The report indicates that many of the citizens are aware that the purpose of the religious programs is not ideological but rather is to remind the Saudi people continuously about the legitimacy of the governance, which is in line with the Holy book and Sunnah, as they claim. However, everything has been linked to religion in a way that made it lose its sacredness and become a tool in the hands of the authorities that is taking advantage of it.
In the time when many of the Arab people have arose demanding freedom, democracy, dignity, transparency, and holding the dishonest officials accountable, the Saudi people expected that the authorities might take the initiative to respond to their demands for reform. However, the authorities responded using more repression and abuse, and started to threaten in the name of religion. The Grand Mufti issued a fatwa banning the demonstrations, and the clergies launched a media campaign taking advantage of the mosque pulpits, television programs, newspapers and magazines to emphasize the illegality of demonstrations and the need to obey the ruler, even if he was an unjust and/or a dictator.
The use of religion by the authorities in Saudi Arabia is not limited to the political issues only, but extends to include social, economic, educational, intellectual and sexual ones. It also uses religion to incite the hatred against other religions and their adherents.
In summary, the Saudi society is ignoring the religious programs due to its awareness that the religious and political authorities in Saudi Arabia have utilized the religion in favor of the ruler’s interests, which contradict with that of the people. The religious programs do not meet the demands of the people who became more aware and conscious of everything going on around them. The people of this generation - the generation of social networking websites as Facebook and Twitter - realized that religion was only a tool used by the authorities to practice repression, injustice and exploitation, to justify the corruption, and certainly to ensure the continuity of the ruling al-Saud family.
A question remains: Why do the authorities in Saudi Arabia continue the policy of using the religion to legitimize its rule in spite of the fact that the people understand the relationship between the religious establishment and the ruling family?
