"Pig products, or pork, should be kept away from our markets because it is clear they are harmful and have no other benefit."
I haven't read your second article yet,
brassplate, but I am hoping it is an equally strong statement by the MP's against smoking and the harmful effects of tobacco and nicotine.
I don't get much into religion, having been largely turned off by all of the wicked things people do "in the name of God," however, I suspect that if cigarettes had existed back in the days of the prophets that they would have come out with an even stronger statement against them.
Yet I find the language of Bahrain's MP's to be one of increasing intolerance towards others, putting at risk the "Business Friendly Bahrain" image and other images of tolerance that the country tries hard to project to attract tourism and investment. Combine this local phenonemon with a global economic crisis and it begins to sound like part of a perfect storm theory.