Ahh.. the hypocrisy.

On one hand they censor our media, attempt to ban our alcohol, discuss arresting people for eating or possessing pork and spew ignorance at a bored national media who have no choice but to report it.  On the other hand we have the Spring of Culture, Formula One, Exhibition bloody road and god knows what else. 

Welcome to Bahrain. 

These two worlds will collide. When they do, what will happen is anyone's guess. Imagine promoting the F1 to the world, trying to convince those who care that Bahrain's race is better than the newer, shinier Abu Dhabi race. People can fly here on our possibly alcohol-free excuse for a national carrier, and they can get a visa online so they don't have to queue. But while here they may or may not be able to drink. And they may or may not be able to eat pork. They may or may not be able to access their online media of choice. And who knows what else they may or may not be able to do. But, y'know, don't worry... Exhibition road will be just as pervy and disease ridden as ever. 

And then we have the Spring of Culture. Personally, I have an issue or twelve with the festival, but it is hard to condemn. Yet perhaps we should condemn it. We should consider boycotting it. Why? Because the powers that be, those responsible for the Spring of Culture, are the same powers that have decided to take it upon themselves to police the Kingdom's morality. They are the same people who censor our internet and tell us what we are allowed to think. (Did you know that now, when trying to access links from your Facebook inbox, you get the new, shorter SITE BLOCKED nonsense. Even if the Facebook link is to google.com, or even Bahrain's very own E-Government.)

Culture and censorship do not mix- sort of like oil and water, but, y'know, more ideological. Yet here we have a situation where the big boss of culture and the censorship czar are one and the same. The persons who attempt to broaden horizons, educate and enrich are the very same villains that seek to deprive us of free speech, opinion, personal choice and whatever else they deem 'illicit' or 'immoral'. If that isn't hypocrisy, what is? 

Bahrain cannot be cosmopolitan AND conservative, progressive AND primitive, cultural AND censored. It doesn't work that way. Pick a side and stick to it. Bahrain, like many of it's people is about image. Without image we are just a dusty island in the middle of Arabia. We try to market ourselves to the world -- encouraging professionals to seek careers and invest in property, begging tourists to give us their hard-earned cash, hoping big multinational corporations pick us to be their regional base -- yet the smallest bit of press about banning alcohol, pork or free media will be remembered long after the Business Friendly Bahrain ads and talk of Golden Smiles have come and gone. Business Friendly Bahrain it might be, logic friendly it certainly isn't.