I'm legitimately surprised by the number of people on the left who have decided that defending Saudi Arabia's record on human rights and freedom in the name of tolerance is a good idea. For instance, you have the fine folks over at ThinkProgress praising the cancellation of a television show that would've dared portray the medieval theocracy in a negative light. Notes TP:
The show got off to a bad start — the short summary released by ABC Family featured kidnapping, a royal patriarch, repression of Muslim women, and the phrase "behind the veil." That was enough to provoke a backlash and trending topic on Twitter, and concerned statements from the Council of American-Islamic Relations and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. ABC Family and the pilot’s writer, Brooke Elkmeier, responded predictably, with assurances that the show would be a "nuanced and character-driven" take, without disputing that the central conflict would be "backwards East" versus "liberated West" as implied in the blurb.
Emphasis mine because, well, that is the central conflict in the world right now. It's odd that many on the left think it's not worth highlighting the deep divide between the enlightenment-embracing West and a theocratic dictatorship within which "nearly half" of all women are beaten by their husbands and other family members. Of course, compared to some corners of the Muslim world—Iran, I'm looking at you—Saudi Arabia is practically heaven for gays, who are generally flogged and imprisoned rather than hung from cranes:
Saudi Arabia is one of four Arab countries where homosexual acts are not only illegal but punishable by execution. The others are Mauritania, Sudan and Yemen; the same applies in non-Arab Iran, just across the Gulf from Saudi Arabia.
In contrast to Iran, though, there have been no "gay" executions reported in Saudi Arabia since 2002 when three men from Abha were beheaded. There have, however, been various raids on gay parties and men have been arrested for "behaving like women" but the usual penalties are flogging and imprisonment – which tend to attract less media attention than executions. [Emphasis mine]
After my previous piece on the medieval theocracy, Vox.com's content director Max Fisher snarked, "Free Beacon goes to Saudi Arabia: 'It’s a terrible culture whose values we should reject.'" I'm curious to know which of the values of The Kingdom we should emulate. The imprisonment of gays? The beating of women? Perhaps Fisher, a "journalist," is fond of their commitment to freedom of the press? Hey, Freedom House: How's Saudi Arabia doing on freedom of the press?
Huh. Well, maybe things have gotten better in the last few months? Let's ask Hadas Gold over at Politico:
A Jerusalem Post reporter planning to cover President Obama's trip to Saudi Arabia this week has been denied a visa to the country despite pleas by the State Department and the White House, the newspaper reported on Monday. ...
"Reached for comment by phone, the Saudi counselor only told The Jerusalem Post that 'the decision has been made; and said the Kingdom would decline to elaborate further," the Post reported. "Obama administration officials privately acknowledged the media outlet was discriminated against."
Wow, a Jewish outlet was banned from covering an event in a medieval Muslim theocracy. Who could've ever guessed that would happen? Oh, I dunno. Maybe anyone paying attention? God help you if you try to visit Mecca. Remember when Maureen Dowd tried to experience the fantastic culture that is Saudi Arabia?
It was nearly impossible for me to experience Islam in the cradle of Islam.
You don’t have to be a Catholic to go to the Vatican. You don’t have to be Jewish to go to the Western Wall (although if you’re a woman, you’re squeezed into a slice of it at the side). You don’t have to be Buddhist to hear the Dalai Lama speak — and have your picture snapped with him afterward.
A friend who often travels to Saudi Arabia for business said he thought that Medina, the site of Muhammad’s tomb, was beginning to "loosen up" for non-Muslims. (As the second holiest city in Islam, maybe they needed to try harder.) But the Saudis nixed a trip there.
I assumed I at least could go to a mosque at prayer time, as long as I wore an abaya and hijab, took off my shoes, and stayed in the back in a cramped, segregated women’s section. The magnificent Blue Mosque in Istanbul, once the center of one of the greatest Muslim empires, is a huge tourist draw.
But at the Jidda Hilton, I was told that non-Muslims could not visit mosques — not even the one on the hotel grounds.
Wow. Much tolerance. Very enlighten. So equality. Perhaps Fisher should tell this bipartisan coalition of congressmen and NGOs criticizing the president for meeting with the Saudis that they've got it all wrong:
"The government of Saudi Arabia has repeatedly engaged in systematic human rights violations targeting women, religious minorities, and peaceful political reformers. Your meetings with King Abdullah and other officials will be an opportunity to publicly integrate human rights concerns, as defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, into the U.S.-Saudi relationship," the letter stated.
The letter was signed by a broad bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Trent Franks (R-AZ), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Frank Wolf (R-VA) and John Lewis (D-GA). NGOs on the letter included Amnesty International, Christian Concern, Human Rights Watch, Christian Solidary Worldwide – USA, and the National Organization for Women.
Frankly, I'd love to send one of my reporters to Saudi Arabia. But my options are pretty slim. Lord knows I can't send Alana Goodman or Adam Kredo (both of whom are too Jewish and have been to Israel too often, one of whom is too female). Bill McMorris would probably get lashed half-to-death for trying to sneak whiskey through customs. CJ might be able to get it done, but his commitment to free speech is likely to land him in more trouble than the trip would be worth.
But hey. Let's not do anything drastic like highlight all this barbarism on ABC Family. Apparently tolerance demands that we turn a blind eye to religious oppression. Unless, of course, the religiously minded want to do something like run a business and not pay their employees in birth control. God help those poor bastards.