Will Saudis Ban the Letter ‘X'?
By Youssef Ibrahim

The letter "X" soon may be banned in Saudi Arabia because it resembles the mother of all banned religious symbols in the oil kingdom: the cross.

The new development came with the issuing of another mind-bending fatwa, or religious edict, by the infamous Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice — the group of senior Islamic clergy that reigns supreme on all legal, civil, and governance matters in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The commission's damning of the letter "X" came in response to a Ministry of Trade query about whether it should grant trademark protection to a Saudi businessman for a new service carrying the English name "Explorer."

"No! Nein! Nyet!" was the commission's categorical answer.

Why?

Well, never mind that none of the so-called scholars manning the upper ranks of the religious outfit can speak or read a word of English.  ...

Hat tip: Scott Johnson, who explains here why you should read the whole thing.

***

Frequent commenter Bob adds:

So, no seX, no eXcitement, and no eXecutions.

***

Saudis to ban letter “X” because it resembles a cross? 
Allahpundit

So says the New York Sun. The article’s already creeping up the charts at Memeorandum.

I had a yellow-badges flashback when I read it so I googled around to see if it’s true. And it is, I guess: the subject of the piece, Amr Mohammad al-Faisal, wrote about the incident for the Arab News…

…more than three years ago, which tends to undercut the Sun’s assertion that this is a “new development.” Also, does the name “al-Faisal” ring any bells? Turns out our friend Amr is no ordinary Saudi; he’s a prince. ...