Uncovered Meat, anyone?

Australian Islamic cleric Sheikh Taj Din al-Hilali made the following abhorrent comments at a Ramadan sermon and created a media storm yesterday which resulted in his suspension from religious duties for two to three months.

"If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in
the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come
and eat it ... whose fault is it, the cat’s or the uncovered meat? The uncovered
meat is the problem," he said in the sermon.
The cleric also spoke of womenwho "sway suggestively", wore make-up and dressed immodestly "and then you get a judge without mercy and (he) gives you 55 years".
"If she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab, no problem would have occurred."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2424864,00.html

It's pretty disgusting stuff and, given the force of the remarks I'm not convinced by claims the message could easily be misinterpreted. What is particularly worrying is that this tripe easily translates into the Patriarchal misogynist bullshit attitude ,that women are "asking for it" if they choose to wear say a short skirt. Hmm...sound familiar? Remind me what century we're living in again? I heard a man on the radio yesterday claiming that in a Democratic society "Freedom of Speech" should be alllowed. But we condemn incitement to religious hatred, and this is basically incitement to sexual hatred.

Feminists fought for the right to vote, to express opinions, and to have equal rights in the workplace. Although some gains have been made, evidently we still have a long way to go. It's that bloody 'Original Sin' which blocks our progress every time.