Features of Saudi Culture

For this reason, it is particularly useful for us to gain some understanding of what Saudi Arabia and the Saudi people are all about. To the enduring intellectual value of gaining an appreciative understanding of a people and their culture we must now add the practical importance of understanding a society that will be of great importance to us for many years to come.

Saudi culture is an easy one for Americans to stereotype. Early in the Desert Shield deployment, American GI's characterized their feelings about being there with the bitter slogan "no beer, no booze, no broads." (Their commanders reported that precisely these factors led to exceptionally low rates of disciplinary problems.) The veiling of Saudi women, known to the GIs as "ninja women" or BMOs ("black moving objects"),

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nte Carlo are somewhat misleading; this vast royal clan includes in its ranks all kinds, from playboys to scholars and able executives. This historical sketch has served already to outline many of the features of Saudi society: its deep Arab and Islamic roots, and the central role of the extended family. We may now examine, point by point, some comparative features of Saudi and American society. Religion: America has the reputation of being the most religious of the Western industrial powers. Surely we are the only one in which a President, in order to please an important voting bloc of fundamentalist Christians, would express "serious doubts" about the theory of evolution, as Ronald Reagan did. Yet we not only are religiously pluralist, we also compartmentalize our religion. Conservatives may call for a return to "traditional values" (mainly meaning Christian religious values), but our law and most of our social and family customs are thoroughly secular. "Separation of church and state" is not only a doctrine, but in large measure a reality. To a degree, this ultimately goes back to the roots of Christianity, which arose under the secular power of the Roman Empire. "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar'
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Approximate Word count = 2436
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)

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