Bishopnose

I learnt early in life that if I wanted to keep my friends and stay out of trouble, I'd be wise to avoid any discussion of two taboo subjects: Politics and religion. Why? I asked. Well, because there are just so many bigots on both sides of the fence, so said my teacher. And, God bless his soul, he was right. So for a long time, I avoided these two topics like the proverbial plague; that is, until Minishorts was idiotic wise enough to review a scum(najis) gem of a trash book written by no less a religious bigot no matter how nice Minishorts finds him to be in "real life". Real life? That means he has a fake life. And only Minishorts, I guess, can tell them apart through her "personal experience" and "scarce email" exchange with him. Unwise, I say, because Minishorts knew the risks she was taking: "the subject matter can be quite heavy as it might be offensive to many", "... (the author) failing in being objective and tolerant in his book" and "... the overzealous religious-self within this student of comparative religion has overcome his trying efforts to be tolerant." And so, I feel I must add my penn'orth sen-worth of my rumblings thoughts to Minishorts' review of nothing short of religious bigotry which has ruffled some feathers. I know the bigot is gleefully congratulating himself for being such a very nice person and for his small success in notoriety.

I've a natural aversion to nice guys because too many of them invariably have a split personality and live a double life of good and evil; like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The FBI has this to say of an organized serial killer: 'He is usually socially adequate and has friends and lovers, often even a spouse and children. They are the type who, when captured, are most likely to be described by acquaintances as "a really nice guy" who "wouldn't hurt a fly".' The late Dr. Harold Frederick Shipman was England's - and perhaps the world's - most prolific serial killer. He was Dr Death as well as Mr Nice Guy. The International Herald Tribune reported on 14 May 2001 that, "When Dr. Shipman was first arrested in 1998, the community was outraged at a perceived miscarriage of justice. By the time of his conviction last year (2000) in the murders of 15 people, the disbelief had all but vanished. Only then did the true scope of the crimes begin to emerge." On 13 September last year, the IHT wrote of Dr Shipman in an article entitled Re-evaluating a traditional trust: You, your physician and Britain's 'Dr. Death': "Fred, as he liked to be called, practiced medicine for more than 30 years. Until a few years before his untimely death, Fred was very popular among his patients. They loved his endearing bedside manner and his willingness to visit patients at home. Some even called him the best doctor in the region."

In Seattle, Clem Gregurek, a neighbour of Gary Leon Ridgway, the USA's worse serial killer known as the Green River Killer, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2003 for killing 48 prostitutes, said this of him: "He's a nice guy, I didn't notice anything weird."

 Then, most recently, The New York Times reported on 21 June of a "Nice Guy" school teacher in China who raped 26 schoolgirls between the ages of 10 and 14. The newspaper also said that in December 2003, a "Nice Guy" teacher in rural Shaanxi Province was executed for raping 58 girls in 15 years. It added that last October a teenage girl in rural central China tried to commit suicide after a "Nice Guy" teacher forced her to watch him rape her cousin. And the list of all these "Nice Guy" criminals goes on and on. What do you think every con-man, criminal and terrorist has written over his face? "Mr Nice Guy", naturally. And so does every political and religious bigot. No wonder Jesus Christ rebuked the man who called him "good". "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good - except God alone." Mark 10:18 (New International Version of the Holy Bible).

Minishorts says her very nice friend touches on "the treatment of the feminine gender in this religion (Buddhism?)" in his book but doesn't give any details of his comments which I've no reason to believe that they are praises. Well, women are my favourite subject. Honest. I don't know how the Buddhists treat their women. But I would like an educated and intelligent Muslim woman to tell me how her man treats her. How does she feel about her religion which allows her husband to marry four wives. How does she feel about sharing her husband with three women. And, of course, it seems logical to ask why Islam doesn't accord a woman equal rights to have four husbands. How does a Muslim man feel if the table is turned against him: when he has to share his wife with three men.