"The irony is that, Baghdad, the apex of the fantastic critical trajectory in Arab culture historically, is not too far from the building in which the Kuwaiti legislation was “emitted” (see image above). Despite various forms of official political rule, then and now, and despite apparent reversals in the spirit of critique and skepticismevery now and then, that spirit is firmly lodged in the region and among Arabs—as I suppose it is everywhere else. It can coexist with religion and God, and a myriad of ideologies, but it will not be eviscerated by anything around it, not least by an infantile legislation, political parties, dictators, or imperialists. If monotheist (and other) religions and ideologies are here to say, so will this critical and rebellious spirit, at least to the same degree.
Now, to take this legislation too seriously is not entirely fair. It remains at the level of speech and, in most cases, it will not be adhered to in practice (otherwise, more than half of the Arab population from Yemen to Morocco will be exterminated should this be adopted and enforced in the region). And, clearly, material conditions of exploiting and oppression in the region (by local and international actors) trump this kind of reactionary discourse, and take precedence as the culprit in real life. Having said that . . ."
