Thursday, June 29, 2006

Ghoulish, not cartoonish

The tragedy of the 'honour killing' of a young Danish woman of Pakistani origin is also bitterly ironical given the virulent protests of the beards in Pakistan against the publication of cartoons in Denmark. Is there a connection between the murder of an innocent woman and rampaging beards? Yes. The beards' preoccupation, nay, obsession, with religious ritual and dogma creates the space for the morally bankrupt amongst us to continue to perpetrate their evil acts. Cartoons and the like are no more than red herrings, but so long as they are forced down the gullet of society there will be little appetite for change.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

How are you connecting the honour killing to Islamic values or so called 'beards'? There is no concept of honor killings in Islam. Neither does the news report you refer to says that the murderers were motivated by Islamic values.
Again your accusations better be directed towards christianity. That is the religion that has historically perpetuated its power through false ritual and dogma. There is no concept of dogma in Islam, because there is no inconsistency in that religion.
Personally I dread a change which makes Pakistani people accept passively insults to their beloved figureheads.

Cy said...

Zawar, the problem with your argument is that you conflate the beards with Islam. They don't represent Islamic values nor have they ever. What they have done is arbitrarily assumed for themselves the position as guardians of Islam.

As for the role of the beards in honour killings today, you just have to read a newspaper or listen to the statements by their political leaders. There's no doubt they continue to encourage and perpetuate a misogynistic culture.

Finally, everyone has a right to protest, but it must be done peacefully. Running amok on the streets of Pakistan and damaging the property of innocent Pakistanis is something that must be condemned, whatever the justification.