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You're a funny guy, Ben

Reader comment on item: "Pasha Bordello" Accepts Islamist Demands
in response to reader comment: Sex worker ' French Kiss' speaks with forked tongue: Praise of Muslim clients belies Islamist misogyny and hypocrisy

Submitted by FrenchKiss (United States), May 9, 2006 at 23:39

Forked tongue indeed. I wonder how such a thing would affect business? Could be good, could be bad…who knows?

I never said anything to suggest that Muslim women didn't suffer terrible abuse and inequality. What I said was that the claims that Muslim clerics are pimps and that Islam allows for child prostitution by means of trickery is a load of crap. I also said that not all Muslims are the same, and that I've enjoyed the company of Arab and Persian men -who were presumably Muslim though we did not discuss religion.

Apparently you haven’t met many middle easterners, or you would know that they don’t all look or act like the Ayatollah. In Iraq, before the occupation, 30% of all university students were women. Women held jobs as doctors, engineers, teachers and cabinet members. Yes, Iran was thinking of legalizing prostitution in 2002, but I’m sure that has changed since the conservatives regained power in the last election.

Allowing for legalized prostitution would have made them more progressive than the USA, where women who choose this profession are criminalized and put in jail. It is disgusting that Dr. Hughes talks about freedom, when that’s the last thing that comes to mind when I hear her name. The woman tells lies to gain support for abolition, and surely she must know it. And the women she claims to be helping continually suffer for it At least the evangelicals have the decency to claim that they’re doing it to force their values on the world, and not claiming that they’re doing it for our sake. Women are harmed on a regular basis because of these laws, but she is so obsessed that she will go to any length to stop it, including demanding that funding get cut off for NGOs that distribute condoms to sex workers.

Considering what is going on in Kashmir right now, with fundamentalist Muslim women demanding the death penalty for a woman who ran a house of ill repute, and university students looting and burning down her homes, I think it’s fair to say that the people wouldn’t stand for it if the religious leaders of Iran were pimping young girls. I wonder what they would think of Donna Hughes' baseless allegations if they knew of them.

What is ironic here is that the “white slave” hype of the late 19th early 20th century (which has been totally discredited by historical evidence) was used to vilify Jews and Chinese in this country. So this trafficking sham used as a tool to encourage bigotry in the general population against a certain group of people is nothing new. From the book The War on the White Slave Trade published in 1910:

Out of the Bowery and Red Light districts have come the new development in New York politics- the great voting power of organized criminals…And no part of it was more noteworthy than the appearance of Jewish dealers in women, a product of New York politics, who has vitiated, more t6han any other single agency, the moral life of the great cities of America in the past ten years. It is an absolute fact that corrupt Jews are now the backbone of the loathsome traffic in New York and Chicago.[ p.188]

Of course Jews were not kidnapping innocent young girls and forcing them into prostitution or sexual slavery. But this myth was so widely believed due to outrageous, fantastical stories being published in Christian and women’s publications, that anti-Semitism ran rampant in this country.

I am 100% opposed to underage and/or forced prostitution, but the numbers don’t support the claims being made about their prevalence. In 2004 (the most recent year I could find statistics for) there were 1,247 minors arrested for prostitution in the US, 145 of whom were under the age of 15. That may sound like a lot, but compare it to 2,998 minors arrested for forcible rape (1,135 under 15); 29,020 minors arrested on weapons charges (10,302 under 15); 43,274 minors arrested for aggravated assault ((15,130 under 15); and 138,375 minors arrested for drug abuse violations (23,711 under 15) and it becomes clear that we have much bigger problems on our hands. http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius_4/persons_arrested/table_38-43.html

In the US we’ve been deporting women right and left that were rounded up in brothel raids. A few have to stay to testify that they paid huge sums to be smuggled here, but then we’ll send them back to S Korea, where the police are cracking down on prostitution because our country threatened them with sanctions. It’s somewhat laughable that people are concerned about Islamic values being shoved down our throats but no one minds us forcing our values on others. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/korea/FL22Dg01.html

I believe strongly in freedom of speech, and I am glad that President Bush defended the Danish cartoonist who offended the Muslim community, insofar as his right to those freedoms go. I also support the right to peaceful protest to the drawings, but feel that many followers of Islam went too far. But an ad is not the same thing, and while I don’t think the brothel owner should have been forced to remove the flags, I feel that he should have out of respect for the feelings of others- something many of us could do with more of. I also believe strongly in freedom of religion, and even though I personally view all religions as a bunch of ancient superstitious nonsense that leads to intolerance of others, I do support everyone’s right to their faith, or lack thereof. That doesn’t mean I think it’s okay to kill women for disgracing their families and abandoning their faith. If you don’t want to be blamed for all the atrocities carried out in the name of your religion, on an individual or institutional level, then I suggest you quit blaming all Muslims for the crimes carried out by a few Islamic radicals.

Submitting....

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Reader comments (57) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
A visit to Pasha's [74 words]SirMarjalotApr 26, 2009 11:17154489
fabulously hypocritical [71 words]SHANEYJan 2, 2008 18:15117374
Jihad is it over or is it real [168 words]Thomas Earl CannadyJun 30, 2006 07:4248523
Getting ready for Eurabia [186 words]Octavio JohansonMay 24, 2006 11:2646291
coalition between leftists and radical moslems [44 words]mehranMay 14, 2006 05:5045556
1dubai [94 words]mehranMay 13, 2006 06:1745497
londonistan or london? [89 words]mehranMay 13, 2006 16:5145497
Of course it is Londonistan [106 words]Octavio JohansonMay 22, 2006 02:4745497
islam and west [114 words]mehranMay 13, 2006 06:0245496
2More sex for Saudi men = less terrorism and happy men [187 words]allyson rowen taylorMay 11, 2006 01:0945326
Pascha [13 words]Donald W. BalesMay 8, 2006 19:3645053
The Saudi flag [50 words]rickMay 8, 2006 18:3045049
Blatant hypocrisy [295 words]yzoleowlMay 8, 2006 17:5545042
Where do I start? [491 words]FrenchKissMay 6, 2006 02:1044934
2Sex worker ' French Kiss' speaks with forked tongue: Praise of Muslim clients belies Islamist misogyny and hypocrisy [1130 words]Ben van de PolderMay 7, 2006 10:1844934
You're a funny guy, Ben [982 words]FrenchKissMay 9, 2006 23:3944934
Why Islamic People Don't Integrate [67 words]SaraMay 29, 2006 12:4644934
Human Trafficing is wrong anywhere [47 words]ShiaOct 17, 2009 14:0844934
HUMAN EVENTS: "Germany's Sex Shacks Tarnish World Cup" [325 words]Dan Schwartz (Cherry Hill, NJ)May 5, 2006 12:2644907
but in holland... [33 words]danielMay 3, 2006 10:4144794
It does not surprise me! [133 words]Octavio JohansonMay 3, 2006 14:5444794
thank you octavio [43 words]cyrusMay 22, 2006 16:0244794
Islamic hypocrisy as usual [64 words]RastamanMay 1, 2006 14:4244684
Difference between Tunisia and Saudi flags [124 words]Mard e MominMay 1, 2006 07:5244666
Pascha Owner Didn't Want To 0ffend His Customers [34 words]Mike's AmericaApr 30, 2006 12:4544615
Women on both sides want modesty [32 words]Genevieve KinekeApr 28, 2006 12:1644427
A missed opportunity but it can be corrected [74 words]rickApr 27, 2006 16:0644345
Clash of the Civilisations [139 words]Georges FernandezApr 27, 2006 11:3844327
Muslim culture is different [293 words]Octavio JohansonApr 27, 2006 17:1144327
We have a 700 year head start [410 words]FrenchKissMay 8, 2006 07:3644327
700 years? [385 words]JohnMay 9, 2006 10:3844327
I wasn't justifying their behavior [148 words]FrenchKissMay 11, 2006 18:2544327
Subjugate (Surrender) or decapitate? [285 words]Vishnu GuptaMay 16, 2006 11:1444327
Then, Europe will go back to the Middle Ages [215 words]Octavio JohansonMay 21, 2006 14:3844327
to Octavio [116 words]SiddaMay 21, 2006 21:0544327
agreed! [67 words]concernedMay 22, 2006 15:3944327
to concerned [34 words]SiddaMay 22, 2006 16:2644327
Oil [167 words]Octavio JohansonMay 22, 2006 17:3544327
Eurabia [145 words]Octavio JohansonMay 22, 2006 17:4344327
Muslim vs. Hispanic [56 words]SiddaMay 23, 2006 17:5644327
Re: Muslims vs Hispanics [292 words]Octavio JohansonMay 27, 2006 14:3144327
back at you Octavio [799 words]SiddaMay 30, 2006 10:5744327
You are NOT xenophobic, Sidda [278 words]Octavio JohansonMay 30, 2006 15:1644327
We must be realistic, Sidda [108 words]Octavio JohansonMay 30, 2006 17:5644327
re: sidda [364 words]concernedJun 3, 2006 17:1044327
I'd be angry, too [57 words]RobinApr 27, 2006 09:3544319
Robin, you're missing the point [167 words]SiddaMay 2, 2006 11:0444319
I agree [298 words]AnneMay 4, 2006 20:3144319
Pascha and the Swedes [120 words]Herbert EiteneierApr 26, 2006 01:5344196
No sex before martyrdom: Taliban try to enforce shar'ia in Cologne [120 words]Ben van de PolderApr 25, 2006 20:3944176
The Germans are naive enough to give in [92 words]Octavio JohansonApr 28, 2006 12:2744176
1Muslim hypocrisy:polygamy-harems- sex tourism and slavery in Denver [127 words]Ben van de PolderApr 25, 2006 16:3044141
Keep this in perspective [187 words]BilalApr 26, 2006 13:2944141
Western surrender monkeys [98 words]Octavio JohansonApr 28, 2006 04:1544141
Hypocrisy [45 words]VijayMay 5, 2006 08:1344141
Central London [53 words]Octavio JohansonMay 10, 2006 06:3544141
what Muslims need for revolution in world [57 words]Mian Luqman HussainFeb 6, 2007 23:5744141

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