Nothing particularly unusual about this shocking treatment. Non-Muslims in Muslim lands are treated as inferiors. Indeed under Islam (by which I mean of course Sharia) there are rules for the Dhimmi. Indeed such treatment can even be justified according to Zealots by reference to Sura 9:29. Your claim that Sharia law does not apply therefore to Non-Muslims is sadly groundless.
Not necessarily true Paul ... impossible to generalize! I was a number of times in "Muslim countries" and was treated with utter respect and a good friend LIVED and was MARRIED to a Muslim in Saudi-Arabia - and NEVER EVER had this problem! So ... you might want to be careful with generalizing!
Karin, dear fiend where am I generalizing? I too have been in the Middle East. I of course was treated hospitably as well. The point is however is that Non-Muslims are treated poorly under the law. I don't know about your friend of course, but presumably they became a Muslim? Unless of course they were female in which case they could marry a Muslim man in an Islamic ceremony and bring all children up as Muslims. However we both know that the authorities would never tolerate a Christian ceremony in Saudi (they'd have a job finding a Church in any case). Just because a society is outwardly peaceful does not make it fair or egalitarian.
My friend did live in the Middle east and so did I and no, she had NOT converedt to Islam but remained a Christian! She was even given a BIBLE as present at one point ... what do you say now?
I do not by ANY means defend Sharia law - I find it horrendous - but I learned to be more careful judging a whole society by what I hear and read. One has to LIVE in this society to be able to see behind the curtain ... she did! And about churches - I will ask her! Of course this is two decades ago and things might have worsened ... I admit this is possible.
In essence, Sharia law is cruel and horrendous, belonging to the Middle Ages and NOT to a nowadays jurisdiction!
'My friend did live in the Middle east and so did I and no, she had NOT converedt to Islam but remained a Christian! She was even given a BIBLE as present at one point ... what do you say now? '
Nothing I addressed that point in my earlier comment. A Muslim man can marry a non-Muslim woman. However not the other way round. It might be interesting to see how much kindness was on other if a Muslim woman wished to marry a Non-Muslim? In any case we're discussing the inequities of Sharia law. The kindness of ordinary Muslims is therefore sadly irrelevant. You're right about Sharia being brutal and medieval. The import point of course is to distinguish that from ordinary Muslims. Such an even handed approach is made difficult by at least two factors.
Firstly the Islamists pushing for the expansion of Sharia are quite unambiguous in their terminology. They call it Islam and say things like 'the punishment for Sodomy in Islam is death'. To them of course Islam is a legal system as well as a religon. Surprisingly few people in the west realise this interpretation of religon as a political ideology. The second problem is that a sizeable number of ordinary Muslims and not just the Islamists will react to any criticism of Sharia by using the term 'Islamaphobia'. I have been called this myself whilst pointing out that Islamic law uniquely among Abrahamic religions kills those who leave it. The death penalty for apostasy is just one aspect of Sharia that is brutal and anachronistic. Indeed this and other provisions in my opinion ultimately does great harm to Islam. By which mean how Islam is perceived by many non-Muslims.
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