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Saudi Arabia: The morality police are out in force and they are determined to stamp out annoying commercialised Western holiday paraphenalia.
Morality police in southern Saudi Arabia plan to conduct raids to ensure that shops do not sell flowers, candles and gifts to those planning to celebrate New Year... The Authority for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (APVPV) in Aseer province was determined to uphold a ban by the conservative Muslim kingdom on non-Muslim celebrations...
...The authority — a pillar of the ultra-conservative kingdom since its founding — had also banned Christmas ornaments from shops. It also bans shops from carrying Valentine's Day gifts.
For Muslims, there are only two holidays in a year: Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha,the official said, referring to the Muslim feasts that follow the annual fasting month of Ramadan and the haj pilgrimage to Mecca.
You'd thing this would be a lesson to the loony fundie contingent in the US about the importance of separating church and state. But they'd probably love having their own secret police force to harass those that stray from enforced church doctrine.
Morality Police to Ban New Year Trinkets - Reuters, 29th December 2003.
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and Ho! Ho! Ho!
at 02:27. Last modified on September 28 2006 at 23:42.
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