Monday, March 09, 2009

The Best Reason For Breaking Our Dependence On Foreign Oil

This is a Saudi woman after having been lashed 50 times for the mistake of being raped.

A streamer on CNN this morning tells us a 75 year old widow in Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to 40 lashes and four months in jail for having bread brought to her house. That in itself was not her crime, but the fact that it was delivered by two young men to whom she was not related. If her appeal is denied what are her chances of surviving?

I have never been an isolationist and I understand we do not understand many cultures other than those of the civilized western world, but to maintain relations with barbarians for the sake of - what? - is insane. Countries who employ "religious police" to enforce an ideology defy comprehension.

I'm sorry. This is the 21st century. There is no excuse, especially under the guise of "religion" or "Islamic law", to tolerate such behavior. We've found, over the past eight years, that not only do we not understand them, we cannot change them. It's time we stop trying.

Instead of trying to bring Islamic terror mongers to heel by bribing war lords, perhaps it's time to isolate them. Truly isolate them. Left to their own devices perhaps they will destroy one another. Without the West's money and trade they have little to sustain themselves. You can't grow enough food stuffs in the desert to feed entire nations. Western countries have oil reserves; Canada does - we have our own. We might consider mending bridges with the Venezuela's of the world. While their leadership is unsavory, it hasn't yet fallen to the depths of the Islamic countries.

If we still can't quell the urge to "change" the world, let's help the poor African nations that are being systematically starved and slain into oblivion. What? They don't have any oil?

We haven't been able to bring human rights to China, obviously not to the women in Islamic countries and for that I am truly sick because we can't get them out. Nor, however, do we have to enable those who oppress them and that is exactly what we are doing.

Perhaps our efforts would be better spent helping to overthrow two bit dictators like Mumgabi in Zimbabwe! What? They have no oil??

Seeing women being lashed for the sport of men is a deplorable reality. Seeing children with flies thick on open sores barely covering skeletal little bodies that are starving is an equally deplorable reality.

One is ethnic cleansing. One is called religion. If the latter be true it doesn't take much to see why so many are beginning to question if, indeed, there is a God.

9 comments:

Word Tosser said...

I find this replusive. I know that the Saudi's consider women lower than their furniture..but to be whipped for being raped? A 75 year old for taking bread from men who are not related to her? What if she was a single woman, who didn't have brother's and sisters? The whole thing is replusive.

The sad thing is... nothing will come of it. We are powerless, the government won't do anything. and we will read another story like this in the news next week, next month, next year

underOvr (aka The U) said...

Hi Dogwalk,

I don't think it would matter what century we live in, inhumanity will always cross over into ignorance.

I believe that as long as oil is a strategic commodity, America is toothless to change the culture and attitudes in China and the Middle East. Why do we continue to require petroleum for transportation? America is the largest producer of corn-based ethanol and yet few cars in this are made to run on ethanol. Why? Switch our transportation fuel from petroleum to ethanol and those oil producing countries no longer control a strategic commodity.

Salt was once a strategic commodity. Who would believe that today?

I'd better not start a rant about Africa or you will probably ask me to go.

underOvr

Mari Meehan said...

underOvr,

Rant away. I do it all the time!

Sylvia K said...

Oh, Lord, and I'm ready to!!! I'm sorry, but the whole religion thing regardless of which one generally ends up being deplorable in one way or another. And the fact that we'll look the other way regardless, as long as we're getting what we need. And all this is done in the name or WHO? WHAT? It's disgusting, it's sickening!
Rant on, my friend, I'm right behind you!

John Dwyer said...

I really wonder how this picture, if authentic, ever got out. I assume allowing such a picture must be a capital offense in the Islamic culture.

Mari Meehan said...

There are lots of pictures like this and worse - google "Islamic women being lashed". Click images, I would guess you'll be horrified.

Margie's Musings said...

The worst thing is that out of the 9/11 terrorists, 17 were from Saudi Arabia. Did we attack them? Well, no! We attacked Iraq and Afghanistan.

That doesn't make a lot of sense, does it?

Where any kind of fundamentalist religion is concerned, it doesn't have to make sense.

Anonymous said...

A graphic example of why I detest the Muslim religion, no matter what country it is practiced in. Middle East, United States, Asia...makes no difference. A loathsome despicable excuse for religion. There is so much more than being lashed. Girls are murdered by their own fathers for "talking" to a boy. Women are murdered at will by their husbands. And if you think it hasn't happened here in Muslim communities in America, think again. It has, many many times. In Pakistan, if a woman is raped and dares to make a complaint, and most don't, she must have three witnesses to the rape. Take a guess at how many are prosecuted...but the woman complaining gets lashed for being raped. CU

cconz said...

This is a hot topic for me. This is one of my reasons for detesting religion if that's what you call it. Fundementalist christians aren't much better, the way they treat women. I feel for the women, run, run as fast as you can. I totally agree with you ISOLATE them.There is no changing them.