We, in the West, must respect Islam at all cost. I mean, it would obviously cause an outrage if a Muslim traveling to the U.K. or the U.S. or Germany were to have his Koran confiscated at the border, and with good reason. But the other way around, not a problem. Travelers mustn't stuff a Bible in their suitcases when they visit Muslim countries like Saudi-Arabia — it's against the local law. And so, at least one gaggle of spineless airline execs is prepared to crack down on its own Bible-packing flight-crew members.
A British airline has banned its crew from taking the Bible into Saudi Arabia for fear of upsetting Muslims. ... One middle-aged stewardess is to sue BMI for religious discrimination at an industrial tribunal due to take place in the New Year. In the meantime she will be excluded from BMI flights to Saudi Arabia. A BMI source said: "Foreign Office advice is that non-Islamic religious material is not permitted in Saudi." But another BMI worker said: "We understand our embassy has confirmed that the Saudis never enforce this rule. ... The bottom line is BMI don't want to jeopardise the Saudi route, which is worth millions to them."
I'd have a hard time flying on an airline called Bowel Movements International, or whatever BMI stands for. OK, I know it's British Midlands, but at this point they're just a bunch of flying turds to me.
[thanks, Baylen!]


You're a really good blogger, Roger. Why do you whine about this Islam stuff like a little girl? It's beneath you.
Posted by: Jim Henley | Tuesday, December 19, 2006 at 07:18 PM
Please excuse me, Jim but Rogier is dead right.
WHy SHOULD Christians be expected to humor Muslim prejudices and hair trigger sensitivities on the one hand, and yet sit still for any sort of insult and high handed behavior against their own beliefs?
And then call everybody equal?
There's an old Irish saying: " an open mind is a good thing, but when your brains fall out you're overdoing it."
Posted by: Martin Owens | Tuesday, December 19, 2006 at 08:43 PM
Could you elaborate a little, Jim? What Islamic practices am I not supposed to "whine" about ("like a little girl," no less)? The practice of outlawing books (including the Bible)? The practice of killing one's fellow Muslims who cut their beards, or who wear clothes that don't carry the Prophet's seal of approval (PBUH)? The practice of performing clitorectomies on young girls? The practice of violent rioting and issuing death sentences against those in the West who labor under the impression that free speech includes the freedom to criticize and make fun of another person's religion?
Why, exactly, is writing about such topics beneath me? You see, I thought my blog chronicled nannyism and attacks on personal freedom. Does the moralizing and the nannying and the assault on individual choice get more any more excessive, any more extreme, than in those examples above? Why, then, are these not proper topics for me to cover? I'm dying to find out.
Rogier (with an i)
Posted by: Rogier | Tuesday, December 19, 2006 at 10:53 PM
I was just looking into the whole “Bible issue” in some Muslim countries and found your post which I believe is spot on.
Sorry my comment is almost a full year late but with all these great quotes on your right hand frame I am sure to be back soon.
Posted by: Andy Wendt | Monday, October 22, 2007 at 02:12 PM