Alphabet Jihad

The Webmaster at Semper Fi Catholic sent me this story.

The letter "X" soon may be banned in Saudi Arabia because it resembles the mother of all banned religious symbols in the oil kingdom: the cross.

The new development came with the issuing of another mind-bending fatwa, or religious edict, by the infamous Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice — the group of senior Islamic clergy that reigns supreme on all legal, civil, and governance matters in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The commission’s damning of the letter "X" came in response to a Ministry of Trade query about whether it should grant trademark protection to a Saudi businessman for a new service carrying the English name "Explorer."

"No! Nein! Nyet!" was the commission’s categorical answer.

Why?

Well, never mind that none of the so-called scholars manning the upper ranks of the religious outfit can speak or read a word of English. But their experts who examined the English word "explorer" were struck by how suspicious that "X" appeared. In a kingdom where Friday preachers routinely refer to Christians as pigs and infidel crusaders, even a twisted cross ranks as an abomination.

So after waiting a year, the Saudi businessman, Amru Mohammad Faisal, got his answer: No.

Quick nobody tell them about the Tau and St. Francis. We need to speak up against this alphabetical jihad against the letter X. Sure this letter has fallen on hard times with it’s association with a rating and the small number of words that start with this letter. I mean if we let them be prejudicial against some letters then what’s next? Will they move from consonants to perhaps disemvowel an a? Ah the irony of a letter derived from the Phoenician alphabet being discriminated against by Arabs.