I am not making this up.
This weekend, the collectable card game
Pokemon was banned in
Saudi Arabia. The
Islamic country's highest religious authority, the Higher Committee for Scientific (
sic) Research and Islamic Law has issued a
fatwa prohibiting the game.
Their reasons: Pokemon has "possessed the minds" of children, promotes
Zionism,
Freemasonry, and non-Islamic religions, and involves gambling.
The edict claims that the cards contain religious symbols such as the
Star of David (symbol of Freemasonry and "international Zionism"), the
Christian cross, and
Shinto symbols. Thus the cards promote non-Islamic religions and
polytheism.
Nintendo denies the cards contain religious symbolism.
The fatwa also claims that the collectable and competitive aspects of the card game promote gambling.
Plenty of schools in the US and elsewhere have banned the game, and some Christian groups have attacked the game, but Saudi Arabia is probably the first entire country to ban it.
Especially offensive was the
Satanic Verses pack, featuring the Pokemon
Rushdiazard in a variety of scenes offensive to
Islam. Okay, okay, I made that last sentence up, but the rest of it is true.
Source: today's AP wire