Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Saudi Arabia Agrees to Let Women Drive

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 225 posts

Re: Saudi Arabia Agrees to Let Women Drive

#21

Post by wahern »

dmurray wrote: post #9
justboxing wrote: post #2

> One cleric claimed — with no evidence — that driving harmed women’s ovaries. Wait. What?

It would be surprising if someone hadn't made such a ridiculous claim. But in an article on gay marriage in the US, would the NY Times really have felt the need to observe that "one preacher even claimed - with no evidence - that homosexuality caused earthquakes"?

Of course. It may be ridiculous, but it's nonetheless the kind of myth that spreads quickly among certain conservative communities. I wouldn't be surprised if plenty of conservative Saudi Arabians believed such a myth. Just like plenty of American conservatives believed Todd Akin's infamous claim regarding "legitimate rape": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_Akin#Controversial_commen...

If enough people are credulous, it's absolutely newsworthy, as it reflects how deeply wedded some people are to a particular perspective. Confirmation bias is a powerful thing.

Re: Saudi Arabia Agrees to Let Women Drive

#22

Post by dleslie »

dmurray wrote: post #9
justboxing wrote: post #2

> One cleric claimed — with no evidence — that driving harmed women’s ovaries. Wait. What?

It would be surprising if someone hadn't made such a ridiculous claim. But in an article on gay marriage in the US, would the NY Times really have felt the need to observe that "one preacher even claimed - with no evidence - that homosexuality caused earthquakes"?

I'm fairly certain I've read numerous articles to that effect; for instance, here's an oped discussing Lesbians being blamed for Irma.[0] It was a trivial to find.

0: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/did-lesbians-cause-h...

Re: Saudi Arabia Agrees to Let Women Drive

#23

Post by interstitial »

drspacemonkey wrote: post #15
dmurray wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be surprising if someone hadn't made such a ridiculous claim. But in an article on gay marriage in the US, would the NY Times really have felt the need to observe that "one preacher even claimed - with no evidence - that homosexuality caused earthquakes"?

It depends on how much political influence that specific preacher wielded. In Saudi, clerics wield a LOT of political influence. They're not just religious advisers, they get to set and interpret law based on their understanding of the Quran and the Hadiths.

You take away the false equivalency argument of an American like that. It's not right. He's probably got a lot of self-esteem built around it.

Re: Saudi Arabia Agrees to Let Women Drive

#24

Post by csomar »

justboxing wrote: post #2

> One cleric claimed — with no evidence — that driving harmed women’s ovaries. Wait. What?

Oh you missing lots of entertainment buddy. They even ruled that Mickey Mouse is "haram". These Clerics are fun to watch (except for the populace affected by its arbitrary decisions)

Re: Saudi Arabia Agrees to Let Women Drive

#25

Post by smsm42 »

dmurray wrote: post #9
justboxing wrote: post #2

> One cleric claimed — with no evidence — that driving harmed women’s ovaries. Wait. What?

It would be surprising if someone hadn't made such a ridiculous claim. But in an article on gay marriage in the US, would the NY Times really have felt the need to observe that "one preacher even claimed - with no evidence - that homosexuality caused earthquakes"?

> in an article on gay marriage in the US, would the NY Times really have felt the need to observe that "one preacher even claimed - with no evidence - that homosexuality caused earthquakes"?

From what I know about NYT - definitely yes. Probably not in every article on the topic, but at least in some. It is a sensational claim which generates outrage - bread and butter of modern journalism.

Re: Saudi Arabia Agrees to Let Women Drive

#26

Post by goialoq »

smsm42 wrote: post #25
dmurray wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be surprising if someone hadn't made such a ridiculous claim. But in an article on gay marriage in the US, would the NY Times really have felt the need to observe that "one preacher even claimed - with no evidence - that homosexuality caused earthquakes"?

> in an article on gay marriage in the US, would the NY Times really have felt the need to observe that "one preacher even claimed - with no evidence - that homosexuality caused earthquakes"? From what I know about NYT - definitely yes. Probably not in every article on the topic, but at least in some. It is a sensational claim which generates outrage - bread and butter of modern journalism.

Can you find one example? I can't.

Re: Saudi Arabia Agrees to Let Women Drive

#27

Post by Alex3917 »

dmurray wrote: post #9
justboxing wrote: post #2

> One cleric claimed — with no evidence — that driving harmed women’s ovaries. Wait. What?

It would be surprising if someone hadn't made such a ridiculous claim. But in an article on gay marriage in the US, would the NY Times really have felt the need to observe that "one preacher even claimed - with no evidence - that homosexuality caused earthquakes"?

> But in an article on gay marriage in the US, would the NY Times really have felt the need to observe that "one preacher even claimed - with no evidence - that homosexuality caused earthquakes"?

https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Anytimes.com+god+punis...

Re: Saudi Arabia Agrees to Let Women Drive

#28

Post by Aloha »

dmurray wrote: post #9
justboxing wrote: post #2

> One cleric claimed — with no evidence — that driving harmed women’s ovaries. Wait. What?

It would be surprising if someone hadn't made such a ridiculous claim. But in an article on gay marriage in the US, would the NY Times really have felt the need to observe that "one preacher even claimed - with no evidence - that homosexuality caused earthquakes"?

They have - often this is used to portray the other side as kooks, and delegitimize them (not that they were very legitimate to start out with).

Re: Saudi Arabia Agrees to Let Women Drive

#29

Post by drcode »

pmoriarty wrote: post #7

But do they have to be accompanied on that drive by a male relative?

It's pretty messed up how this mirrors similar questions that come up when discussing autonomous vehicles- While we in the West try to come to grips with the agency of computer systems, other places are still trying to come to grips with agency for adult humans.
Post reply on HN