Iraq's parliament passes law banning alcohol

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Iraq’s parliament has passed a law forbidding the import, production or selling of alcoholic beverages in a surprise move that angered many in the country’s Christian community who rely on the business.

The law, passed late on Saturday night, imposes a fine of up to 25m Iraqi dinars (£17,000) for anyone violating the ban. But it’s unclear how strictly the law would be enforced, and it could be struck down by the supreme court.

Islam forbids the consumption of alcohol, but it has always been available in Iraq’s larger cities, mainly from shops run by Christians. Those shops are currently closed because of the Shia holy month of Muharram.

Iraq’s parliament is dominated by Shia Islamist parties. The assembly announced the ban on its website but did not say how many lawmakers voted for or against it.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/23/iraqs-parliament-passes-law-banning-alcohol

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Associated Press
Sunday 23 October 2016 20.42 BST

[TryLogic]

1. What a shame -- to upset the Christian boozers.

[Squinch]

5. It is a shame, actually. Requiring others to follow the strictures of your religion always is.

[Extropist]

6. Not just boozers, though.

This would also be a proscription of the Jewish practice of sanctifying the Sabbath with wine, and of the Christian Eucharist.

[IronLionZion]

8. It is always a shame to force one's beliefs onto others

[LeftInTX]

9. These "Christian boozers" aren't the same as hypocritical Christian fundamentalists in the US

They are everyday people and tend to drink less than secular Americans.
They tend to be of Eastern Orthodox or Catholic faiths.
They also sell alcohol to Muslims.

In other words, they are the traditional suppliers of alcohol in Muslim areas.

[Coventina]

17. Please meditate on your DU username

Thanks.

[Panich52]

2. Be interesting if we hear of Christians moaning abt no booze

Bet rad religionists here take up Sharia law nonsense again.

[forgotmylogin]

18. Iraq has a Supreme Court??? n/t

[MANative]

3. My personal preference would be to ban religion, globally and universally. n/t

[cstanleytech]

7. How is that different than when politicians try to ram their own religious beliefs

down our throats by passing a blue law for example?

[Grey Lemercier]

14. banning never works, try ridiculing them all, starting with the big 3 Abrahamic ones

Religion is the biggest woo ever, and the only acceptable woo for so many otherwise rational, progressive people on the left and centre-left. It also is the biggest rationale for war and death in human history. Sickens me to hear it legitimised by the left, and their personal, so-called "tolerant take" (which is not, in reality, even the actual religions themselves) held up as a "good" thing compared to "extremist" or "RW" forms.

[MowCowWhoHow III]

21. Try ridiculing the religion in question?

If you're lucky you'll get off lightly and just be socially stigmatized and labeled an islamophobe.

If you're lucky.

[Grey Lemercier]

23. I wasn't just singling out one religion, I was referring to all

Behind so much of delusional and dangerous thinking and actions, behind so much oppression and anti-humanity and death, lurks religious thoughts, dogmas, and rationalisations. Whether it is the ME, here in the EU (I live in London, so how long I can claim EU is debatable itself, sadly)), in the USA, or any other part of the globe, it is hard to find a more malevolent force. So called "moderate" or progressive religious people simply have played a game of pick and choose withe the core texts and philosophies and basically made up their own versions, versions that are not accepted by fundamentalists themselves, which, in some cases, is the vast majority of the followers of a particular religion.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

22. Great, an atheist taliban caliphate. nt

[Odin2005]

24. Even us Buddhists?

[YOHABLO]

4. Even the Baptist here in Georgia are sneaking a little nip now and then. How about 420?

[Archae]

10. This really worked well here in the US, right?

[patsimp]

20. except in muslim majority countries, any violation generally results in death or amputation

[drm604]

11. Iraqi Speakeasies

This didn't work too well when it was tried in the US. They'll probably end up with a large and dangerous black market, just like we did.

[shadowmayor]

12. Iraq had a brewery before we invaded

That's right folks - Arabs making beer. We demolished one of the most modern and secular countries in the region. Met with hundreds and hundreds if not thousands of Iraqi detainees whilst stationed in Abu Graib 2005. Almost every Sunni and the few Shiites I spoke with had tried or admitted to drinking alcohol. Yes, the Christians/Chaldeans/Jewish people operated the stores, but guess who bought the liquor and beer? That's right folks - the rest of the country. Our understanding of the culture and people of Iraq is minimal at best. The comments indicate much of the same.

[Initech]

13. We can thank the BFEE for that.

They should all be in jail.

[Rex]

16. Cons really screwed up the ME.

From Reagan to PNAC.

[Grey Lemercier]

15. "minimal at best"

You are being too generous.

[patsimp]

19. disgusting

[eissa]

25. The people that gave us beer

are now legally deprived from drinking it. Fucking stupid.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_beer

[Taitertots]

26. More bad ideas from the mother lode of bad ideas

I'm getting sick of people finding excuses to defend the indefensible.