OK, that damn ass backwards group of religious zealots is in the news again. (Islamic Taliban)
I do not like to get down on any one religion but believe that anyone who takes any religion to the extent that he thinks it is ok to kill for it, he is ASS BACKWARDS.
If all the religious right could just calm their worshipping selves a little bit, we might be able to learn to get along. Unfortunately, each one 0f them feels the need to be the only right religion so God's beautiful earth will continue down a troubled path until we can begin to see the light...here is a story that illustrates just that.
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In the tribal areas of Pakistan, a shave may cost your life.
"The government is unable to protect us so we will abide by what the Taliban tells us to do and stop shaving beards," said Niamat, a barber in Khar, the headquarters of the Bajaur tribal agency along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
And the Taliban mean business, On Sunday night, bombs destroyed two barber shops and three others suffered partial damage after the owners refused to follow the orders.
"I am a Muslim and I know that no one can force me to shave or not to shave. This should be my decision," said Nasir, a regular customer, wearing a green turtleneck sweater and jeans. "But I was threatened. They asked if I will obey the new laws; I will obey because I am afraid."
A barber shop in the tribal region where the Taliban have banned shaves.
A couple of weeks earlier, in the middle of the night, someone slipped leaflets under barbershop doors throughout the Bajaur Tribal Agency. The warning was hand-written in Pashto, the language of the Pashtun tribes who inhabit the border regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The leaflets read: "SHAVING BEARDS AND TRIMMING BEARDS IS UN-ISLAMIC AND IS FORBIDDEN. VIOLATORS WILL BE KILLED."
The customers panicked and the barbers panicked too. In almost every barber shop the owners put up signs begging their customers not to force them to give a shave.
A shave costs less than 2 cents -- but the Taliban edict forbidding barbers to shave or even trim beards will cause severe economic hardship, and put many of the 200 barbers in Bajaur out of business.
"Barbers are poor people, they have no other business," said Ikram, another regular customer. "If they can’t give shaves, they will not be able to feed their children."
*this was originally presented at MSNBC. Click the title to go to the original page.
