Letters to the Editor
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The religion of peace
What a bunch of animals. Please, Earth Goddess, send another earthquake, but be picky about whom it kills.
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This seems like an honor killing aggravated by war
Women who were seen as collaborating with the enemy have been harshly treated even in societies that don't believe in honor killings. In France they had their heads shaved and were paraded through town and humiliated. The IRA wasn't too gentle with Irish girls who dated British either.
I don't remember Iraq being mentioned as a hotbed of honor killings before we knocked Saddam out of power.
Our presence in Iraq seems to be making all of their problems worse.
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Ineffable
I saw the video. What baffles me is that, after she's clearly dead, these animals somehow try to dignify themselves by trying to cover up her naked body.
As if that absolves them of their atrocities.
What is going through their minds at this point? They've just assisted in summarily executing a poor girl, yet they find that their "morals" won't allow for her body to be exposed?
I'm sure their twisted ideology has an explanation for this strange act, just as I am sure it does for their barbarism.
But there lies the rub. We're outsiders. We're not Sunni Muslims. Or Shiites. We don't understand. We don't understand what it means to have your religion betrayed.
We don't understand that, just underneath the surface of our peaceful, loving religion, lies a pool of hatred so deep that it lacks words to describe.
Why can't we Westerners call it what it is, and stop pandering to this theological nonsense: It's called ignorance. It's 2007 and these animals are still living in the 3rd century. The juxtaposition of cell phones capturing the brutal death of this girl and the supposed religious ideology that has caused such outrage makes it even more apparent that these mongrels are in it for the ride.
Give them an out and I'm sure they'd run for cover under the roofs of other misguided, if otherwise truly peaceful, religions, such as Mormonism, Protestants or, gasp, Catholicism.
At least such religions haven't a chapter in their books that prescribes what this poor girl received.
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Oh dear
Thank you for mentioning this, Catherine - people need to stay informed, no matter how grim the news. Like you, I could not watch the video. I can't bring myself to look upon such reckless hate, I don't want it tattooed in my memory.
Perhaps you may be interested in the work of Rana Husseini, a Jordanian journalist and activist who has worked to spread awareness of honour-killing and its evils in her home country.
Here is her website:
http://www.ranahusseini.com
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Peaceful Religion?
Referring to Mormonism, Protestantism and Catholicism, oedipus writes: "At least such religions haven't a chapter in their books that prescribes what this poor girl received."
I don't know what books you've been reading, but the Christian Bible absolutely calls for stoning for any number of "sins."
"Peaceful religion" is an oxymoron.
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Basic Knowledge of History
Religion certainly IS a handy excuse for lynching, but its hardly the only one.
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The Otherness of honor killing
It's important to note that the sociological roots of honor killing exist in America also. One only has to look as far back as John Ford's Monument Valley westerns like _Stagecoach_, in which a Civil War veteran named Hatfield would rather kill a genteel woman than let her be captured, and presumably raped, by Indians.
These things were not unheard of in America.
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beyond religion?
I don't feel that this incident should be simplified into a "shiite-sunni, they're different and we can't understand" sort of thing. (especially considering that the poor girl was from a Yezidi family, not a shiite or sunni family). It's not about religion so much as it is about warzone politics and hateful attitudes toward women in general, which tend to erupt into violence under high-stress situations, regardless of religion or culture. I believe the old testament contains an endorsement or two for stoning for various offenses, and the new testament isn't too kind to women either, and that's before various sects (catholicism, protestantism, ect.) add their own interpretations to the texts. Anyone remember the Spanish Inquisition? Or the current religion based government in our own country seeking to dismantle women's rights? Or the ever-popular violence against women as entertainment broadcast through our media outlets with numbing regularity? how many gruesome murders have we watched for entertainment in our lives? maybe we should look at ourselves before feeling too secure in our superiority to the people euphemized as "animals" so often.
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Atrocity Upon Atrocity
Thank you for shedding some daylight onto this horrifying atrocity. I agree with other letter writers that these actions separate us from our enemies. In the 21st century there are people acting worse than animals in the name of their so-called religion. What does this say about such a religion? What should our response be to individuals like this and the society that nurtures them? I fear there are more questions than answers before us. I do know that elections in and of themselves cannot bring the type of democracy we enjoy in the West to such a backward, barbaric people. They do not understand freedom and by their actions they have proven that they do not deserve freedom. Seeing the videos has left me repulsed and incapable of empathy with any possible rationale for what was done to Du'a Khalil Aswad in Iraq by her family and countrymen. The fact that Americans are dying and grievously wounded every day for these people absolutely disgusts me. I will say it as bluntly as I feel it: none of them are worth the loss of any of us. They have proven this by their savagery. It is up to the defenders of this war to demonstrate why we are suffering to do anything for such people.
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Honor Killing = Misnomer of the Century
I think the author makes a good point that part of the horribleness of this sort of thing is the inability to do anything about it. There doesn't seem to be any practical way of addressing the issue. So with that in mind, I appreciate that the author added the links to organizations working in this area.
I think if people felt like we could DO something to move towards the elimination of this practice, we might start having some more constructive thoughts about it than, "Hell with it, let's just nuke those animals."
So, keep the constructive ideas coming.
PS--Religion sure sucks, huh?