If you ever had any doubts, here’s a clear example of why separation of church and state is a good thing. The district head of the Indonesian state of West Aceh, Ramli Mansur, has gone on record as saying that while services such as health and education are important, they are secondary to his government’s desire to enforce particular aspects of Shariah law, such as caning women for wearing pants, or caning anyone for gambling. Mansur’s stance is eerily reminiscent of the Afghan Taliban’s zeal for rigid enforcement of so-called moral codes, but when faced with real challenges such as building/maintaining public infrastructure, health care and educating its citizenry, chose to adopt an “Allah will provide” mentality. Yeah, how’d that work out?
Really, all you’ll ever need to know about these guys’ attitudes toward women can be extracted from this charming Mansur quote: “When women don’t dress according to Shariah law, they’re asking to get raped.” Hardly surprising that Mansur and his ilk view education as a secondary concern, because the minute people expand their base of knowledge, they see right through shitheads like this. Read more.
