http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/12/02/the-liberal-leadership-rum-rebellion-redux/ now with extra source Sun, 12 Feb 2012 02:48:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/12/02/the-liberal-leadership-rum-rebellion-redux/#comment-49634 Brian Kelly Wed, 02 Dec 2009 05:54:54 +0000 http://www.crikey.com.au/?p=102429#comment-49634 Having lived and worked in Saudi Arabia I would like to concur with the views of Alex Joseph. Tolerance is a two way street and what he describes about Saudi is absolutely correct. I remember driving north of Dammam on the coast of the Arabian Gulf and, off the beaten track, seeing a small area surrounded by a high tin fence, I just had to go and inspect it. Managing to squeeze through the fence I discovered the remains of a very, very old building. On asking a number of the locals I ascertained it was the remains of a 4th century church. Some claimed it was christian, some didn't know, but certainly nobody claimed it was an ancient mosque, as Islam did not appear till many centuries later. So maybe there is a small area of consecrated ground in Saudi, but certainly nobody there wants it known. Having lived and worked in Saudi Arabia I would like to concur with the views of Alex Joseph. Tolerance is a two way street and what he describes about Saudi is absolutely correct. I remember driving north of Dammam on the coast of the Arabian Gulf and, off the beaten track, seeing a small area surrounded by a high tin fence, I just had to go and inspect it. Managing to squeeze through the fence I discovered the remains of a very, very old building. On asking a number of the locals I ascertained it was the remains of a 4th century church. Some claimed it was christian, some didn’t know, but certainly nobody claimed it was an ancient mosque, as Islam did not appear till many centuries later. So maybe there is a small area of consecrated ground in Saudi, but certainly nobody there wants it known.

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