Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
ME
WA
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MT
VT
NH
MN
OR
MA
NY
WI
ID
MI
SD
RI
CT
WY
PA
NJ
IA
DE
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GAY MARRIAGE
IN THE
UNITED STATES
Issue marriage licenses to
same -sex couples
Allow civil unions, providing
spousal rights to same-sex
couples
Recognize other states'
same-sex marriages
Provide nearly all spousal
rights to unmarried couples
(dom. partnerships)
Provide some spousal
rights to unmarried couples
(dom. partnerships)
TN
SC
OK
AR
AZ
NM
GA
AL
MS
TX
LA
FL
AK
0
200
400 mi
HI
0
200
400 km
0
400 mi
0
100 mi
0
400 km
0
100 km
Figure 7.40
Gay Marriage in the United States. Data from: National Journal , 25 June 2011. http://www.
nationaljournal.com/politics/map-where-is-same-sex-marriage-legal—20110625.
Arabism in his teachings, and his followers (Kahane Chai)
continue to do so. Members of Kach or Kahane Chai are
suspected in several terrorist acts in Isreal.
The Taliban in Afghanistan also provided a haven for
the activities of Islamic extremists who sought to promote
an Islamic holy war, or jihad , against the West in general
and the United States in particular. One of the key fi gures
in the Islamic extremist movement of the past decade,
Osama bin Laden, helped fi nance and mastermind a variety
of terrorist activities conducted against the United States,
including the destruction of the World Trade Towers, the
attack on the Pentagon, and the downing of Flight 93 on
September 11, 2001 (Fig. 7.41). Bin Laden is now dead,
but those following in his footsteps are a product of a revo-
lutionary Islamic movement that views the West as a great
enemy and that opposes both the westernization and liber-
alization of the traditionally Islamic realms. These beliefs
are certainly not representative of Islam as a whole, but
they are religious beliefs. Indeed, they can be traced to a
form of Islam, known as Wahhabi Islam , which developed
in the eighteenth century in opposition to what was seen as
sacrilegious practices on the part of Ottoman rulers. The
champions of the opposition movement called for a return
to a purportedly pure variant of Islam from centuries ear-
lier. The Saudi Arabian state is the hearth of Wahhabi
Islam today, as the Saudi Royal family has championed
Islam
Other major faiths must also confront the pressures
of change. Not all Muslim communities, for example,
adhere precisely to the rules of the Qu'ran prohibiting the
use of alcohol. The laws of Islam, which (like some other
religions) are very strict when interpreted literally, are not
applied with equal force throughout the Muslim world.
Prior to September 11, the growth of a fundamen-
talist movement, the Taliban in Afghanistan, provided a
particularly striking example of how quickly a fundamen-
talist government can use extremism to change a place.
The Taliban regime seized control of much of the coun-
try during the 1990s and asserted the strictest fundamen-
talist regime in the contemporary world. The leadership
imposed a wide range of religious restrictions, sought to
destroy all statues depicting human forms, required fol-
lowers of Hinduism to wear identifying markers, and for-
bade women to appear in public with their head exposed.
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