A Dutch Life

First I read this, a little late I know, I had it filed for a quiet Sunday afternoon read:

BBC NEWS | Europe | Vatican’s ‘driving commandments’
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6768395.stm

I tracked down an official translation here:

In any case, with the request for motorists to exercise virtue, we have drawn up a special “decalogue” for them, in analogy with the Lord’s Ten Commandments. These are stated here below, as indications, considering that they may also be formulated differently.

 

I. You shall not kill.

II. The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm.

III. Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events.

IV. Be charitable and help your neighbour in need, especially victims of accidents.

V. Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.

VI. Charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so.

VII. Support the families of accident victims.

VIII. Bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness.

IX. On the road, protect the more vulnerable party.

X. Feel responsible towards others.

Firstly, this is deadly serious. In some ways this is actually better than the original 10 commandments, at least these are all concerned with the well being of people, instead of being about god himself (3-4 of the original 10 are). I think number 9 is my favourite, I can just imagine all these well meaning Catholic 4-wheel drives gathering around a Smartcar to ensure the 16 wheelers are kept at bay. I’m not convinced about number 10, it feels a little like it’s just making up the numbers, seriously, its not really all that specific to driving now is it?

But then, it got better, I had also filed this on away for Sunday reading:

A fatwa free-for-all in the Islamic world – International Herald Tribune
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/06/11/news/fatwa.php

First came the breast-feeding fatwa: It declared that the Islamic restriction on unmarried men and women being together could be lifted at work if the woman breast-fed her male colleagues five times. Then came the urine fatwa: It said that drinking the urine of the Prophet Muhammad was deemed a blessing.

Now, I’m going to have to look this up, but I think at Microsoft this would have been called a HR violation. So while it might be ok in the eyes of Allah, I think being fired, likely well before the fifth sip, would probably mean this is not really going to solve the problem.

The whole article is a pretty good read, seems there is an escalating “arms race” concerning the issuing of Fatwas, I’m all in favour if it continues to produce cracking guidance like this. Sadly, as the article only touches upon later, there is another side that is not so funny.