I don't think honor killing per se is in Sharia (though every country that has Sharia as the basis for its laws winks at honor kiling) - just polygamy, valuing women's testimony at half that of men, requiring 4 male witnesses to prove a rape, and the ability to divorce a woman by declaring 3 times "I divorce you".
None of which provisions (except polygamy) are in the Law of Moses, or traditional Jewish Law. It says a lot about the very traditional Arab culturual mileu that supports this notion. Though you can make a good historical case that Arabian mores at the time of Mohammed weren't this bad, the Arabs picked up a lot of this misogyny from the Greeks whom they conquered.
When a forth grader Muslim student comes home crying telling his parents that other kids won't play with him because he is a Muslim, that is the beginning of the disintegration of the US
What, the US had perfect race relations up until now? This never happened to black, chinese or Jewish kids before? I don't know much about your background, Chinu, but you just told me very clearly that you are white. Of course it shouldn't happen. But that's an ongoing struggle.
However, I would hope that those who felt hurt would also realize how it hurts others when their faith and lifestyles are denigrated through stereotyping.
Chinu, you want two things: to never "denigrate" anybody's culture, and to be for human rights. Very PoMo of you. And quite contradictory. Because when somebody's traditional cultural values treat women like livestock, you are going to have to choose one way or the other. I choose human rights, even for women, even for Arab women. |
