And You Thought Pat Robertson Was A Kook

The Guardian (03.21.06), via WIIIAI:

"Turkmenistan's autocratic leader told his country's youth to read his book three times if they wanted to go to heaven, Turkmen television reported yesterday. Rukhnama, which gives moral and spiritual guidance, has been deemed a sacred text by the government and is required reading for pupils." Read my book and go to paradise, says president

"Speaking at a concert to mark a national holiday, President Saparmurat Niyazov [aka Serdar Turkmenbashi] said: 'A person that reads Rukhnama becomes smart ... and after it, he will go straight to heaven. I asked Allah that for a person who reads it three times - at home, at sunset and at dawn - to go straight to heaven.'" Here's Saparmurat's bio on the Turkmenistan Embassy's website. This bio is a bit more illuminating, detailing Saparmurat's invention of (among other things) a new calendar (basically renaming months and days - he renamed January after himself). He also likes to issue decrees. The tallest building in Turkmenistan's capital Ashgabat, is the Neutrality Arch, which is topped by "a solid gold statue of Niyazov which rotates 360 degrees every 24 hours so as to always face the sun." We kid you not. Guy's even got himself in the national anthem.