If your stories about the U.A.E. are as accurate as your story about the bible shredding in Saudia, then you are full of condensed beans.
I never had any problem with it and yes I did transport my family’s personal scriptures (up to 6 sets) to and from Saudia over the years. If the Saudis think that you are bringing in bibles to proselyte, they will confiscate them and possibly deport you. But lashes? Extremely unlikely to happen. And DID not happen in 2012!!! Period. Even if the bibles were confiscated, the claim that they were destroyed by shredding is not verifiable by eye witness accounts.
I repeat, Christians have no problem getting scriptures over their for their own personal use. Lashing for having a quantity of bibles is NOT the punishment given to foreigners. Deportation is.
As far as the minister proselytizing in the UA.E. Is concerned, it is against their laws and the minister was not ignorant of it. While you might not like the law, it behooves you, as a guest, to respect such laws while residing in said country. Otherwise, how can you honestly expect them to respect our laws when they are over here?
As for rape, murders, etc., there are more in Chicago each year than in Saudia and probably more than in the U.A.E. too. Mote, meet beam.
If the Al Jouf incident is the same one I’m thinking of, then it was totally misrepresented in the western press. What actually happened was that the Muttawa raided a private religious observance of the sabbath held by Sudanese Christians and had them deported before they could be hauled before the sharia court where they would have had to be acquitted according to Saudi law. The Arab News made a big stink about this at the time.
But it is not illegal to celebrate Christmas in Saudia. You can’t buy Christmas ornaments around Christmas time and the Muttawa do try to crack down on the practice. But we bought our first artificial tree over there from a street vendor in Riyadh. We bought a better one the next year from Manama, where even the Muslims openly celebrate Christmas.
We even had Christmas lights festooning the outside of our villa (a common practice amongst Westerners over there BTW) with no problems.
I’m not saying that there are not any,problems, by any means, but the amount of misinformation I here back in the states about that area is absolutely astounding.
Interesting perspective. Thank You.
Then why are the moslemes pushing in the courts for sharia law and trying to make Edes a school holiday here?!!! Is Christmas a school holiday in Saudi?? What a piece of crap! -
Why are US public schools pushing all this moslem stuff on our children? Why can`t they teach Christianity in sausdi schools?
It has to be Christmas a holiday in saudi also if they want edes holiday here- and let lots of churches be built there in Saudi-- They build thousands of moques here in USA but no churches to be built in Saudi?!!
- Gimme a break-
They want it all their way and you know it too. ,p. This is BS and you know it. Their Saudi law there is RELIGIOUS LAW, not secular law-
It is secular law in the USA.
Theocracies rule by religio-political police forces and you know it.
We do not have religious police forces in USA. This as a bunch of crap, a one-way street that the moslems want, not a two way street and you know it.
They even want sharia law in UK- This is respecting other countries` laws???-
Gimme a break - it`s pure propaganda- and pure mosloem BS