• Will Saudis Ban the Letter "X"?

    From Daryl Fatwa@3:800/432 to All on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 14:24:41
    If the Saudis ban the letter "X", there will be no "X-Files" on Saudi TV,
    no "X-word puzzles", Scrabble will need a Saudi edition etc etc. Like a
    sketch from "Monty Python".

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    Will Saudis Ban the Letter 'X'?

    By YOUSSEF IBRAHIM

    January 15, 2007

    The letter "X" soon may be banned in Saudi Arabia because it resembles the mother of all banned religious symbols in the oil kingdom: the cross.

    The new development came with the issuing of another mind-bending fatwa, or religious edict, by the infamous Commission for the Promotion

    of Virtue and Prevention of Vice u the group of senior Islamic clergy that reigns supreme on all legal, civil, and governance matters in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

    The commission's damning of the letter "X" came in response to a Ministry of Trade query about whether it should grant trademark protection to a Saudi businessman for a new service carrying the English name "Explorer."

    "No! Nein! Nyet!" was the commission's categorical answer.

    Why?

    Well, never mind that none of the so-called scholars manning the upper ranks of the religious outfit can speak or read a word of English.

    But their experts who examined the English word "explorer" were
    struck by how suspicious that "X" appeared. In a kingdom where Friday
    preachers routinely refer to Christians as pigs and infidel crusaders,
    even a twisted cross ranks as an abomination.

    [...]

    Full article at " The Sun" New York - http://www.nysun.com/article/46707

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    * Origin: Xaragmata / Adelaide SA telnet://xaragmata.thebbs.org (3:800/432)