I sat and read through a story that comes out of Saudi Arabia, from N-TV, and it left me to pondering.
The Saudis....probably even a decade ago....came to realize that they had a number of men who were hyped-up....perhaps even brain-washed....into extreme behaviors of religion. At some point, I'm guessing they got advice from some western folks....they decided that they could build up a rehab-like program and bring these guys back to reality.
As N-TV tells the story, the Saudis now state that around 3,300 folks have been through the program, and they grade themselves (always a troublesome by-product) with a 86-percent success rate. What happened to the other 14-percent failures? Not mentioned in the report other than saying they went onto prison.
Based on the way the story was told, the complex or facility for this activity kinda reminds me of the German 'Kur'. Germans use the 'Kur' for both physical and mental issues. Typically, it's a hotel complex, with three meals a day....physical activity (pool, hiking, biking, etc)....and group therapy.
It's hard to imagine the group therapy with extremist views on Islam. One has to imagine some counselor leading a discussion....citing the Quran a good bit, and hoping that the guys standing there will open up and reach a level of admitting they got over-enthusiastic about their religion.
In the Saudi case, if you get selected.....there's no waiver or legal fight....you go. If you fail the program? You go onto prison.
The odds of opening up such a facility in any European country? Zero chance. The legal system would say that you were trying to brain-wash folks out of their view of religion, and that just ain't right.
The question here to ponder....did the program really revert these guys back to some normal situation, or did the guys just figure out the better way of hiding their feelings or thoughts? If your choice was to hide thoughts or go off to prison....well, there's not much of a choice.
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