In fact, making an ‘Eid call is SOP for foreigners of any religion, who visit their colleagues, bosses, and local government big-wigs on the holy days.

Have you seen Christians in Saudi wear red badges, and are they allowed outside their houses during Muslim special days?

You have a much clearer picture of the Saudi people and government than I do and I salute your efforts to comment on both their progress and in some cases lack of progress as you see it. The purpose of the site has never been strictly to bash Muslims as a people but to warn Americans of threats as we see them.

If there is a hope for Muslims and Islam, it will come with a complete reformation of Islam. I do not see that happening despite the efforts of a few reform minded Muslims. I credit them with the attempt but I think they are doomed to failure. Having read the Koran a few times now it is easy to see why radical Islam spreads so quickly. Without a complete rewrite or someone convincing Muslims that Mohammed was a bad example of Allah’s intent I can not see any real change taking place at least not in my lifetime.

Both Doctor Bulldog and myself are unapologetic at our low opinion of Islam as an ideology and will continue to expose efforts by Muslims in and out of the USA to force a change on our way of life and freedoms. That also applies to non-Muslim threats. We do not call for genocide or such non-sense but will hold practitioners of Islam accountable for their actions wherever they take place.

Good luck with your blog.

Regards,

Ronin

http://conservablogs.com/velvethammer/2007/10/12/wtf/
I need that account to access my global dashboard. Stats etc.

For instance, Saudi Arabia does not actually have madrassas. A technical point, perhaps, because the curriculum outlined in the piece is very much the same as that taught in Saudi state schools, but defective in that it doesn’t acknowledge that other things are also taught in those schools, but not in madrassas.

Educational reform, though, makes the Saudi state schools (and private schools which have to follow much the same curriculum) are open to reform. Those reforms are taking place. In response to US pressure–and pressure from Saudi parents–textbooks have been changed; the curriculum reformatted to reduce its emphasis on religion; and even more importantly, teaching methodology is being changed to require critical thinking rather than rote memorization.

The Saudi government has stopped all proselytizing efforts in the US as a matter of official policy. It has removed its ‘Religion Attaché’ from its US facilities (a result of USG pressure). It has stopped distributing books of very questionable merit.

The USG is engaged in a war of ideas, contrary to the assertions of some quoted in the piece. One program–which I started when I was in charge of US Public Diplomacy at the US Embassy in Riyadh–bring teachers of Islam to the US to visit a wide variety of religiously-sponsored schools, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh. The purpose is to show that teaching the values of one religion does not require the demonization of other religions.

I blog about US-Saudi relations and Saudi reforms at Crossroads Arabia. You might like to pay a visit.