For much of the past decade, the Iranian government has tolerated what it considers a particularly depraved and un-Islamic vice: the keeping of pet dogs.
During periodic crackdowns, police have confiscated dogs from their owners right off the street; and state media has lectured Iranians on the diseases spread by canines. The cleric Gholamreza Hassani, from the city of Urmia, has been satirized for his sermons railing against "short-legged" and "holdable" dogs. But as with the policing of many other practices (like imbibing alcoholic drinks) that are deemed impure by the mullahs but perfectly fine to many Iranians, the state has eventually relaxed and let dog lovers be.
Those days of tacit acceptance may soon be over, however. Lawmakers in Tehran have recently proposed a bill in parliament that would criminalize dog ownership, formally enshrining its punishment within the country's Islamic penal code.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20110419/wl_time/08599206587300
It reminds me of the Xian hatred of cats, because many ancient religions worshiped cats. And they paid the price for it too, when scores of them died of the plague spread by rats which they would not have had nearly as many of if they hadn't slaughtered all the cats for being Satanic. You never know when a dog (or a cat) might come in handy.
How much do you want to bet Xians will be more up in arms about this than the mistreatment of women?
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Permalink Reply by John Absher on April 26, 2011 at 5:11pm I may be a little worse than just a speciesist. I know that I am free to perform ANY action that I am physically or intellectually capable of. Everything is our choice, because we have the ability to make that choice. Until one understands the very power that our mind provides us with, one can not know and assume the responsibility that comes with such power. Additionally, we are also accountable for all of our actions.
Permalink Reply by John Absher on April 26, 2011 at 5:40pm
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