# Guitarist Ali Farka Touré Banned in Hometown **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 6, 2012, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitarist-ali-farka-toure-banned-in-hometown/643235 "2012-12-06T21:38:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitarist-ali-farka-toure-banned-in-hometown/643235/21 "2012-12-14T11:39:55Z")
I didn’t mean to be dissing the OP, and I was quite serious. It was the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas that first turned the world spotlight on to what a horrifying regime the Taliban was in Afghanistan. If this incident can similarly be what pushed Mali into the wider public consciousness, then at least some good will have come of it. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitarist-ali-farka-toure-banned-in-hometown/643235/22 "2012-12-14T12:19:37Z")
> [@CoastalMaineiac](#): > > Not all religions are so absurd. Actually yes, pretty much, unless you’ve heard of one I haven’t. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitarist-ali-farka-toure-banned-in-hometown/643235/23 "2012-12-14T14:28:47Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > [Like this.](http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=Ui337e5D50E&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DUi337e5D50E) Allah help me, I knew what that was before I clicked the link. Awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitarist-ali-farka-toure-banned-in-hometown/643235/24 "2012-12-14T14:29:58Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Not any more than Christianity has a prohibition against dancing, but \*Footloose \*was still based on a real thing. Or a prohibition against speaking, and yet Benedictine monks take vows of silence. I gather the gist of the idea is that “you’re not supposed to have fun, you’re supposed to work all day and pray or study religion all night, every minute of your life is duty, if you have any free time for the profane you’re doing it wrong” Benedictine monks still talk, but via sign language. Spanish Sign Language started when a monk convinced his abbot that the sign language they used in the monastery could be taught to deafmutes, enabling them to learn a trade and “get a life”, rather than spend their lives as beggars or depending on relatives. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitarist-ali-farka-toure-banned-in-hometown/643235/25 "2012-12-14T16:48:43Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > They’re not trying to convert anyone. After all, everyone under their rule is already nominally their religion. You’re talking about the area that’s being “governed” by the rebels, right? I mean, one of the candidates for president in Mali isn’t Muslim. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitarist-ali-farka-toure-banned-in-hometown/643235/26 "2012-12-14T17:41:45Z")
It’s sad where Mali is headed. We lived in Bamako for two years in the 90s, while posted to the embassy there, and found the people to be delightful, peaceful and optimistic despite the poverty there. We even saw Toure play in a local venue, which was a thrill for us. Adding religious oppression to the crushing poverty is unconscionable. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitarist-ali-farka-toure-banned-in-hometown/643235/27 "2012-12-14T22:04:43Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > I didn’t mean to be dissing the OP, and I was quite serious. It was the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas that first turned the world spotlight on to what a horrifying regime the Taliban was in Afghanistan. I can’t quite agree with this. By the time those Buddhas were destroyed, I think most of the world was already quite well aware of the regime’s overall character. Anyone who didn’t see that destructive act coming hadn’t been paying attention. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitarist-ali-farka-toure-banned-in-hometown/643235.md?page=1)