IS Forum
Forum Index Register Members List Events Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Help

Go Back   International Skeptics Forum » General Topics » Religion and Philosophy
 


Welcome to the International Skeptics Forum, where we discuss skepticism, critical thinking, the paranormal and science in a friendly but lively way. You are currently viewing the forum as a guest, which means you are missing out on discussing matters that are of interest to you. Please consider registering so you can gain full use of the forum features and interact with other Members. Registration is simple, fast and free! Click here to register today.
Tags honor killing , islam , pakistan , traditional societies

Reply
Old 5th November 2012, 03:04 PM   #1
TimCallahan
Philosopher
 
TimCallahan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 6,293
Honor killing in Pakistan

I just heard about this on the BBC World radios broadcast: A Pakistani couple murdered their 15 year-old daughter, burning her to death by pouring acid over her, even as she pleaded for mercy. Her crime? She looked at a boy as he rode past on a motorcycle. That's right. You didn't read it wrong, and I didn't write it wrong. These parents - yes, the mother, too - showed no remorse, shed no tears over having killed their own 15 year-old daughter by pouring acid on her. They said they had to do it to keep the girl from dishonoring the family. Her name was Anosh Zafar. Her parents were Mohammad Zafar and his wife Zaheen.

I don't know if we should charge this up to Islam, as it is practiced in many benighted countries of the world; if it's part of culture specific to the Indian subcontinent; or if it's simply an aspect of traditional culture - the death of which, as industrial culture overspreads the planet, many of its supporters decry. I'd be interested to hear from others as to which of the three suspects is the culprit.

I'd also be interested in what punishment jref members think should be meted out to these horrid people. My own feeling is that the two of them should be submerged in a strong solution of sulphuric acid. On the other hand, perhaps they should be candidates for the Darwin Award for ending, or at least diminishing the likelihood of passing on their genes.

ETA: Lest one is tempted to see this as an isolated incident, consider this one that occurred earlier this year (from the article):

Islamabad: In a shocking incident, a Pakistani man, Arif Mubashir, has gunned down his six daughters on suspicion that two of them were in relationships with boys in the neighborhood.

According to this site (not safe for office or school), 675 women were murdered in honor killings in the first nine months of 2011.

ETA 2: According to this site, about 1,000 young people of both genders are killed per year in India, often for marrying outside their castes.

Last edited by TimCallahan; 5th November 2012 at 03:46 PM.
TimCallahan is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 5th November 2012, 03:57 PM   #2
I Ratant
Penultimate Amazing
 
I Ratant's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 19,258
Could it be possible to shame those killers publicly, heaping scorn and condemnation on their activities, showing that it is not "honorable" to murder children for being children?
Notoriety for being stupid and told that in their neighborhoods might peer-pressure those of similar moronic attitudes into withholding the death penalty.
Couple of my lady friends were merely tossed out of the house, not killed, for similar offenses. But here in civilization, a single woman is not an object to be raped and murdered just because she has no male protector right there.
I Ratant is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 5th November 2012, 04:04 PM   #3
pakeha
Penultimate Amazing
 
pakeha's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 12,331
I saw the BBC video today.
I can't get the face of the mother out of my memory.
Where do they get the acid?
pakeha is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 5th November 2012, 04:07 PM   #4
TimCallahan
Philosopher
 
TimCallahan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 6,293
Apparently, it's not just in Islam and not just on the Indian subcontinent that such atrocities happen. Consider this article from the Guardian (from the article, emphasis added):

Hassan Habash even gave his word to an emissary from a Bedouin tribe traditionally brought in to mediate in matters of family honour, a commitment regarded as sacrosanct in Palestinian society. But the next weekend, as Faten watched a Boy Scouts parade from the balcony of her Ramallah home, the 22-year-old Christian Palestinian was dragged into the living room and bludgeoned to death with an iron bar. Her father was arrested for the murder.


Two days later, another ritual of killing unfolded a few miles away in Jerusalem.

Maher Shakirat summoned three of his sisters to discuss a family uproar after one of them, Rudaina, was thrown out by her husband for an alleged affair. Maher listened to Rudaina's denials, and her sisters' pleas that they were not covering up the affair. Then he forced the three women to drink bleach before strangling Rudaina, who was eight months pregnant. The other sisters tried to flee but Maher caught and strangled Amani, 20. The third, Leila, escaped but was badly injured by the bleach

Also from the article is this tale of a mother who killed her daughter for getting pregnant after tow of her brothers had raped her (emphasis added):


Amira Abu Hanhan Qaoud murdered her daughter, Rafayda, because she became pregnant after being raped by two of her brothers.

"My daughter fell over and broke her knee. I took her to hospital and there the doctor told me she was pregnant. So I killed her. It's as simple as that," said Mrs Qaoud on her doorstep in Ramallah. Mrs Qaoud waited until the baby was born and given up for adoption. Then she presented her 22 year-old daughter with a razor blade and told her to slash her wrists.

She refused so her mother pulled a plastic bag over her head, sliced her wrists and beat her head with a stick. The brothers were sentenced to 10 years for the rape. Mrs Qaoud spent two years in prison for killing her daughter. She has purged her home of all pictures of her older children, and declines to discuss the killing, saying all she wants is to forget about it.

Last edited by TimCallahan; 5th November 2012 at 04:16 PM.
TimCallahan is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 5th November 2012, 04:09 PM   #5
Darat
Lackey
Administrator
 
Darat's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: South East, UK
Posts: 113,982
Usually batteries.

And unfortunately for us UKains we don't have to look outwards, see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-19068490
__________________
If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?” Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago
Darat is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 5th November 2012, 05:21 PM   #6
Skeptic Ginger
Nasty Woman
 
Skeptic Ginger's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 96,382
Originally Posted by Darat View Post
Usually batteries.

And unfortunately for us UKains we don't have to look outwards, see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-19068490
Batteries? I'd imagine you can buy some pretty strong liquid acids in any country. I remember my dad using some really nasty acid to take the paint off our patio once when I was a kid.

The best you can say about this horrific act is at least the parents are in jail.
Skeptic Ginger is online now   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 5th November 2012, 05:26 PM   #7
Cainkane1
Philosopher
 
Cainkane1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: The great American southeast
Posts: 9,008
When I worked for the state of georgia there was a sweet Pakistani woman who was always nice to me. She was nice everyday and everytime I saw her.

I often wondered if it was safe for her to do so. I mean her family lived in Georgia and they were freshly immigrated from Pakistan.
__________________
If at first you don't succeed try try again. Then if you fail to succeed to Hell with that. Try something else.
Cainkane1 is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 5th November 2012, 05:32 PM   #8
Skeptic Ginger
Nasty Woman
 
Skeptic Ginger's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 96,382
Originally Posted by Cainkane1 View Post
When I worked for the state of georgia there was a sweet Pakistani woman who was always nice to me. She was nice everyday and everytime I saw her.

I often wondered if it was safe for her to do so. I mean her family lived in Georgia and they were freshly immigrated from Pakistan.
Not every family from Pakistan are fanatics.
Skeptic Ginger is online now   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 5th November 2012, 06:43 PM   #9
TimCallahan
Philosopher
 
TimCallahan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 6,293
Originally Posted by Skeptic Ginger View Post
Not every family from Pakistan are fanatics.
Possibly their being from Pakistan rather than in Pakistan would have to do with their not being fanatically rooted in the traditional culture. Of course, some do bring their horrific views with them.
TimCallahan is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 5th November 2012, 08:19 PM   #10
joesixpack
Illuminator
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 4,531
I think these "honor" killings indicate that in Pakistan the perception is that a family's loss of honor or respect in a community will result in a significant loss of access to resources. These acts, though they are barbaric by our standards, are the result of cultural and social and economic pressures that we don't understand. I'm not saying it's OK, because it clearly isn't, but I would guarantee that the socioeconomic landscape which these people face (or have historically faced) has a lot to do with it.


Having said that, I can't imagine that this sort of behavior is at all common. That it is not unheard of is clear, but I think you're really talking about outliers among outliers. The reasons given for these murders are both banal and arbitrary. Surely 15 year old girls look at people where there father or mother would be able to see and they are not murdered by the family.
__________________
Generally sober 'til noon.

Last edited by joesixpack; 5th November 2012 at 08:24 PM.
joesixpack is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 5th November 2012, 09:19 PM   #11
LaurelHS
Muse
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 700
Originally Posted by TimCallahan View Post
Of course, some do bring their horrific views with them.
Even to countries like Canada, sometimes. The Shafia family murder trial happened in my hometown, actually.
LaurelHS is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 5th November 2012, 09:25 PM   #12
Lowpro
Philosopher
 
Lowpro's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 5,399
Proper punishment? Everyone around them who ever knew that family says "how dare you!" and pulls the family our of their house and beats them to within and inch of their life. While it's easy for me to get mad behind my computer I'm just as enraged that no one in their community hasn't done this. Hell, WE do this, just with due process.
__________________
"If I actually believed that Jesus was coming to end the world in 2050, I'd be preparing by stocking up on timber and nails" - PZ Myers
Lowpro is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 5th November 2012, 09:35 PM   #13
Skeptic Ginger
Nasty Woman
 
Skeptic Ginger's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 96,382
Originally Posted by joesixpack View Post
I think these "honor" killings indicate that in Pakistan the perception is that a family's loss of honor or respect in a community will result in a significant loss of access to resources. These acts, though they are barbaric by our standards, are the result of cultural and social and economic pressures that we don't understand. I'm not saying it's OK, because it clearly isn't, but I would guarantee that the socioeconomic landscape which these people face (or have historically faced) has a lot to do with it.


Having said that, I can't imagine that this sort of behavior is at all common. That it is not unheard of is clear, but I think you're really talking about outliers among outliers. The reasons given for these murders are both banal and arbitrary. Surely 15 year old girls look at people where there father or mother would be able to see and they are not murdered by the family.
The culture thing I get. Got any evidence there is economics involved?
Skeptic Ginger is online now   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 5th November 2012, 09:42 PM   #14
joesixpack
Illuminator
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 4,531
Originally Posted by Skeptic Ginger View Post
The culture thing I get. Got any evidence there is economics involved?
This is entirely speculation on my part, but I'm sure you'd agree that cultural mores emerge from objective conditions. The idea of "honor" and "good family name" generally have economic (i.e., material) implications. Even in societies with no monetary system, there are still rules that dictate who has preferential access to resources (a pecking order).
__________________
Generally sober 'til noon.
joesixpack is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 5th November 2012, 09:50 PM   #15
fuelair
Banned
 
fuelair's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 58,581
I have a simple mind on these things: if you can find out ahead of time, leave the planners of the mutilations/killings visibly dead and terribly mutilated (prior to the deathy thing) with an informal note carved in appropriately on them to explain the why and wherefore and suggest safwer paths to follow. If found out afterwards, a thorough flaying followed by a nice salting or warm alcohol bath (don't want infections) and then really hurt them and leave their bodies displayed for other potential miscreants of their ilk. I believe medical knowledge to be very useful in dealing with these turds.
fuelair is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 5th November 2012, 09:57 PM   #16
fuelair
Banned
 
fuelair's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 58,581
Note to cultural apologists: I have no problem with others following their chosen/familial/geographic culture for THEMSELVES AS AN INDIVIDUAL and with NO application of same to any other persons within or without of family or religious or political circles. I have no problem with their dissolution if they have a problem with my preferred policy.
fuelair is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 5th November 2012, 10:29 PM   #17
joesixpack
Illuminator
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 4,531
Originally Posted by fuelair View Post
Note to cultural apologists: I have no problem with others following their chosen/familial/geographic culture for THEMSELVES AS AN INDIVIDUAL and with NO application of same to any other persons within or without of family or religious or political circles. I have no problem with their dissolution if they have a problem with my preferred policy.
Don't conflate "explanation" or an effort to understand with "approval" or "apologetics".
__________________
Generally sober 'til noon.
joesixpack is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 5th November 2012, 10:37 PM   #18
Beelzebuddy
Philosopher
 
Beelzebuddy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 9,800
Originally Posted by joesixpack View Post
Don't conflate "explanation" or an effort to understand with "approval" or "apologetics".
Trying to recast familicide as some kind of objective result of socioeconomic factors instead of taking the stated justification for the acts by the murderers at face value does sound an awful lot like apologetics, actually.
Beelzebuddy is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 5th November 2012, 10:55 PM   #19
joesixpack
Illuminator
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 4,531
Originally Posted by Beelzebuddy View Post
Trying to recast familicide as some kind of objective result of socioeconomic factors instead of taking the stated justification for the acts by the murderers at face value does sound an awful lot like apologetics, actually.
I think you should learn the difference between acknowledging the materialist origins of human behavior and idealist moralizing.

Seriously. Simply because you can't separate your emotional response from rational thought doesn't mean that those of us who wish to achieve a deeper understanding of behavior approve of murder. I'm certain it feels great to be righteously indignant at the murder of a teen aged girl, but your indignation serves no other purpose than to stoke your own sense of moral superiority.

Furthermore, I don't think you actually know what the hell apologetics means. I see you and others bandy that word about as if it's equivalent to "approves of Muslim Terrorism". "Explanation" does not equal "justification", "analysis" does not equal "approval".

Years ago, mental illness was treated as a moral failing. People who studied it were, in your opinion, simply apologists?

Trying to recast human actions as anything other than the result of physical laws and objective material conditions is little more that idealism.
__________________
Generally sober 'til noon.
joesixpack is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 6th November 2012, 02:48 AM   #20
SatansMaleVoiceChoir
Illuminator
 
SatansMaleVoiceChoir's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: All Over You
Posts: 3,446
Call me a 'Cultural Apologist', but that's their way. I don't have to like it or agree with it, but that doesn't give me any right to interfere. They will be punished accordingly if they have contravened their laws.

If they do this in a country that is not theirs where 'honour killing' is (quite rightly) treated as a primitive act of murder, and whose laws they have chosen to abide by, and are governed by whether they like it or not, then they should suffer the full force of those laws.
__________________
The aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress. - Joseph Joubert

Do not believe hastily. - Ovid

There is no worse lie than a truth misunderstood by those who hear it. - William James
SatansMaleVoiceChoir is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 6th November 2012, 06:38 AM   #21
Lowpro
Philosopher
 
Lowpro's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 5,399
Originally Posted by SatansMaleVoiceChoir View Post
Call me a 'Cultural Apologist', but that's their way. I don't have to like it or agree with it, but that doesn't give me any right to interfere. They will be punished accordingly if they have contravened their laws.

If they do this in a country that is not theirs where 'honour killing' is (quite rightly) treated as a primitive act of murder, and whose laws they have chosen to abide by, and are governed by whether they like it or not, then they should suffer the full force of those laws.
I say screw their laws and let's beat the snot out of them anyways. 'MURICA!
__________________
"If I actually believed that Jesus was coming to end the world in 2050, I'd be preparing by stocking up on timber and nails" - PZ Myers
Lowpro is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 6th November 2012, 07:04 AM   #22
Bikewer
Penultimate Amazing
 
Bikewer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: St. Louis, Mo.
Posts: 13,231
We in the industrialized portions of the world sometimes forget just how primitive is much of the "developing" portion.
In various states in Africa, witchcraft is seen as very real and each year there are reports of arrests and executions for same.
As well, the local "witch doctors" still provide magical cures for AIDS and other diseases... There was an article on The World just a couple of years ago where in one of these nations it was believed that having sex with a healthy "pure" person would cure AIDS... So men were raping babies under the impression it would cure their disease.

Here , we would think such things the acts of insane persons; but in much of the world these horrific crimes are deemed acceptable.
I have listened to interviews with neighboring villagers in some of these "honor killing" cases who thoroughly approve of the murder... The only way the family could regain it's "honor".

In regards to the economic underpinnings of some of these practices... I suppose a case might be made that smaller dowries might be expected if the family honor was besmirched, or that the daughters might prove entirely unmarriagable, which would be an economic hardship in many cases.
Only peripherally related, but anthropologist Marvin Harris has pointed out that most all the strange religious dietary laws that exist have underpinnings in economics.
Bikewer is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 6th November 2012, 07:24 AM   #23
joesixpack
Illuminator
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 4,531
Originally Posted by SatansMaleVoiceChoir View Post
Call me a 'Cultural Apologist', but that's their way. I don't have to like it or agree with it, but that doesn't give me any right to interfere. They will be punished accordingly if they have contravened their laws.

Well, the fact that the parents are currently facing murder charges for the crime would indicate to me that the government of Pakistan, and probably most Pakistanis don't think there is anything acceptable about this act. This more recent atticle at least discusses the motives, if only in the most superficial manner;

Quote:
"There was a boy who came by on a motorcycle. She (Anusha) turned to look at him twice. I told her before not to do that, it's wrong. People talk about us because our older daughter was the same way," he said...


The couple say that an older daughter had already disgraced the family and they did not want to be dishonoured again. ...
What the article doesn't discuss, sadly, is what the consequences of family dishonor are in that region. If we want to see the end of honor killings (and I think we should all want that, cultural relativism aside), we should begin by addressing the repercussions of "dishonor".

When I was a kid, it was completely normal to disown one's child if they were openly homosexual, all because of the same sort of bizarre code of family honor. The difference between that and this crime is one of degree.
__________________
Generally sober 'til noon.

Last edited by joesixpack; 6th November 2012 at 07:28 AM.
joesixpack is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 6th November 2012, 07:26 AM   #24
Polaris
Penultimate Amazing
 
Polaris's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 11,396
Originally Posted by SatansMaleVoiceChoir View Post
Call me a 'Cultural Apologist', but that's their way. I don't have to like it or agree with it, but that doesn't give me any right to interfere. They will be punished accordingly if they have contravened their laws.

If they do this in a country that is not theirs where 'honour killing' is (quite rightly) treated as a primitive act of murder, and whose laws they have chosen to abide by, and are governed by whether they like it or not, then they should suffer the full force of those laws.
And yet these same scum insist that we in the West bend to their will as well, in the forms of censorship and walking on eggshells lest someone with access to explosives gets offended.

This "culture" should go away, forever. Nobody who commits or aids an honor killing should be allowed to live.
__________________
"There's vastly more truth to be found in rocks than in holy books. Rocks are far superior, in fact, because you can DEMONSTRATE the truth found in rocks. Plus, they're pretty. Holy books are just heavy." - Dinwar

"Let your ears hear this beautiful song that's hiding underneath the sound," Ed Kowalczyk.
Polaris is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 6th November 2012, 08:02 AM   #25
SatansMaleVoiceChoir
Illuminator
 
SatansMaleVoiceChoir's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: All Over You
Posts: 3,446
Originally Posted by Polaris View Post
And yet these same scum insist that we in the West bend to their will as well, in the forms of censorship and walking on eggshells lest someone with access to explosives gets offended.

This "culture" should go away, forever. Nobody who commits or aids an honor killing should be allowed to live.
I mostly agree, but maintain it's not for us to interfere. However, I DO disgree with the death penalty for those who commit honour killings; they should be allowed to live. Well - for as long as someone CAN live after having all their limbs surgically removed (without anesthetic), and being thrown back into the local community unsupported by welfare.

Originally Posted by joesixpack View Post
Well, the fact that the parents are currently facing murder charges for the crime would indicate to me that the government of Pakistan, and probably most Pakistanis don't think there is anything acceptable about this act.
It indicates there is a law against it, yes. Although I wasn't speaking specifically about Pakistan - one of the examples above shows a woman was given a mere two year prison sentence for slitting her daughter's wrists and bludgeoning her to death after she became pregant as a result of being raped by her brothers. Maybe it is an isolated example of a lenient sentence, but the sentence does suggest that Honour Killings aren't taken very seriously in the Middle East/Indian regions. The fact that it happens often shows that it is something to be considered by these people when family honour is at stake.
__________________
The aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress. - Joseph Joubert

Do not believe hastily. - Ovid

There is no worse lie than a truth misunderstood by those who hear it. - William James
SatansMaleVoiceChoir is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 6th November 2012, 09:07 AM   #26
joesixpack
Illuminator
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 4,531
Originally Posted by SatansMaleVoiceChoir View Post
I mostly agree, but maintain it's not for us to interfere. However, I DO disgree with the death penalty for those who commit honour killings; they should be allowed to live. Well - for as long as someone CAN live after having all their limbs surgically removed (without anesthetic), and being thrown back into the local community unsupported by welfare.
I know this wasn't your argument, but I want to use that bolded part as an example of the different economic atmosphere and material conditions from which this culture emerges. The fact that there is no social welfare in the community is the reason why the economic ramifications of family dishonor are so extreme. People in these remote areas live a hairs breadth from destitution, and the consequences of destitution are usually a short journey to the grave. In a society where the competition for resources has such high stakes, social status becomes a matter of life and death.

You should note that in regions of the world where poverty is more crushing, the family unit is much stronger than here in the developed world. There's a reason for that. The family unit is a safer economic entity than a single person.


Quote:
It indicates there is a law against it, yes. Although I wasn't speaking specifically about Pakistan - one of the examples above shows a woman was given a mere two year prison sentence for slitting her daughter's wrists and bludgeoning her to death after she became pregant as a result of being raped by her brothers. Maybe it is an isolated example of a lenient sentence, but the sentence does suggest that Honour Killings aren't taken very seriously in the Middle East/Indian regions. The fact that it happens often shows that it is something to be considered by these people when family honour is at stake.
The mere fact that this is quite uncommon leads me to think that it's not considered "acceptable" by the public at large. Judging the level of acceptability by the sentencing of high profile cases is probably not the best method, either. I'm not saying that acceptance of this kind of crime is as low as it is in the west (because I don't think it is), but I don't think it could be described as "not taken very seriously".

You and I certainly agree that these crimes take place in a much different cultural milieu, and I think we both agree that they should be examined in that light. I'm just quibbling.
__________________
Generally sober 'til noon.
joesixpack is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 6th November 2012, 09:10 AM   #27
westprog
Philosopher
 
westprog's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 8,928
Originally Posted by Bikewer View Post
In regards to the economic underpinnings of some of these practices... I suppose a case might be made that smaller dowries might be expected if the family honor was besmirched, or that the daughters might prove entirely unmarriagable, which would be an economic hardship in many cases.
Only peripherally related, but anthropologist Marvin Harris has pointed out that most all the strange religious dietary laws that exist have underpinnings in economics.
There may well be economic underpinnings. Most cultural practices involve some kind of economic benefit, in some way. However, that doesn't imply economic determinism. Nineteenth century Ireland, for example, had a similar patriarchal system, peasant farming and religious reverence for chastity, but such honour killings would have been very rare, and significantly, universally deprecated.

While economics is an important driving force in human affairs, it's not the only thing, unless one is a Marxist fundamentalist. Cultural norms are enormously influential.

It's quite possible that the insanity of honour killings springs from the conflict between the highly restricted world in which these people live, which nevertheless has access to the values of the West in a way never before possible.
__________________
Dreary whiner, who gradually outwore his welcome, before blowing it entirely.
westprog is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 6th November 2012, 09:14 AM   #28
Professor Yaffle
Butterbeans and Breadcrumbs
 
Professor Yaffle's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Emily's shop
Posts: 17,709
Originally Posted by westprog View Post
There may well be economic underpinnings. Most cultural practices involve some kind of economic benefit, in some way. However, that doesn't imply economic determinism. Nineteenth century Ireland, for example, had a similar patriarchal system, peasant farming and religious reverence for chastity, but such honour killings would have been very rare, and significantly, universally deprecated.

While economics is an important driving force in human affairs, it's not the only thing, unless one is a Marxist fundamentalist. Cultural norms are enormously influential.

It's quite possible that the insanity of honour killings springs from the conflict between the highly restricted world in which these people live, which nevertheless has access to the values of the West in a way never before possible.
Yes, the Irish used to prefer to send their wayward daughters away to be abused by nuns instead.
Professor Yaffle is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 6th November 2012, 09:20 AM   #29
joesixpack
Illuminator
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 4,531
Originally Posted by westprog View Post
...
While economics is an important driving force in human affairs, it's not the only thing, unless one is a Marxist fundamentalist. Cultural norms are enormously influential....
I have to ask (and I'm not a Marxist fundamentalist), what do cultural mores arise from except economic issues? It seems to me that it would be impossible to separate the economic implications from every social interaction. Certainly any power relationship, and anything that reenforces an existing relationship is ultimately economic in nature? Am I missing something?
__________________
Generally sober 'til noon.
joesixpack is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 6th November 2012, 09:23 AM   #30
joesixpack
Illuminator
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 4,531
Originally Posted by Professor Yaffle View Post
Yes, the Irish used to prefer to send their wayward daughters away to be abused by nuns instead.
Well put.
__________________
Generally sober 'til noon.
joesixpack is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 6th November 2012, 09:26 AM   #31
Skeptic Ginger
Nasty Woman
 
Skeptic Ginger's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 96,382
Originally Posted by joesixpack View Post
This is entirely speculation on my part, but I'm sure you'd agree that cultural mores emerge from objective conditions. The idea of "honor" and "good family name" generally have economic (i.e., material) implications. Even in societies with no monetary system, there are still rules that dictate who has preferential access to resources (a pecking order).
I don't agree there is a direct survival/better life advantage. That concept of evolution has been modified a bit with our larger body of knowledge.

Assuming one can apply the rules of biological evolution to cultural evolution, some things are selected that have a neutral advantage and even some traits with a negative selection pressure can be amplified by other circumstances. So, for example, a rich king might have children that survive to reproduce because the king has better resources and is more socially isolated (thus less exposure to contagious pathogens), but the same king might have more inbred offspring.

Who knows how such a horrid culture evolved. There is evidence equal rights for women actually results in an economically better off culture. The fact such oppressive cultures are failing now compared to Western cultures where women have more equality suggests it is not economically advantageous to murder your daughters.
Skeptic Ginger is online now   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 6th November 2012, 09:33 AM   #32
Skeptic Ginger
Nasty Woman
 
Skeptic Ginger's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 96,382
Originally Posted by SatansMaleVoiceChoir View Post
Call me a 'Cultural Apologist', but that's their way. I don't have to like it or agree with it, but that doesn't give me any right to interfere. They will be punished accordingly if they have contravened their laws.

If they do this in a country that is not theirs where 'honour killing' is (quite rightly) treated as a primitive act of murder, and whose laws they have chosen to abide by, and are governed by whether they like it or not, then they should suffer the full force of those laws.
By this logic, you would have been OK with Hitler's final solution.

There are times when it is appropriate to consider another's cultural values as different but reasonable, and times where one can just say, that's wrong, I don't care what the involved people believe.
Skeptic Ginger is online now   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 6th November 2012, 09:39 AM   #33
Skeptic Ginger
Nasty Woman
 
Skeptic Ginger's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 96,382
Originally Posted by joesixpack View Post
I have to ask (and I'm not a Marxist fundamentalist), what do cultural mores arise from except economic issues? It seems to me that it would be impossible to separate the economic implications from every social interaction. Certainly any power relationship, and anything that reenforces an existing relationship is ultimately economic in nature? Am I missing something?
So you think every cultural quirk or practice had some initial economic value?

Evolution doesn't work quite so purely. Sometimes disadvantageous things evolve, genetically and culturally.

Take for example, the human brain evolving to see relationships where sometimes only coincidence exists. That genetic survival trait might be useful in some circumstances but maladaptive in others. Is it not possible then for some maladaptive custom to evolve?
Skeptic Ginger is online now   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 6th November 2012, 09:45 AM   #34
Nessie
Penultimate Amazing
 
Nessie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 15,720
I am struggling to find an answer to, what if the family were not to kill a daughter in a honour killing, what would happen to them then?
__________________
Audiophile/biker/sceptic
Nessie is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 6th November 2012, 09:55 AM   #35
Aepervius
Non credunt, semper verificare
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Sigil, the city of doors
Posts: 14,571
Honor killing happens in all society where honor is put above other values, like life.
it is abhorrent, but a lot of stuff we find abhorrent, are still being done. Like witch hunting and burning of kids in Africa , and i apss many other vomit inducing stuff from all culture, none exempt.

Also in case anybody is still mistaken about thinking this is an islam thingy :

http://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/29/us...in-brazil.html

For those not wanting to read: that's brazil and the date is 1991.
"Brazil's Supreme Court has ruled that a man can no longer kill his wife and win acquittal on the ground of "legitimate defense of honor."" Emphasis mine.

ETA:
"Although never part of the legal code of Brazil, the "defense of honor" strategy has been used by lawyers to win acquittals in thousands of cases of men on trial for murdering their wives. According to a study in Sao Paulo State for the period 1980-81, 722 men claimed defense of their honor as justification for killing women accused of adultery."

In addition there were honor killing among italian, says my mother, through not only of kids in love with the wrong persons, also for other stupid stuff.
Aepervius is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 6th November 2012, 10:06 AM   #36
joesixpack
Illuminator
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 4,531
Originally Posted by Skeptic Ginger View Post
I don't agree there is a direct survival/better life advantage. That concept of evolution has been modified a bit with our larger body of knowledge.

Assuming one can apply the rules of biological evolution to cultural evolution, some things are selected that have a neutral advantage and even some traits with a negative selection pressure can be amplified by other circumstances.
Objective conditions change more quickly than culture. I think the Lamarckian evolution of culture allows for changes that may (obviously) occur in less than a a generation. Certain traits with negative selection pressure might persist, but only to a point. the greater the cost to individuals, the more quickly they will change.


Quote:
Who knows how such a horrid culture evolved.
Probably under horrid objective material conditions.
__________________
Generally sober 'til noon.
joesixpack is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 6th November 2012, 10:13 AM   #37
Nessie
Penultimate Amazing
 
Nessie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 15,720
Not the greatest source, this is an issue world wide, but it stems mainly from the Middle East

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor_killing#South_Asia

Honor killings are directed mostly against women and girls and are most prevalent in Middle Eastern and South Asian Islamic cultures.

It really is about power and honour

"A complicated issue that cuts deep into the history of Arab society. .. What the men of the family, clan, or tribe seek control of in a patrilineal society is reproductive power. Women for the tribe were considered a factory for making men. The honour killing is not a means to control sexual power or behavior. What's behind it is the issue of fertility, or reproductive power."

"The right to life of women in Pakistan is conditional on their obeying social norms and traditions."

"... the predominantly Kurdish area of Turkey, has so far shown that little if any social stigma is attached to honor killing. It also comments that the practice is not related to a feudal societal structure, "there are also perpetrators who are well-educated university graduates. Of all those surveyed, 60 percent are either high school or university graduates or at the very least, literate."

It is purely about the culture system and honour and there appears to be no economic or religious belief reason behind it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izzat_%28honor%29

"Izzat (Hindi-Urdu Farsi: इज़्ज़त or عزت) refers to the concept of honor prevalent in the culture of North India and Pakistan.[1] It applies universally across religions (Hindu, Muslim and Sikh), communities and genders.[2][3][4] Maintaining the reputation of oneself and one's family (especially women) is part of the concept of izzat, as is the obligatory taking of revenge when one's izzat has been violated."
__________________
Audiophile/biker/sceptic
Nessie is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 6th November 2012, 10:15 AM   #38
joesixpack
Illuminator
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 4,531
Originally Posted by Nessie View Post
I am struggling to find an answer to, what if the family were not to kill a daughter in a honour killing, what would happen to them then?
That would probably require the help of an anthropologist. I'm looking for some source that's not overly scholarly, but my googling isn't so hot.

But consider this, what are the consequences of a loss of respect for an inmate of San Quintin?
__________________
Generally sober 'til noon.
joesixpack is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 6th November 2012, 10:15 AM   #39
westprog
Philosopher
 
westprog's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 8,928
Originally Posted by Professor Yaffle View Post
Yes, the Irish used to prefer to send their wayward daughters away to be abused by nuns instead.
Those were girls who actually got pregnant, and who were obviously not killed.

(I'll leave aside the "so that makes it all right then...")
__________________
Dreary whiner, who gradually outwore his welcome, before blowing it entirely.
westprog is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Old 6th November 2012, 10:21 AM   #40
Craig4
Penultimate Amazing
 
Craig4's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: I live in a swamp
Posts: 27,710
I feel at this point it's safe to say that Sam Harris is right about there being superior and inferior cultures. Clearly there is at least a cultural acceptance if not pressure to kill your children, spouses other relatives in South Asian societies.
Craig4 is offline   Quote this post in a PM   Nominate this post for this month's language award Copy a direct link to this post Reply With Quote Back to Top
Reply

International Skeptics Forum » General Topics » Religion and Philosophy

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 07:15 PM.
Powered by vBulletin. Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.

This forum began as part of the James Randi Education Foundation (JREF). However, the forum now exists as
an independent entity with no affiliation with or endorsement by the JREF, including the section in reference to "JREF" topics.

Disclaimer: Messages posted in the Forum are solely the opinion of their authors.