family (then again who isn’t in Saudi Arabia when a king has 53 sons and 56 daughters?) when he showed up to work one day, and they changed the locks on him. In other words, his show was suspended off the air.
Stories like these make me tingle inside confirming that Saudi Arabia is a conglomerate of everything wrong in this world: religious extremism, sexism, exploitation, corruption, and everything “unholy” that would make any god want to cry in a corner. Oops did I just blaspheme during the holy month?
Churchpaigning
August 16, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Am I the only person out there who thinks that Presidential candidates should not campaign in churches? Is it not enough that we had to tolerate CNN’s inane faith forums (or whatever they were called)? What issues could religious people possibly discuss that could not be shared in a non-religious setting or theme? Rick Warren, the pastor of Saddleback Church, mentioned he would ask “personal questions” at today’s forum. Should I start puking now? So the economy sucks, wars are breaking out, and gasoline prices make some of us want to cry, but Rick Warren wants to ask the candidates “personal questions”? So not only is this church event a dismissal of the principle of separation of Church and State, it will also probably be a complete waste of your time.
I understand why the candidates would participate in this event. After all, evangelical Christians are a voting bloc. If only they were voting for who Jesus’s best sidekick would be. Nevertheless, I am fully aware that many Americans are religious (and don’t read the Constitution). But I don’t recall what happened the last time voters elected a church man. Oh that’s right—he went on to become one of the worst presidents in American history. Keep your religions at home, people!