01 - Saudi Arabia's Religious Intolerance, Part I: The Problem

08/06/2010 14 min

Listen "01 - Saudi Arabia's Religious Intolerance, Part I: The Problem"

Episode Synopsis

Transport your mind to another world for a moment. Another reality with another set of standards. This other world is located right in the heart of the Middle East. In 1932, after a 30 year campaign by the Al Saud family, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was unified and founded. Seventy-eight years later, the nation is looked down upon by most of the globalized world as a home to a backwards society.

Saudi Arabia is home to the birthplace of Islam and is a place where all observant muslims make a pilgrimage to one in their lifetime. It’s a place that is technically 100% muslim, and there is absolutely no religious tolerance. On 1 May 2009, Saudi Arabia was named by the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom as among the 13 most religiously oppressive countries in the world. In fact it came second, just behind North Korea.