I know this is in the SUN “newspaper” so I do take it with a pinch of salt, but it is a good example of the idiocy of basing your life around dogmatic beliefs and rules which are not open to change.
The proscription of alcohol for Muslims is fine - there is no reason to force them to imbibe anything if they choose not to – but the use of a hand-wash is absolutely necessary so as not to impose their beliefs on the rights of others, in this case hospital patients, not to die from infection.
I’ve said before on this blog, when your beliefs impose on mine, then tolerance stops. Use of alcohol in the fight against infection is not a “belief” or a “faith” it is a testable, provable fact and must trump any respect for “faith” or “belief”.
To clarify one point, I fully understand that someone’s beliefs can and do sometimes impinge on my life and I accept there must be compromises to allow us to live together, but when there are adverse consequences (and this example is a fine one) then the tolerance goes out the window.
What also amazes me is the nature of the comments from readers. How self-centred and xenophobic they are! Most of them are complaining about how “they come over here and should respect our rights etc” rather than focussing on their actual reason for their refusal to use the hand-wash, namely irrational religious beliefs.
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