Saudi Rape victim is sentenced

[Kevin]

Respect their culture? Bullcrap.. when a culture has norms such as this, other civilizations are not required to respect them. We ought to condemn them.

This sort of punishment could only be carried out by barbaric animals.

That said, the world community will likely be mum. We can't threaten a country like Saudi Arabia with sanctions, but damn... this is a good example why the religious political wing in any country is something to be feared.

This is much like Darfur. Should we ignore the genocide going on there simply because the sovereign government there says it's okay since it's supposedly religiously justified? Hell no. None of this is okay.

To be clear, I don't see this as anything generally being wrong with Islam itself. I see this as there being a large number of practitioners of Islam who are extremists to the point that they, in my eyes have largely cast aside their humanity. That a culture of this era could condone such a thing is pretty shocking.

[squirrely girl]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Respect their culture? Bullcrap.. when a culture has norms such as this, other civilizations are not required to respect them. We ought to condemn them.

This sort of punishment could only be carried out by barbaric animals.

have to say i completely agree - there does come a point in time, when despite being respectful to cultural differences, some practices are just plain wrong. human rights violations are just unacceptable to me. as a global society we do have some responsibility to point out these violations, and if necessary, intervene. WWII, bosnia, rwanda, darfur, etc...

200 lashes will likely kill this young woman. 90 would have been bad enough and certainly caused significant bodily harm and disfigurement.

this is NOT an appropriate response of a legal system that is supposed to protect its citizens. even worse, when you think of this as a legal system who's laws possibly contribute to the actual crime. Should we have strict laws to prevent sexual predators or are they breeding more sexual predators by virtue of not allowing normal developmentally appropriate interactions between the sexes?

Its like sex education in this country. By taking an abstinence only educational perspective, you get a bunch of ignorant kids who teach each other or make stuff up. I’m not saying that disallowing interaction with opposite sex non-relatives makes rapists. But I am saying that it could lead to situations where woefully ignorant people make horrible decisions.

So again, why would you punish the victim? It DOES NOT make sense.

[PeppyGPhiB]

Originally Posted by squirrely girl

have to say i completely agree - there does come a point in time, when despite being respectful to cultural differences, some practices are just plain wrong. human rights violations are just unacceptable to me. as a global society we do have some responsibility to point out these violations, and if necessary, intervene. WWII, bosnia, rwanda, darfur, etc...

200 lashes will likely kill this young woman. 90 would have been bad enough and certainly caused significant bodily harm and disfigurement.

this is NOT an appropriate response of a legal system that is supposed to protect its citizens. even worse, when you think of this as a legal system who's laws possibly contribute to the actual crime. Should we have strict laws to prevent sexual predators or are they breeding more sexual predators by virtue of not allowing normal developmentally appropriate interactions between the sexes?

Its like sex education in this country. By taking an abstinence only educational perspective, you get a bunch of ignorant kids who teach each other or make stuff up. I’m not saying that disallowing interaction with opposite sex non-relatives makes rapists. But I am saying that it could lead to situations where woefully ignorant people make horrible decisions.

So again, why would you punish the victim? It DOES NOT make sense.

I didn't say we should respect their customs. I just said that there's no point in trying to rationalize how/why they do things their way...because according to what we believe here in our country, their way makes no sense.

Saudi Arabia has been doing things this way for a long time...this is just one case. Where's the outrage for public beheadings for crimes that might not even earn prison time here? There are plenty of men that are executed for stupid reasons, too.

And...doesn't everyone get why Saudi Arabia thinks it's ok to punish this woman? Because they don't see her as a victim...she disobeyed one of their laws...she broke the law, and reaped what she sowed. THAT is how messed up that place is.

[squirrely girl]

oh i completely get what you're saying too. if anything, understanding the culture is the only way to truly implement change.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

I didn't say we should respect their customs. I just said that there's no point in trying to rationalize how/why they do things their way...because according to what we believe here in our country, their way makes no sense.

Their way also makes no sense to many people in Saudi Arabia who feel free enough or have risked their lives to express their opinions of discontent.

As much as many things in the U.S. also don't make any sense, and as much as I critique inequalities here, there's no place I'd rather be.