Kabar,
I give up. I was only there for a few months between '99 and '00 though I had family there for years. I lived in the compound behind their WTC across from the prince's horse track. I'm sure you know the place. I drafted a long response to you but I trashed it. It serves no purpose. It goes way beyond religious freedom and you know exactly what I'm talking about. We both know if we sit down and write about what we can and can't do over there and how we can do what is allowed it doesn't amount to a hill of beans when you're talking about the freedoms western civilization has struggled for almost two thousand years to win. I just thought I owed you this. As I said, I give up. When you get really tired, and maybe a little old as I am, pigs with lipstick don't look so bad. I just won't go out with them.
Regards,
Cornpone
I appreciate the response. The UAE has all of the trappings of a 21st century nation, but obviously it is not the same as the US or Western Europe. Underneath that superficial modernity is an ancient culture that still maintains its old ways. Islam is at war with itself. It needs a reformation similar to what Christianity underwent hundreds of years ago. Still, Dubai and the UAE are something of an oasis in that part of the world. It is evolving.
Regards,
Kabar
P.S.--I am probably older than you are.