I like this kind of revolution


An Islamist religious radical in Tunisia declared that dancing is debauchery and moral decay that can’t continue. So you know what the people in that country are doing now?

Dancing.

Hey, wasn’t this the plot of Footloose? Only with Christianists, instead.

Comments

  1. says

    Hey, the second “Dancing” video includes a dancing cat, a guy dancing on a skateboard, and a dancing chicken.

    Happy.

    Pharrell has contributed a lot lately. Don’t miss the Russian police choir performing “Get Lucky.” This was part of the Olympic opening ceremonies, but was not, unfortunately, aired by NBC because it was performed just before the portion that was aired. It is totally awesome in an unintentionally comic way.
    http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/russian-police-choir-performs-get-lucky-opening-ceremony?ctx=top-moments

  2. robro says

    Some Islamists think dancing is “debauchery and moral decay?” They must be Southern Baptist Islamists…or is it the other way around…

  3. Jackie, all dressed in black says

    OMGlessness, the Tunisian reboot of Footloose would be so much better than the original.

  4. Nick Gotts says

    It’s worth noting that the new Tunisian constitution (the link is to a draft, I can’t discover if there are any changes in the version passed), while by no means perfect (it recognises Islam as the state religion and bans “attacks on religion”*) is by far the most democratic and progressive ever passed in an Arab or Muslim state, particularly with regard to the rights of women. While the “Arab Spring” has elsewhere withered, there remain a lot of green shoots in its birthplace, Tunisia.

    *Another restriction on freedom of speech is the banning of “takfir” – accusations of apostasy.

  5. Rob Grigjanis says

    Fundie SOP; don’t think, don’t enjoy yourself, don’t choose your own path. ‘heresy’ comes from a Greek word originally meaning ‘choice’.

  6. David Marjanović says

    More on the new Tunisian constitution.

    4 Ways Tunisia Is Now More Progressive Than The United States“; with link to another English translation (pdf) of “the most recent unofficial draft” – I haven’t checked if it’s the same draft.

    Congratulate Tunisia to its constitution!

    Another restriction on freedom of speech is the banning of “takfir” – accusations of apostasy.

    Fucking awesome – and present in both English translations.

  7. David Marjanović says

    The drafts are not identical.

    tunisia-live.net:

    “Article 31: The state guarantees the right to information and the right to access information. The state works to guarantee access to communications networks.

    Article 32: Academic freedoms and freedom of scientific research shall be guaranteed.
    The state shall seek to provide the necessary resources to develop scientific and technological research.”

    jasmine-foundation.org has an extra article somewhere, I don’t have time to look for it now:

    “Article 32
    The State shall guarantee the right to information and the right to access to information.
    The State seeks to guarantee the right to access to communication networks.

    Article 33
    Academic freedoms and freedom of scientific research shall be guaranteed.
    The State shall seek to provide the necessary resources to develop scientific and technological research.”

    “4 Ways Tunisia Is Now More Progressive Than The United States”

    Drops several words in the quotes, and… among other typos, the ruling party isn’t called “Enhadda”, it’s Ennahda (or an-Nahda or al-Nahda if you prefer).

  8. Moggie says

    After watching the video from Carthage, Cato the Elder was reported to be speechless.

    Damn, those videos make me feel old – but happy. Beautiful people.

  9. methuseus says

    I don’t really remember any parts of Footloose I’ve seen, but I can get behind anything encouraging dancing, except, you know, outlawing it, of course. I’d rather see legal dancing.