Good grief.
Jan. 7th, 2005 09:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
capnzebbieHm. The Saudis have their very own Pat Robertson.
Saudi cleric blames gays, sin for tsunamis
Thu Jan 6, 7:40 PM ET
Ben Townley, Gay.com U.K.
SUMMARY: A Saudi professor and Islamic cleric has drawn links between Indian Ocean tsunami disaster and what he terms "sexual perversion."
In comments that have angered gay rights groups and liberal Muslims across the world, a Saudi professor and Islamic cleric has drawn links between Indian Ocean tsunami disaster and what he terms "sexual perversion."
In an interview translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) Web site, Sheik Fawzan Al-Fawzan said that the disaster was a result of "stupid people" going against God's word in the area.
Transmitted on Saudi television, he included people who took part in "fornication, homosexuality, usury" and "corruption" in his damning diatribe, calling on people across the world to "atone for their sins."
"These great tragedies and collective punishments that are wiping out villages, towns, cities and even entire countries are Allah's punishments of the people of these countries, even if they are Muslims," the professor at Al-Imam University said.
He said that the timing of the disaster -- just a day after Christmas -- was a "sign from Allah."
"It happened at Christmas, when fornicators and corrupt people from all over the world come to commit fornication and sexual perversion," the MEMRI Web site reports him as saying.
The disaster devastated the coastlines of nearly a dozen countries in the South East Asia and Eastern Africa region, with Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand hardest hit.
So far, the number of dead has hit 140,000, with many still missing and presumed dead.
The disaster has brought massive donations to aid relief charities, with the U.K.'s general public donating more than £70 million and the government promising to match the total sum.
The professor-cleric said the world must now ask forgiveness.
We must atone for our sins, and for the acts of the stupid people among us and improve our condition," he said. "We must fight fornication, homosexuality, usury, fight the corruption on the face of the earth, and the disregard of the lives of protected people."
The comments come after a year of gay Muslim groups working to improve awareness of their religion, and to push for more acceptance.
I have nothing intelligent, coherent or non-obscene to add.
My mood is *disgusted* but LJ doesn't have that on the list.
Saudi cleric blames gays, sin for tsunamis
Thu Jan 6, 7:40 PM ET
Ben Townley, Gay.com U.K.
SUMMARY: A Saudi professor and Islamic cleric has drawn links between Indian Ocean tsunami disaster and what he terms "sexual perversion."
In comments that have angered gay rights groups and liberal Muslims across the world, a Saudi professor and Islamic cleric has drawn links between Indian Ocean tsunami disaster and what he terms "sexual perversion."
In an interview translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) Web site, Sheik Fawzan Al-Fawzan said that the disaster was a result of "stupid people" going against God's word in the area.
Transmitted on Saudi television, he included people who took part in "fornication, homosexuality, usury" and "corruption" in his damning diatribe, calling on people across the world to "atone for their sins."
"These great tragedies and collective punishments that are wiping out villages, towns, cities and even entire countries are Allah's punishments of the people of these countries, even if they are Muslims," the professor at Al-Imam University said.
He said that the timing of the disaster -- just a day after Christmas -- was a "sign from Allah."
"It happened at Christmas, when fornicators and corrupt people from all over the world come to commit fornication and sexual perversion," the MEMRI Web site reports him as saying.
The disaster devastated the coastlines of nearly a dozen countries in the South East Asia and Eastern Africa region, with Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand hardest hit.
So far, the number of dead has hit 140,000, with many still missing and presumed dead.
The disaster has brought massive donations to aid relief charities, with the U.K.'s general public donating more than £70 million and the government promising to match the total sum.
The professor-cleric said the world must now ask forgiveness.
We must atone for our sins, and for the acts of the stupid people among us and improve our condition," he said. "We must fight fornication, homosexuality, usury, fight the corruption on the face of the earth, and the disregard of the lives of protected people."
The comments come after a year of gay Muslim groups working to improve awareness of their religion, and to push for more acceptance.
I have nothing intelligent, coherent or non-obscene to add.
My mood is *disgusted* but LJ doesn't have that on the list.
