these mofos block everything
the internet, in fact all telecommunications in my country, is monopolized by one organization. this basically means that even if we hate their service, we have to suck it up and deal with it.
usually, it isn’t that bad - the only thing i have a major problem with is the internet. the speed and packages are fine but it is heavily censored - they actually play ‘parents’ or god and block everything that is deemed ‘unislamic’. sometimes, one can understand it - like the famous ‘belle du jour’ blog being blocked? ok, i see what you’re saying - she’s a prostitute, and is writing about her exploits and it is all so very unislamic…
but friendster?
apparently, it’s blocked because it is a badly disguised, hooking up forum.
ok, mayyyy be i see your point. after all, once i put my profile up there, i did get a number of men sending me naked pictures of themselves, with offers for sex, along with their mobile numbers…
but i LOVE (not) how they block absolutely anything that contains any suggestive words in the url. if one looks up anything on STD’s and the url contains (as it most naturally would) the word sex, then the site is blocked. sexualhealth.com is BLOCKED - i am sorry, you can not educate yourself regarding the various diseases you may be contracting while shagging, because it is UNISLAMIC.
it gets more amusing.
‘freemuslims.org’ is blocked.
doesn’t that just say EVERYTHING?
today, jon over at asshole roomate (good site, by the way) posted something about saudis (did you know they actually have a law against women driving? misogyny at it’s best) and islam. he linked to this page - it was blocked. since the post mentioned wife beating in islam (which by the way is ALLOWED, under certain circumstances), i googled it. the first result was this site, which was ALSO blocked.
i finally found the actual verse that jon was talking about, on a site that my service provider approved of.
here it is:
[4:34] The men are made responsible for the women, and GOD has endowed them with certain qualities, and made them the bread earners. The righteous women will cheerfully accept this arrangement, since it is GOD’s commandment, and honor their husbands during their absence. If you experience rebellion from the women, you shall first talk to them, then (you may use negative incentives like) deserting them in bed, then you may (as a last alternative) beat them. If they obey you, you are not permitted to transgress against them. GOD is Most High, Supreme.
charming, isn’t it? no wonder they were trying to block me from reading this - obviously it would piss any woman off!!
given the liberal amount of bad, bad, bad words and blasphemy that one can find on my site (including/especially the old one), i am just waiting for it to be deemed unsuitable for viewing in this country. i don’t know whether i will laugh or cry when it happens…imagine being unable to access your OWN webpage?!
frankly, i am surprised it hasn’t happened yet.
I’m blocked from my own website (the one with my poetry and stuff on it, too, not just my blog) at work. Any of those pages you’d like to see, you just let me know, and I’ll cut and paste ‘em for ya. Censors be damned! What a polite little fascist note, though. Thank you for knowing what’s best for me!
Fucktards.
Comment by Kristie — June 6, 2005 @ 4:36 pm
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat there’s a site where people will send naked pictures of themselves to you, why was I not informed? Oh hang on it’s not just geezers is it?!
Comment by Red Baron — June 6, 2005 @ 10:28 pm
heh, I remember a time when your blog was blocked from work.. of course I later realised that it was a deliberate blockage of all blogspot urls. my office is really weird like that…
Comment by loki — June 7, 2005 @ 3:19 am
can’t people use anonymizer softwares to get around the blocking issue ?
Comment by Jon — June 7, 2005 @ 3:31 am
“If you experience rebellion from the women, you shall first talk to them, then (you may use negative incentives like) deserting them in bed, then you may (as a last alternative) beat them.”
Sigh. Why don’t we just bang our heads on brick walls until they crack, and get it over with?
Comment by C — June 7, 2005 @ 12:56 pm
“If you experience rebellion from the women, you shall first talk to them, then (you may use negative incentives like) deserting them in bed, then you may (as a last alternative) beat them.”
Verses like that make me wanna cry:(
Comment by silver tassles — June 7, 2005 @ 10:59 pm
a-ha! how strange… am so glad nothing of de sort is in vogue in india, at least! lol.. if it were, am sure that talking closets would be history! lol.
Comment by rahul — June 8, 2005 @ 6:04 am
Rahul, nothing of that sort is in vogue anywhere. But the fact is men have been beating women for ever. And believe me if women were physically stronger they would beat men up. That is just the nature of people. What they can’t resolve peacefully will get resolved violently.
silver tassles, verses like that make me cry even more. Cause verses on the same subject give me few choices in dealing with a rebellious woman.
I’m not going to defend the permission to administer a beating. But there are very very strict rules about everything in Islam. The way the beating is administerd is clearly defined. Hitting on the face is not allowed. A beating that will leave any kind of mark is not allowed. Doesn’t leave much room for doing any damage. Hell, one can do more damage during rough sex than a spousal beating according to Islamic law.
But then again I have never seen or heard about a true muslim in my life.
And since when is deserting her in bed going to hurt her. The man has no choice. He can beat her, pat really, or compromise.
Comment by ali — June 8, 2005 @ 6:55 am
Trust you to pick one of the toughest Quranic verses for your opening salvo! The controversy rages and the key word (for beating) is “daraba” which has meant many things through many ages. I don’t have the energy to squish everything into this tiny box, but if the UAE’s policies don’t extend to literature try reading Leila Ahmed, Fatima Mernissi or Asma Barlas. And if you want the ill informed “Dummies Guide” then try Irshad Manji. I like the feel of the new site already. Gawd. I’m just another fickle guy!
Comment by uberhomme — June 8, 2005 @ 10:36 am
uber, actually, UAE’s policies DO extend to literature (and everything else). Foreign magazines, CD’s, DVD’s, or books that have anything controversial are either not brought it or are censored - they actually, rather clumsily, use a black marker to color over boobies!! I’ll see if i can find a picture of that, because it is highly amusing. I remember a case where the poor hindu god (ganpathy) received the same treatment and was almost completely blacked out, on a CD case!
I’ll try and get those books you recommended on my next trip to pakiland.
but to be honest, as far as the verse is concerned, while i agree that it may be interpreted differently, the problem lies with the common (muslim) man who chooses to use it to justify his regular wife beatings. my firm but slightly blasphemous stance on this is that if god were to actually communicate with us through a book, he would not have chosen words that could so easily be twisted by men that are fallible.
Comment by rocky — June 8, 2005 @ 5:07 pm
Beating a woman, under any circumstances, is wrong, and any religion, be it Islam, Christianity, or Hinduism, is clearly not a creed that allows its followers to assuage their humanity. I refuse to debate with men (or women, if that be the case) such as Ali who actually believe that their religion gives them the clearance to react with violence under particular circumstances.
Comment by Amelie-Freak — June 8, 2005 @ 5:18 pm
One can live in a fantasy world free of the defects designed into people and form values based on such views. The reality is otherwise. Women get beat on all over the world. There is no excuse for such behavior. But the reality is it happens. Even the tough laws in western countries are unable to protect a woman from a man bent upon taking his anger out. The nature of religions is not just to arbitratily set up just standards, like common law, but to take into account the nature of man(woman) and to goad him to better social behavior; Sometimes with promises of rewards, other times with threat of harm.
I am not here to debate anything either. But if rocky is going to take out a verse from the Koran and use the everyday mistakes of defective people to attack the Koran then I should be able to answer the question raised. Attack the idiots who hide between religious verses and act like retards. My firm, and some would say blasphemous, view is a bit different. God knows man is not made perfectly. If we are made in god’s image than it is only natural that his violent streak is manifesting itself in ourselves. There are built in defects and the test is the ability to control the negative, and yes natural, urges and behaviors.
I could go on about the evolution of thought and laws in middle-eastern/ western monothiesm. But that gets closer to blasphemy than expecting god to be paternalistic.
And don’t worry rocky, you probably wouldn’t find those books easily available in Pakistan either. Sometimes you find your own confused thought process is clearer than so called scholars.
And finally the lovely freak: The last time I was in a tussle with a woman was well over twenty years ago and my friend’s elder sister beat my ass and sat on my chest with her fat ass collapsing my birdcage ‘cause she liked me. And she used love as the excuse for her dominating ways. Where in the fucking hell did you see me use religion as the excuse. Can’t you read and comprehend at the sametime.
Rocky san, I need to guest post. please please please. I didn’t get to christen the comment box ( I hate you actualfactual). So I should get the first guestment. Gimme or I’ll kick your ass koranically. No no no just kidding.
Comment by ali nobody's bhai anymore — June 8, 2005 @ 7:35 pm
ali (nobody’s bhai!!): i am so glad and surprised that you offered to guest post, without me having to resort to bribing and begging!
as always, i would absolutely love it if you did.
Comment by rockyyyyyy — June 9, 2005 @ 2:59 pm
Hear, hear! Bring on the guest post. Then there’d be a new post here…ahem.
Comment by Kristie — June 9, 2005 @ 3:06 pm
Sorry, about the length.
Comment by ali — June 9, 2005 @ 4:52 pm
I bet you say that to all the girls, Ali.
Comment by Kristie — June 9, 2005 @ 8:40 pm
you know it.
Comment by ali — June 9, 2005 @ 8:48 pm
GOD is GOOD that everything that comes from him,
created, or made, is GOOD
MAN does not have defects, only choices … the
right to choose what is GOOD or not good.
GOD handed over the HOLY Scriptures, may it be
the TORAH, The BIBLE, The QU’RAN .. that MAN
maybe guided to what is GOOD and to do what is
GOOD
Beating a wife maybe GOOD or not good, but when
does a wife do not wish to obey her husband …
we must also keep in mind that woman is from GOD,
Thereby she has the capacity to do what is GOOD.
If a husband request a wife to do the thing that
is not good, and she refuses to do it, and by then
the husband beat the Wife by not obeying him …
on the basis of dis-obedience and not on the nature
of his instruction (specially in the absence of self
examination, whether his instruction is GOOD or not
good … then certainly this action is not good.)
Surely if a woman who is to do GOOD and a husband
who is to do GOOD … come together … dis-obedience
will not be there, For they will both make everything
that is GOOD for GOD.
TORAH is GOOD, but not all jewish are clean
BIBLE is GOOD, but not all christians are saints
ISLAM is GOOD, but not all muslims are islamic
Comment by waz — June 21, 2005 @ 10:51 am