Quotes from Brian Whitaker

I don't believe in a country where it's more acceptable to see two men holding guns than two men holding hands.

There is an important distinction to be drawn between tolerance of homosexuality and tolerance of sex tourism.

Sexual rights are not only a basic element of human rights but should have an integral part in moves towards Arab reform ...

The irony of this is that while believers and non-believers are on opposite sides where religious ideas are concerned they may also find themselves on the same side in the struggle for freedom of belief.

It is worth recalling that Britain, over several centuries, waged a war against homosexuality - in the name of religion, social order, decency, etc. - that certainly equalled, and in its scale probably outstripped, anything that happens in Arab countries today.

One day, her husband slapped her face. When she complained to her father, he told her God gave husbands the right to beat their wives as stated in the verse of Al-Nisa' sura.[152] Then she began to wonder how God could give the right to a husband to abandon and beat his wife … How could that be when Islam forbids beating animals? Are women inferior to animals?

The idea of a licentious West that many Arabs hold today closely mirrors the view that Europeans had of the Middle East a couple of centuries or more ago.

The main problem, according to Nasser al-Sarami, Head of Media at alArabiya TV channel, lies with "traditional attitudes" and an "inability to address the demands of modern times and younger generations and to become open to new ideas instead of resorting to repression and blaming freedom of expression for atheism":

Trying to suppress atheistic thought on the internet does nothing to address the causes of people's religious doubts and may actually increase their curiosity. People would not be seeking out this material unless they felt it had some relevance to their own situation and attempts at censorship imply a fear that religion cannot win the argument on evidence and reasoning alone.

Islam has strong social aspects based around the concept of ummah – the community of believers – and expressions of individualism or nonconformity tend to be frowned upon. Members are expected to pull together and behave (at least in public) in ways that uphold its Islamic ethos. Thus, when someone breaks away from established norms – especially if they do so publicly – they are liable to be seen as damaging communal solidarity