Three-Input Islam

Yes, it's way too early in the morning for this, but courtesy of To the People comes this news flash via The Guardian:

There is much disagreement on Islamic websites about anal sex between men and women. Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the highest-ranking Shia cleric in Iraq, says it is "strongly undesirable", but permissible if the wife agrees.

Comments TTP's Baylen Linnekin:

don't try telling me these Muslim clerics are simply having some conversation about issues Christians or Jews settled 500 years ago. Because I'm pretty damn sure it's not true. Which means Muslim religious scholars are having a relatively public and pretty open socio-cultural debate on a host of topics that a significant number of so-called Judeo-Christian leaders still consider taboo.

The link on "pretty damn sure" is a good read, especially if you're no fan of Notre Dame football (and really, who can be?).

The TTP entry is here. And the Guardian story, which discusses Islamic approaches to various sexual issues (including the vexed question of whether a couple should undress for coitus) and reads like a Middle Eastern Savage Love column, is here. Almost a year ago, Reason's own Jesse Walker noted Sistani's wide-ranging advice col here. And a very special message about God, kittens, and Onanism (one of the great inheritances of the Abrahamic religions) here.