A hidden camera catches an Iranian cleric committing adultery, and the video rockets around the blogosphere, where a new generation can finally skirt state censorship. A video scandal has hit the Iranian Internet scene. Like many online scandals in the West, it involves a model. Not Paris Hilton, but a supposed model of virtue: a cleric.... The cleric was apparently a member of the government-run Friday Prayers Committee in Hamadan province. Semi-official news sites tried to downplay the impact of the video, which leaked out of an Intelligence Ministry investigation. But their reports did acknowledge that the man involved was a married cleric, and that the video depicts the consummation of an unlawful affair.... "One thing we had never seen before was a cleric's naked butt," commented one young Iranian below the online video clip. "Thanks to the Internet, that is no longer impossible!"
I suppose on some level I should be refraining from finding pleasure in the very public debasement of a "man of God"...except in this case, it's even more satisfying. Not only is an Iranian cleric caught committing adultery on camera, but we also get what may well be the (albeit very grainy) naked butt shot of an Iranian cleric. Not that this was something any of should have been eagerly anticipating, of course. Don't worry if you're reading this at work; the video is of such poor quality that it's hard to tell if it that pasty white thing is a mullah or a beached whale. Trust me; the Paris Hilton video, this ain't...not that I've seen that one, mind you.... ;-)
What interests me about this, though, is that adultery is considered a VERY serious crime in Conservative Islamic societies such as Iran. Women have been and in some cases still are stoned for committing adultery (the men, of course, are strongly admonished to refrain from associating with such harlots...and then let go with a wink and a nod). Somehow, though, the hue and cry of righteous indignation has been...well, strangely absent. If you listen closely, you can hear the dull roar of...well, not much of anything, really. D'ya think this could be a case of mullahs looking out for one another? After all, it's hardly out of the realm of possibility that other religious authority figures in Iran might be using their positions as an aid to getting their freak on, knowhutimean?? That the horny male power structure would look out for one another only seems like an exercise in collective self-preservation. If the mullahs were to allow a vocal, negative action to develop unchecked, they might in the end be forced into a position where they'd have to take action that might impinge on their prerogatives. Hey, if you can't use your position of absolute authority to finagle some nookie out of the vulnerable female members of your flock, wouldn't you just be better off emigrating to Detroit and driving a taxi? And if Catholic priests can do it, why should pious Muslims miss out on all the fun?
Even repressive, intolerant mullahs need love....
