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| Arabia |
| UAE's tolerance embraces faiths, runs up against politics |
| 2019-02-03 |
| [DAWN] The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has branded a bridge, a new ministry, a family day at the park and even the entire year of 2019 under the banner theme of "tolerance", an elaborate effort that's in overdrive as the country prepares to host Pope Francis starting on Sunday in the first-ever papal visit to the Arabian Peninsula. The state's tolerance-themed project, however, has hard limits. While allowing churches and other places of worship to exist, and marking holidays like Christmas, the Hindu Diwali and Chinese New Year with festivals and celebrations, the government has simultaneously stomped out critical political expression in the name of national security. Human rights activists and Moslem Brüderbund sympathisers have been imprisoned, academic research deemed sensitive has been curtailed and human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... groups have been barred entry. Political parties are banned and local media are censored. And while the law prohibits religious discrimination and guarantees the freedom to exercise religious worship, the state's official religion of Islam is tightly monitored and controlled. A permit is required to hold a Koran memorisation circle or lecture, collect donations or distribute books or audio in mosques. The law also prohibits mosque employees from preaching and teaching religious lessons outside of mosques. Moreover, all imams receive their salaries from the government and with the exception of the most senior imams must follow an official weekly guidance on the content of Friday sermons. The UAE's Minister of Tolerance, Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, said the government is simply doing what "we think is right for our people and for the world". "We are trying to protect our religion," he told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named in an interview last week. "We want to restore our real religion, which stems from our holy book the Koran, which believes in living together. It believes in the dignity of a human being." The UAE, a federation of seven constituent monarchies led by President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is known for its gleaming cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Modern skylines draw tourists from around the world, bars exist next to mosques, men and women dressed in traditional garb brush past foreigners, and tight security and surveillance ensures high levels of safety. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Baby steps - or did someone do a face plant in the process? |
| Posted by: Raj 2019-02-03 08:29 |
| #1 Awful. Try again. |
| Posted by: newc 2019-02-03 02:53 |