Dear Log,
«Among the objects exhibited in court as being contrary to good morals was a black T-shirt with heavy metal symbols on it. This prompted the judge to comment that "normal people go to concerts in a suit and tie".I am proud of these theocratic lunatics: they apparently came up with this dimwitted hysteria all on their own, without even a Southern Baptist to tell them how.Judges have a knack of saying fatuously out-of-touch things on these occasions, and the remark was reminiscent of a famous obscenity case in Britain during the 1960s - over the publication of D H Lawrence's novel, Lady Chatterley's Lover - when the judge asked: "Is this the type of book you would want your butler or housemaid to read?"
[...]Two weeks after the arrests, the public prosecutor ordered their release from jail for lack of evidence [in charges of devil worship]. But some time later the Cairo Times reported that education ministry officials were still sifting through libraries and video collections in private schools for traces of anything that might promote devil worship. "Bob Marley and Nirvana T-shirts are still on the blacklist," the paper said.
[...]Underlying it all, though, is the pressure to conform to "Islamic" values as determined by the most narrow-minded members of Arab society. Culture, in their eyes, is not something that lives and breathes, but a fossil that must be protected from innovation - and especially from foreign influences.
[...]Since official interference with their lifestyles affects them directly, it becomes a greater source of disillusionment than the failure of government policies or the lack of democracy. It also undermines the credibility of the authorities more generally, especially when they can't tell the difference between hard rock and house.»
--"Highway to hell": Heavy metal fans in some Islamic countries don't just fear noise complaints from neighbours. They risk being imprisoned as devil worshippers.
