Culture

Sometime more than a year ago, I wondered about the connection between reggae and Zionism. Occasionally you hear the word “Zion” being sung by artists like Bob Marley and even his son Damien Marley in some of their songs. I had no idea why but I did have a hunch that there was a complex story worth exploring.

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… so believes this idiot with a brain the size of a rat’s testicle. How cute of him to practice this patriarchal garbage and justify it by glossing it conveniently with his genius “Islam”.

The early Islam which came more than a thousand years ago liberated women. The “Islam” of today however has put them in a cage.

Excuse me while I go and puke.

The following two posts (both by Westerners writing about their experiences in Sudan) are extremely fascinating. The observations they make come naturally to them since they’re outsiders. Our culture is foreign to them.

As a Sudanese, it’s difficult for me to spot the things they highlight. Much of what they note is as normal to me as breathing is. It’s just part of everyday life. There’s simply nothing to be observed.

Obligatory Hospitality

1. A Sudanese Feast: Rob Crilly blogs about how he felt like a king when his trusted Sudanese guide invited him to his humble home for a feast. In Sudan this kind of hospitality is a normal obligation. It’s not a favor. When guests visit, you have to take care of them.

Rara Avis left this comment:

It’s fascinating to find a non-sudanese devouring our local cuisine or blogging it with such a passion

To which Rob replied:

It’s great food. I’d say it has more in common with the Middle East than the rest of Africa, which makes a great change from my usual fare

Very true. Especially since he had this feast in Khartoum which is in the Arab/Afro-Arab dominated Northern part of the country.

Family and Marriage

2. closer than… a cousin?: This is a post by a Western aid worker in Sudan. I think he’s American. He doesn’t share his name but he sure does share insightful and accurate insights about the concept of family in Sudanese culture.

~~*~~

Many Diaspora Sudanese raised abroad or who have spent a significant time overseas don’t adhere to these traditions very strictly but do however maintain them to a large extent. I know my family does, but not so much when it comes to the issue of marriage… fortunately!

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You can check out part 1 here: IBM

I know, I know, the title of this post sounds like an advertisement. Well, it is! Erm, kind of. Hell, you can consider this an endorsement. Why? Because I’m a huge fan of the “modification” I’m going to tell you about.

Mike is a friend of mine. He’s from Wisconsin. Met him a few months ago at a party and immediately liked him his invention.

He’s the co-founding brain behind…

a shisha like no other, a hookah that satisfies and makes you smile…

Say Hello to The HoboHookah

It’s the result of discovering the joy of shisha in Wisconsin, becoming a huge fan of hookah smoking by the time he was living for seven months in Egypt and then deciding to reinvent the whole thing after significant research. It’s known as “the first modern American hookah“.

I believe some Middle Easterners will not like the hobohookah and will consider it some kind of cultural rape. Worse still, they may even call it American imperialism. As for me, I like it. I love seeing this kind of cultural fusion and creativity. Plus, I enjoy my regular dose of shisha fruit flavors and the wonderful “vitamins” they contain, only now I consume them with style.

Read all about it here.

Don’t ask me Sandmonkey. I’ve never dated a Sudanese girl before and even if I did, I’d be crazy to pick one who’ll sit over a burning hole for a whole hour just to make me go “ding dong”.

This is an update to clarify some certain points brought up by commenters.

Damn you people! Stop harassing me!

Dalu, you asked “why haven’t you ever dated a Sudanese girl?” and Rara Avis, you then added “stop acting all non-sudanese Drima!”

I spent my childhood in Sudan and Qatar. Some of my best friends were Sudanese girls. Since I was a little kid back then, I obviously didn’t date because the thought never popped into my head. Duh! Like I said, I was just a child.

My adult life was spent here in Southeast Asia where there is a huge lack of Sudanese girls, let alone a lack of nice ones. Hence the simple reason I’ve never dated any of “you” my dear Sudanese queens and angels isn’t because I hate “you” but rather because it’s so damn hard finding decent “yous” where I live at the moment. It’s tough out here I tell ya, it’s very tough!

Dear Amru, I hit a nerve didn’t I?

Bro, just because dukhan is a Sudanese tradition, doesn’t mean I have to like it. I don’t! It’s my own personal taste. I hate the smell of the damn thing. I love Sudanese henna though. I even blogged about it before.

Sexy henna designs make me drool. My future wife, whether Sudanese or not, better get it every once in a while or else I’m divorcing her.

Bakhoor* is another thing I like. Like dukhan it’s a Sudanese tradition but hey guess what? I know many Sudanese people who hate its smell or get migraines because of it. Does that make them “unbalanced”?

You also mentioned this:

… dukhan is a practice that pre-dates the times of the Kush Kingdom in Nubia. Its main purpose is to act just like perfume or body lotion and for some it’s used to accent the skin tone or to help in the removal of ‘stretch-marks’ on a woman’s skin.

It would be a lie to say that it does not sexually appeal to men but so do many body lotions and perfumes but that is not all what dukhan is about. To be honest this article is the most unprofessional editorial that I have ever read

Oh please! Come on Amru. Why aren’t you mentioning anything about the ehm tightening properties? Either you’re being naive or you’re purposely avoiding that point.

Yes, it’s true. Dukhan does indeed change the tone of a woman’s skin and do what you mentioned. It gives off a scent which many (but not all) Sudanese men find appealing too.

I found out about the ehm tightening effects (God, I hate that phrase now) of dukhan about a year ago when I was chilling with older Sudanese guys some of whom were married. Of all the effects it produces, guess which one they focused on and got excited by the most?

The article isn’t ill-conceived my friend. Personally I find it daring and rather alright. It does however focus on presenting the two extremes. On one side you’ve got men celebrating the tightening aspects and others on the opposite side calling the practice ignorant. I guess you stand somewhere in the middle.

Kawther, welcome to the club. That was my exact reaction when I found out about Dukhan’s “hidden truth”.

* Bakhoor is a special scented type of wood placed burned in small amounts mostly in Sudanese homes for different reasons by different people. It also gets burned a lot during special occasions like Eid and weddings.

Some believe burning it scares away the evil spirits. Others (like me) burn it simply because the scent is wonderful and creates a festive atmosphere.

Finally! I’m glad she’ll soon be reunited with her loved ones.

While watching this video of the Sudanese minister of foreign affairs speaking about the pardon (yeah, as if she did something wrong), he made an interesting comment which caught my ears.

He was basically saying that they expect to be treated back in the same manner in regards to Muslim Sudanese citizens all over the world locked up unfairly without trial. It’s a hint to Sami al-Hajj and other Sudanese locked up in Guantanamo. Clever.

It looks like al-Bashir could manage to deflect the anger of the hardliners quite well by positioning his act as one supposedly made on the condition for a potential future exchange for the release of Sudanese like Sami al-Hajj.

NOTE: Scroll down for the post on the Teddy Bear Crisis.

NOTE II: Expect a follow-up article about this issue very soon. 

Ah, how I love the internet and the freedom of expression it provides. I discovered three Facebook groups dedicated to opposing the imprisonment of Ms Gibbons. Two are started by Sudanese. The following is a representative quote from one of them:

To the Sudanese government: SHAME ON YOU! YOU HAVE INSULTED MY RELIGION , ISLAM BY DETAINING GILLIAN, YOU HAVE LOWERED MY PROPHET’S STATUS BY BEING SO PATHETIC AND YOU CONTINUE TO CAUSE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE IN DARFUR TO SUFFER. YOU CALL YOURSELVES MUSLIMS?, FOR SHAME! YOU TERRORISE YOUR OWN PEOPLE, AND DO THEM WRONG WHERE WILL YOU HIDE FROM ALLAH ON JUDGEMENT DAY?

… puts us in the headlines again and boosts our supreme notoriety. Spare some time and read the story here.

A British schoolteacher has been arrested in Sudan accused of insulting Islam’s Prophet, after she allowed her pupils to name a teddy bear Muhammad… the charge could lead to six months in jail, 40 lashes or a fine.

The incident is getting major coverage in the blogosphere and I find myself not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Check out the results in Google Blog Search and Technorati for the keywords “teddy bear sudan”. There are hundreds!

The whole thing is just so unbelievably pathetic. Clearly it’s an honest and innocent mistake. Oh no, how stupid can I be, she’s a white British infidel so it must be a freaking Zionist CrUSAde and Jewish conspiracy. Right? Raaaight!

I don’t think she’ll get lashed or imprisoned. I believe (hope?) she’ll get away with paying a fine - a fine which she doesn’t deserve to pay in my opinion.

Unity School where Ms Gibbons teaches is one of the most prominent international schools in Khartoum. Relatives and many friends of mine studied there. The school has a British curriculum and those who graduate receive an O’Levels certificate.

This isn’t the first time the school finds itself in the midst of a controversy, albeit one surely not as big as this. Back in the 90’s when beloved al-Turabi was still in power and his version of Sharia was being shoved down our throats, the school came under pressure to change the girl’s uniform. Many Islamists hated the fact that girls wore skirts and mixed with boys. Now we have this. And meanwhile, British Keefieboy is confused:

why is it ok for many thousands of men, some of whom have IQs appoaching zero, to be named after him?

Approaching zero indeed.

How is an educated non-Muslim supposed to know what the rules are (answer to last question: you’re not - the rules are made up as we go along). And why is everyone assuming that the bear is named after the Prophet - I believe the caretaker at that school is called Muhammed and everyone really likes him.

Once more, Islamic hardliners are making their religion look ridiculous. How sad.

Make that depressing!

Takhalllllllluf 3ajeeeeeeb ya nas!!

UPDATE I: The Teddy Bear “Crisis” Gets More Attention

Oh dear, it just hit CNN! I watched it five minutes ago. The British Prime Minister commented on the incident and already high ranking British government officials are engaging Sudanese ones in the… ah so very, very important matter.

Freelance journalist Rob Crilly is reporting from Khartoum with a post on his blog, followed by an article in Times Online elaborating the updates.

I hate the stupidity of this. More attention will hopefully mean the release of Ms Gibbons without getting jailed or lashed so bring it please! Of course we may fully expect to see local hardliners politicizing the incident for their own advantage and trying to mobilize anger with it which shall complicate matters further. They’ll squeeze its juices until the last drop. Fingers crossed.

At the moment, some pro-government newspapers are making it seem that the teacher named the teddy bear Muhammad on her own and on purpose. Here are posts from my fellow annoyed Sudanese bloggers on the issue:

• Kizzie
• Amjad
• Rara Avis

The school has been shut down until January for fear of reprisals. Wow, surprise of the century!

UPDATE II: The Teddy Bear “Crisis” Continues - Teacher Sentenced To 15 Days In Jail Followed By Deportation

I can’t believe the ridiculous amount of attention this is getting. I guess it happens when we have depressingly pathetic incidents like this. People! We should be talking about Darfur instead! But… it looks like we won’t. So here I go, while doing my best not to fill up this post update with profanities.

Ms Gibbons will unfortunately be spending the next two weeks in a tiny room after which she will head back home to her country. The bright side? At least she’s not getting lashed 40 times. At the start I was honestly expecting she’ll get away with a fine but when the noisy hardliners got louder and began making their usual super sensible statements, I got skeptical.

I can’t really say I’m surprised over how this turned out. These people live in a world of conspiracy theories where everything a Westerner does might be a plot against Islam.

However, influential Muslim hard-liners sought to raise outrage over the case. The semi-official Assembly of the Ulemas, or Islamic clerics, said Wednesday that Gibbon’s action was “another ring in the circles of plotting against Islam.”

They’re so bored out of their minds, they need to imagine themselves as characters in a video game. This is entertainment to them. They thrive on this. And you know what? I say Islam’s biggest enemy is in fact people like them.

Imams are going to order people to demonstrate after Friday prayers today.

Wednesday night, a pickup truck drove through Khartoum calling for Sudanese to hold protests after Muslim prayers Friday.

But Maj. Gen. Abdeen al-Tahir of the Khartoum police, vowed security would prevent any protests. “Nothing will happen tomorrow,” he said.

Good luck Mr. Abdeen. It should be fun. Damn, I’m so jealous, I wish I could join them. There will be shouting, and screaming, and jumping, and a big crowd of furious people. Seriously, what’s there not to like? The only thing missing is a heavy metal band. Now that would be cool. We’ll make a mosh pit, head bang together and proclaim “down with the infidel teacher”. Oh and then we’ll start burning some American flags! Yaaay!

Al-Bashir’s NCP doesn’t want this to escalate. Hardliners could very well inflame strong sentiments against Westerners in the city which will obviously be bad, hence the wonderful “balancing act”. Bleh. And some people wonder why I adore cute Islamists.

A teddy bear named Muhammad? Oh, very, very insulting. An Islamic media company releasing a DVD featuring a stuffed toy named Adam? Let’s just ignore it. Lovely butchers like him YES! Oh yeah, now THAT’S what I’m talking about. No problem at all. None whatsoever.

Oh and for all you Brits putting the blame on her, SHAME ON YOU! As for the Commenters, tone down your derogatory language. Alright?

UPDATE III: Demonstrators Call For Teacher’s Execution.

Maj. Gen. Abdeen al-Tahir of the Khartoum police failed. There were angry protests. No surprise there really.

KHARTOUM, Sudan - Thousands of Sudanese, many armed with clubs and knives, rallied Friday in a central square and demanded the execution of a British teacher convicted of insulting Islam for allowing her students to name a teddy bear “Muhammad.”

… They massed in central Martyrs Square, outside the presidential palace, where hundreds of riot police were deployed, although they did not attempt to stop the rally.

I gotta tell you, the mixture of religious dogmatic views and culture of honor displayed in this case is appalling.

… The women’s prison where Gibbons is being held is far from the site, as is the Unity High School where she taught, which is under heavy security protection.

I just got off the phone a while ago. A close friend of mine has younger siblings who study in Unity High School where Ms Gibbons taught. Some people did in fact want to burn down the school.

The “crisis” continues.

Eid Mubarak to everyone celebrating today. Me? Not yet. This is the last day of Ramadan where I am. I’ll be celebrating it tomorrow in the sky (while on flight).

By the way, check out this interesting web magazine on culture called The Worldly. They have a nice article on Arabic food. I’ve been eating a lot of it during Ramadan.

Anyways, again, Eid Mubarak to all! Have a good one!

In many ways, Khartoum is a city of sharp contrasts. A donkey cart, overtaken by a brand new BMW on the same road might seem like an impossible scene, but it is a real one you can actually witness. The huge economic gap between the rich and the poor is the most obvious, but there are other contrasts that exist below the surface.

Wild parties in the religious conservative city where alcohol is illegal under Islamic law happen quite frequently behind closed doors. At these parties you can expect the unexpected.

Some mansions in the middle of farms along the Nile were built by their rich owners with the sole purpose of making them easily convertible into dance clubs - they are designed with built-in sound systems wired to speakers and subwoofers in all rooms, including the bathroom. Wherever you go, the DJ’s choice of hip-hop and trance music goes with you. The alcohol flows freely. Sometimes cocaine, marijuana, heroin and ecstasy “flow” along too. Many girls arrive at the scene covered up from head to toe, except for the hands and face. Once inside, they take off their long garments to reveal the scant stylish outfits underneath them. Outside, private security stands on guard to make sure the religious police don’t come. If they do show up, they’re simply bribed away.

Continue reading here.

Long time readers of this blog will remember how shocked I was when I watched Maury for the first time ever last year when I was in America. Seriously, it was one major culture shock. I simply couldn’t grasp the concept of the show. Not only that but my mouth was so wide-open, you could have put a lorry inside it.

This however, is something I found super amusing and totally funny! Pak Attack is hilarious! But Maury? Please!

Thank goodness I still haven’t watched Jerry Springer. I heard he’s way worse.

(hat tip: Ali Eteraz)

What a simple, yet lovely post. I love it. Globalization is here to stay. All this exaggerated talk about “cultural anarchy” is crap.

This article made me miss Sudan:

April 8, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — People often ask me how I can tie myself forever to Sudan, when I have covered the worst of this country in conflict zones like Darfur. I guess I finally understood the strength of love.

Reuters correspondent in Sudan Opheera Mcdoom smiles next to her husband Mohamed Omer Abdelati during the “jirtik” ritual at their traditional Sudanese wedding in Khartoum April 4, 2007. (Reuters)

The news I report is often grim. But living here for three years has also given me a unique opportunity to see a side of this fascinating place that few get to understand.

War and oppression have ripped at the fabric of society in much of Sudan but strong family bonds have kept people together. I arrived as a stranger, alone in a place where there were few foreigners, and was welcomed by many into that family.

My new husband, Mohamed Omer Abdelati, is from northern Sudan and runs an aviation services company and the Canadian University of Sudan.

We are both 29 and Muslim, and shared a circle of friends for two years. But I was often on the road and we did not really become close until 2005.

When we did, we came together in this rich mix of ancient Arab and African cultures, where no culture is dominant, despite the indoctrination policies of various governments.

My wedding, for example, was a week-long affair that ended on Saturday. Pharaonic ceremonies passed down over thousands of years were more important than Muslim traditions.

During the “jirtik” ritual, the boss of the home is prophesied by whether the bride or groom first spits milk in the other’s face.

… The bride has to dance for the women in both families.

Shake it like Shakira I thought — great fun — until I discovered it entailed learning some 75 different tribal dances, including Ethiopian shoulder shaking.

In the old days, the bride would dance in a grass skirt and nothing else to show the in-laws how fertile she would be. Now the bride is clothed — but not very.

During the 1990s when a hard-line government enforced its strict version of Islamic sharia law, the racy bridal dance was one tradition they did not dare touch.

Everyone pitches in at a Sudanese wedding. Dozens of family and friends all work to prepare exotic dishes and design elaborate decorations.

Relatives living abroad send packages with vital ingredients, from hair extensions for the bridal dance to candles, huge quantities of gold jewelry and dresses. The bride is expected to do, well nothing really.

For at least a month before the wedding, a Sudanese bride is locked up at home, scrubbed daily with concoctions of turmeric, coffee, crushed almonds, rice and sandalwood. She is then placed aloft over a pit of burning perfumed wood to give the skin a beautiful color and scent.

All her body hair is removed and her hands and feet are painted in intricate designs of henna. When she emerges on the first day of the wedding, her skin is dazzling.

I invited friends and family from around the world to my wedding — 2,000 people attended the white dress night at the Palace hotel on the banks of the Nile in Khartoum — because I wanted them to see this, the other side to Sudan.

 

I miss Sudanese weddings. I wonder how mine will be like. The thought of inviting 2000 people is horrifying but the jirtik should defintely be a lot of fun. For more pictures of traditional Sudanese weddings, you can check out this old post of mine.

NOTE: Contained here within this post are my personal thoughts and opinions. I honestly don’t mean to offend anybody with what I’m about to say. I don’t have the intention to. This is Drima just being Drima. Enjoy! Your comments are welcome.

Sudanese Culture, Homosexuality & My Personal Opinion

In Sudanese culture, homosexuality is a big gigantic red no and is regarded as a pretty huge crime. It is not tolerated at all. If any man dared to walk down the streets of Khartoum advertising the fact that he’s gay or even slightly feminine, he would most certainly get beaten up. Yeah, I mean like literally beaten up, as in smacked in the face, punched in the nose, kicked in the stomach and thrown with a few bricks. He’ll probably get killed! (Hell, even the simple act of shaving your moustache in Sudan is considered something totally unmanly)!

I don’t regard homosexuality as something normal and I don’t think it should be “normalized”. As offensive as that statement may sound to some people, I don’t intend for it to be so. I really don’t. Vagina + Penis = Baby. That’s how it’s intended to be. The norm is attraction between male and female. Penis and penis aren’t the norm and while the naughty guy in me may fantasize about the idea of vagina and vagina, I also believe that it’s not the norm. The 2 purposes of sex are procreation and enjoyment. Homosexual sex can result in enjoyment but it won’t result in procreation. Maybe that’s why homosexuality is regarded as a major sin in many religions. If today we all turned homosexual, the existence of the human race will eventually come to an end.

Now I understand that some of you have trouble reading the above. It might seem too simplistic to you but it isn’t to me. Sure, homosexuality is something that exists in the animal kingdom but so what? We’re different from animals. We’re different because we were blessed with conscience, the freedom to do right or wrong and the freedom to think freely. I’m sure Darwin and Richard Dawkins would super disagree with me though.

There might be another reason some of you have trouble with my opinion. If I’m saying that homosexuality isn’t the norm, then wouldn’t that imply I think gays are abnormal? The answer is yes. Allow me to elaborate but before I do please keep in mind that I’m not using the word “abnormal” in a derogatory sense (at least not in most cases).

The Causes of Homosexuality: Nature, Nurture or Both?

There doesn’t seem to be a clear answer. Some researchers point towards nurture, some towards nature and others point towards both. Personally I don’t know. I’m not a scientist but I am open to arguments from the nature perspective. My stance is lenient towards people who have an odd sexuality that occured as a result of nature.

You can’t really blame them for being that way can you? I can’t. If they were born that way then it’s not their fault now is it? Some gay men claim that since they were little kids, they’ve always known that they didn’t like girls. Others claim that they’re women stuck inside men’s bodies. How can you explain that? Does it have to do with some kind of hormonal unbalance? I don’t really know and that’s why I remain very open to scientific arguments from the nature perspective. Not so long ago hermaphrodites were treated like outcasts in society. They were looked down upon and were considered abnormal (in a derogatory sense). I’m absolutely against that. Sure, their condition is an abnormality. A baby is supposed to be born with 10 fingers and 10 toes but it is simply wrong to outcast a baby born with 9 fingers and 23 toes. The analogy might not be completely accurate but I hope you get the idea.

According to research from the nurture perspective, some people turn gay due to unfortunate childhood experiences which include sexual abuse. I am quite open to such ideas but not as open as I am to arguments from the nature perspective. Sure, getting sexually harassed during childhood is a very nasty experience but it doesn’t mean it’s an excuse to turn gay. Not all men who get locked up in jail for many years turn gay. Only some do.

There are some cases however whereby nurture “arguments” will do nothing to change my mind. Example? I know a guy who turned gay about a year and a half ago. The reason? He got dumped for the third time in a row by a girl he was deeply and madly in love with. What a pathetic reason, absolutely pathetic. Now that’s what I’ll refer to as abnormal in a derogatory sense.

Some Essential Background

Amongst my close friends, making fun or being hateful towards other people’s religions is something unacceptable (Scientology is an exception). Racism is also something generally unacceptable although a minority of close friends could be classified as mild racists and a few others (2 actually) as unfortunately super racists (you know, the kind who believe that a good Jew, or at least a “media shaped” good Jew is a dead Jew). However there’s one thing that’s generally quite “acceptable” and that’s making fun of gay people and using terms like “faggots” to describe them. Yup, you read that right.

All of us haven’t really had any “pleasant” encounters with gay people or transsexuals. In fact the only gay/transsexual people we bumped into, or that bumped into us, have always been the really loud obnoxious annoying type, that love to make freaky comments such as pointing at me or one of my friends and shouting in their “feminine wannabe” voices “oh my God, you’re so cute”. My immediate reaction would always be “yuck! Damn you, stop harassing us, you freaky abnormal weirdoes”. What’s worse is when the transsexuals try to approach. Good thing they back off. Oh thank the Lord they always do, otherwise I swear I’ll end up beating one of them in these coming days and I might actually break his (her?) neck. Okay maybe I won’t but you get the idea.

As you can imagine, we developed a wonderful hostility towards gay and transsexual people. Or to be more accurate, most of us didn’t develop any hostility at all, we simply enhanced it further (way further), given the fact that we came from cultural backgrounds which regard homosexuality as something absolutely unacceptable and forbidden.

The Incident

Last week’s Sunday night was pretty unique for one main reason. (No, I didn’t get drunk and find myself in the morning in bed with a gay dude. Oh no, thanks but no thanks. Drima is straight, very straight. In fact he’s as straight as an arrow. He also doesn’t drink). Here’s what happened. Last week’s Sunday night K, a new friend of mine brought me along to his friend’s party where I ended up having an interesting conversation with 2 gay dudes and one transsexual. All three are fashion designers.

I was extremely uncomfortable in the beginning and felt like cursing my friend but I convinced myself to remain respectful since I was a guest. At first, I conversed with everyone except the transsexual. After a while, the party got going when the host started blasting some really good old school hip hop music. Eventually we all conversed, laughed and joked around until I completely forgot the fact that 2 of the guys were gay and one was a transsexual. It didn’t bother me much anymore. Unlike previous cases, they didn’t try to hit on me and they didn’t make any flirtatious moves which was obviously a very good thing. As a result, I learned three new fashion words. Cetour, retro and bohemian (did I spell them right?). Moreover I started thinking and I gained a new perspective.

You’ve got 2 persons:

a) A guy who’s straight but steals money from friends, doesn’t give to charity and is racist.

And

b) A guy who’s gay, is loyal to his friends, gives to a lot to charity and vehemently opposes racism.

As much as you may disagree with it, you can’t simply discredit (b) as immoral simply based on his homosexuality.

Having spent some of my childhood in conservative Qatar, I never one day thought I would have atheist friends. Some of the coolest and nicest people I’ve gotten to know since then are atheists. I remain in contact with most of them.

Having been exposed to only crazy annoying gays and transsexuals, I never thought that one day I’d actually have a decent and enjoyable conversation with any of them.

PS: Which public toilets do transsexuals use? I’ve always wondered. Women’s or men’s? Oh ya and strangely I have 2 friends who are bisexual. They’re both girls!