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After I finished my enlistment in the Air Force I did a year of contracting work in Saudi. It's amazing what you can learn about a culture in just one year. Hell, my wife was there almost 7 years.... Anyway, with everything going down in the Middle East I thought you guys might enjoy a conversation I had with one of the Saudis about Islam. It really helps put in perspective how they think and how Islam teaches them to think.
We are sitting there at work, and I am trying in vain to teach this Saudi about the system. Most of them can't be taught, and don't want to, so they avoid work however possible. At some point we got into talking about Noah's ark. The conversation is as accurate as I can remember.
Saed: "There was this great man called Noah and he was a great follower of Allah. He did everything Allah asked; he was very obedient. You know of Noah?"
Me: "Yes, I am familiar"
Saed: "Noah was a great man, but everyone else was wicked. So Allah says to Noah 'build a boat for the animals and your family, because you are faithful and all others are wicked', and so Noah and his sons build the boat.
He goes on about the Ark story, which I won't repeat. At this point it is just like the Christian version and I am thinking to myself "it's all the same shit, I don't see what the hell we are all fighting about". Then he gets to the end when the boat lands on the mountain.
Saed: "And they came down from the Ark, Noah, his wife, their sons, and their wives. And they all go in different directions. One go North, one go South, one go East, one go West (apparently settling the middle east, africa, europe, and asia). Do you know (looking at me), why it is I have brown skin, and you have the white skin, and that man Fahad has dark black skin?"
Me: "No sunscreen?"
Saed: (not getting my joke). "No, it is not because of this suns screens. It is because they have angered Allah. When Allah gives you dark skin it is to punish you. The darker the skin, the more you are being punished. I am better than Fahad because I have brown skin and he is black. I have not angered Allah"
Me: (probably a very stupid thing to say when you are sitting in Saudi Arabia) "So since I'm white, Allah likes me more than you?"
Saed: "No, because you are not Saudi, and that is your punishment. I am rewarded because I am Saudi. Your light skined, and you are better than a black who is not Saudi, but I am darker than you but I am better because I am Saudi. Fahad is better than you, but not better than brown Saudi."
Me: "So I am be rewarded with white skin, but punished because I am not Saudi. You are rewarded with brown skin but punished because it is darker than Whalid, but Fahad has angered Allah because he is black and bad but better than me who is white?"
Saed: "Yes"
Me: "Well that explains alot."
So there you go. Maybe this will help you understand what the hell we are up against over there. I could write a book on the shit I heard those guys say.
It was also ok to swear in English, but not Arabic, because Allah does not speak English. They can also go to Bahrain, bang hookers, drink whiskey, and anything else, because Allah lives in Saudi and can't see what you do if you are not in Saudi. Nevermind that the nation of Saudi Arabia didn't exist before about 1920, and Islam is about 1400 years old.
We are sitting there at work, and I am trying in vain to teach this Saudi about the system. Most of them can't be taught, and don't want to, so they avoid work however possible. At some point we got into talking about Noah's ark. The conversation is as accurate as I can remember.
Saed: "There was this great man called Noah and he was a great follower of Allah. He did everything Allah asked; he was very obedient. You know of Noah?"
Me: "Yes, I am familiar"
Saed: "Noah was a great man, but everyone else was wicked. So Allah says to Noah 'build a boat for the animals and your family, because you are faithful and all others are wicked', and so Noah and his sons build the boat.
He goes on about the Ark story, which I won't repeat. At this point it is just like the Christian version and I am thinking to myself "it's all the same shit, I don't see what the hell we are all fighting about". Then he gets to the end when the boat lands on the mountain.
Saed: "And they came down from the Ark, Noah, his wife, their sons, and their wives. And they all go in different directions. One go North, one go South, one go East, one go West (apparently settling the middle east, africa, europe, and asia). Do you know (looking at me), why it is I have brown skin, and you have the white skin, and that man Fahad has dark black skin?"
Me: "No sunscreen?"
Saed: (not getting my joke). "No, it is not because of this suns screens. It is because they have angered Allah. When Allah gives you dark skin it is to punish you. The darker the skin, the more you are being punished. I am better than Fahad because I have brown skin and he is black. I have not angered Allah"
Me: (probably a very stupid thing to say when you are sitting in Saudi Arabia) "So since I'm white, Allah likes me more than you?"
Saed: "No, because you are not Saudi, and that is your punishment. I am rewarded because I am Saudi. Your light skined, and you are better than a black who is not Saudi, but I am darker than you but I am better because I am Saudi. Fahad is better than you, but not better than brown Saudi."
Me: "So I am be rewarded with white skin, but punished because I am not Saudi. You are rewarded with brown skin but punished because it is darker than Whalid, but Fahad has angered Allah because he is black and bad but better than me who is white?"
Saed: "Yes"
Me: "Well that explains alot."
So there you go. Maybe this will help you understand what the hell we are up against over there. I could write a book on the shit I heard those guys say.
It was also ok to swear in English, but not Arabic, because Allah does not speak English. They can also go to Bahrain, bang hookers, drink whiskey, and anything else, because Allah lives in Saudi and can't see what you do if you are not in Saudi. Nevermind that the nation of Saudi Arabia didn't exist before about 1920, and Islam is about 1400 years old.
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