Originally posted by §pearhead
Building off of what lil just said, most of the problems in the mideast originate from religion.
I don't know if you are allowed to call religion there a problem, true it is very pervasive. But you don't need examples from overseas. The Muslim lobby here in the UK is very powerful and in the ghettoes a lot of white kids have converted.
I see no reason why women should cover up all the time, or be punished for wearing make up, but I would strongly advise against promiscuity, both because of the obvious risks with STDs and the possibility of unplanned pregnancy. It is very sad when someone who is a child themself ends up with a baby they can't look after.
In Lybia there is a school of thought which says that premarital sex mucks up the line of father-son continuation, so the existance of an illegitimate child is a problem. I recall there was this case of a boy who killed his sister because she had an unlawful pregnancy. In the strictly fundamentalist school of thought, this would be considered necessary to redeem the family's honour.