Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Muslim Mother and Three Daughters Burned to Death for Being "Too Western"

Where are the moderate Muslims on this?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Where are the moderate Muslims on this?

On their faces in the mosques shrieking "ALLAHU AKBAR! ALLAHU AKBAR! ALLAHU AKBAR!", where else?

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure this had so much to do with his Muslim traditions as it did with his own insecurities about himself. Very, very sad!

Melissa Clouthier said...

Anon 11:57,

Surely you don't believe this. Would this man consider an "honor killing" if his religion hadn't planted the idea to begin with? There has to be a notion of "shaming' to feel shamed.

Of course, his insecurities were exploited, they were exploited by religious teachers and teachers that externalize guilt and shame and tie up a woman's actions in a man's view of himself.

How many Christian, Catholic, Atheist honor killings do you see?

Anonymous said...

How many Christian, Catholic, Atheist honor killings do you see?

Well, Islam actually HAS Virgin Brides who WILL stay faithful; can we say as much of 21st Century America?

Would this man consider an "honor killing" if his religion hadn't planted the idea to begin with? There has to be a notion of "shaming' to feel shamed.

Just remember the two corollaries of a shame culture:

1) If nobody ever finds out, then I Am NOT Shamed.
2) Dead Men Tell No Tales.

Anonymous said...

Melissa, yes of course, I see your point here. Just from reading the story though, it sounds like that if had he been more established himself,
and felt better about who he was, it would not have been such a "threat" to him. His wife clearly was a lot more on top of things.

Hmmm, I don't know.

Melissa Clouthier said...

I guess I want to hear all the moderate American and British Muslims shouting from the rooftops at how honor killings are wrong. I want full-page ads taken out in the New York Times and USA Today denouncing this heinous behavior. I want it made clear that Islam is a religion that can work in a modern society.

There is no disputing that the Western world is immoral. Sleaze and pornography and sexualizing children, but I think the outcome of the restrictive Muslim society reveals a more pernicious culture where murder is sanctioned and even elevated.

Christians rightly condemned the bomber of an abortion clinic. You can't prove that you value life by killing it. This is a foundational principle in the Western world. It is NOT a foundational principle in the world of extreme Islam.

The question: Is it the foundational principle in the "moderate" Muslim world? You know, if moderates don't speak up, practically speaking, there are only extreme Islamofascists. What is interesting, in Iraq there are actually Muslims fighting for a free society--not the society the Islamic radicals would have for them.