Detained Saudi Blogger's Second Round of Flogging Postponed

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-31061125

This article discusses the plight of Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi.  In 2012, Badawi was arrested and charged with "insulting Islam through electronic channels" and "going beyond the realm of obedience."  Badawi established the Liberal Saudi Network in 2008.  This was an online forum that encouraged debate on religious and political matters.  Badawi was cleared of charges of "Apostasy" and the death sentence that charge carried with it.  The charges he was found guilty of carry a sentence of 1000 lashes and 10 years imprisonment for insulting Islam.  His first of twenty rounds of lashing was carried out early last month.

This story relates in several ways to the information in our text.  First, Saudi Arabia represents a very clear example of the "connection between the social life of the culture, and its religion" (Rosenstand, 2013, p.16).  This story has gathered international condemnation and drawn attention to the reality of Saudi Arabia.  People in the West are unused to a religious government controlling social discourse with such a heavy hand.  As Rosenstand (2013) states, "philosophical investigation of moral issues must involve more than faith in a religious authority" (p. 17).  The reality, as demonstrated in this story, is that the ethical investigation process that we have grown accustomed to in the West is illegal in this part of the world.

Rosenstand, N. (2013). The Moral of the Story, An Introduction to Ethics, 7th Edition. New York, NY: McGraw- Hill.