Round and round and round we go
Australia fury at cleric comments
Australia's most senior Muslim cleric has prompted an uproar by saying that some women are attracting sexual assault by the way they dress.
Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilali said women who did not wear a hijab (head dress) were like "uncovered meat".
But he has now apologised for any offence caused by his comments, The Australian newspaper reports.
Leading Muslim women condemned the comments and PM John Howard said the remarks were "appalling".
"The idea that women are to blame for rapes is preposterous," Mr Howard told reporters.
In a statement released on Thursday, Sheikh Hilali said he had been quoting another, unnamed, source and did not mean his words to condone rape.
"I unreservedly apologise to any woman who is offended by my comments. I had only intended to protect women's honour," the statement published in The Australian said.
“Women in our Australian society have the freedom and the right to dress as they choose. Whether a man endorses or not a particular form of dress, any form of harassment of women is unacceptable."
After all, why should it only be the Muslims who get the fun of working themselves up into a good lather?
Australia's most senior Muslim cleric has prompted an uproar by saying that some women are attracting sexual assault by the way they dress.
Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilali said women who did not wear a hijab (head dress) were like "uncovered meat".
But he has now apologised for any offence caused by his comments, The Australian newspaper reports.
Leading Muslim women condemned the comments and PM John Howard said the remarks were "appalling".
"The idea that women are to blame for rapes is preposterous," Mr Howard told reporters.
In a statement released on Thursday, Sheikh Hilali said he had been quoting another, unnamed, source and did not mean his words to condone rape.
"I unreservedly apologise to any woman who is offended by my comments. I had only intended to protect women's honour," the statement published in The Australian said.
“Women in our Australian society have the freedom and the right to dress as they choose. Whether a man endorses or not a particular form of dress, any form of harassment of women is unacceptable."
After all, why should it only be the Muslims who get the fun of working themselves up into a good lather?
posted by Brit at 7:45 AM
3 Comments:
Those well-disposed to Muslims in their diaspora will presumably think, right on, they are speaking out against the atavistic nutters in the movement.
I don't have to guess what those ill-disposed will think: They'll think, hmmm. How long has this been going on?
There's quite a bit more to it. The rape-encourager is the mufti of Australia. Who choose him?
Will he now be deselected, or will the voices of reason be proven to be a meaningless minority?
There was a very popular notion in the 1960s that sexual repression led to anger, violence and all kinds of uncool negative antisocial behavior. A lot of people have pooh-poohed that notion, but examples like this give me pause to re-evaluate it. The notion that an uncovered female head would have the same impact on a male as a naked female body doesn't speak well for the effectiveness of the islamic dress code in calming the sexual passions.
Another example that gives me pause to re-evaluate that 60's notion is this finding:
"The poll results indicate that 50% of all Christian men and 20% of all Christian women are addicted to pornography," said Clay Jones, founder and President of Second Glance Ministries whose ministry objectives include providing people with information which will enable them to fully understand the impact of today's societal issues. 60% of the women who answered the survey admitted to having significant struggles with lust; 40% admitted to being involved in sexual sin in the past year; and 20% of the church-going female participants struggle with looking at pornography on an ongoing basis.
The most surprising part of this is that 20% of the female respondents felt that they were addicted to porn. Even in secular culture, pornography is primarily a male activity.
I don't know what 'addicted' to porn might mean.
Once a week? Once a day? Occasionally?
As for those Christian females 'struggling with lust,' better to marry than to burn, some say.
I wonder if Rev. Jones considers, as I do, Harlequin novels to be pornography.
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