107some very ugly truths— which puts one in mind of
the doctrine of taqqiya, wherein it is said that Mus-
lims are encouraged to lie to infi dels whenever it
serves their purpose. I hope you will enlighten me
about that. But before you do, I’ll give you another
example, from a non- Muslim context, to show you
how weird these conversations with the devout can
sometimes be.
I once attended a wedding where I was intro-
duced to a close friend of the groom. As it turned
out, this man was an Orthodox Jew. After a suitable
period of small talk, I said, “What’s your opinion of
all the barbarism in Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and
Exodus? For instance, what do you make of that bit
about a woman’s not being a virgin on her wedding
night— should we really take her to her father’s door-
step and stone her to death?^19 Seems a bit harsh. And
I rather like this woman our friend is marrying.”
My companion then began to wax rabbinical on
how these seemingly brutal strictures must be un-
derstood in the context of their time. Needless to
say, he assured me that they don’t apply today. In
fact, he said, these rules applied only when there
- Deuteronomy 22:13–21.
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