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I’ve been busy, and have been sort of absent from a topic I started. First, I’d like to respond to the point made by a few of you here that it is wrong to be so judgmental about this crime when the impetus behind it is related to a culture we do not understand. Where in the world does such an argument end? Can we therefore not be upset at a murderer because we can’t read his mind? No, I don’t think anyone would say that, but call him hasan and let him live 3000 miles away then maybe it’s far enough removed for us to ponder it pedantically. I believe that my right to influence someone ends at physical coercion(as an aside, I’m not too keen on causing someone emotional distress either, but I’ll leave the physical part as a general precept). This I will apply to any person living anywhere and it is by this that I will judge his or her actions. If you look at it in this fashion I think you’ll see that I don’t need first hand knowledge of someone’s culture to form a rational opinion, or be outraged. If something as heinous as murdering someone for such slight offenses is truly part of a people’s culture then it will be in their laws. Then, this would be an entirely different case in my view since government is not held to the same principle as I described above.
Next, I never intended this topic to be fodder for some Muslim bashing or what have you. My parents, though they don’t practice the religion would still call themselves Muslims. I have grown up around a mostly Muslim population(admittedly not devout) and I can’t name a single person that I know that would think murdering one’s child is justified.
I’ve had some time to mull it over, so I have slightly more to say then I had in my original post. Leaving aside for a moment the nature of this type of crime, I was thinking about the cause. The thing that struck me was the conflict between a child that has been almost fully integrated into a foreign society and parents who have not. It must be particularly difficult for Muslim people, especially those of dark skin, to be accepted. I have first hand knowledge of the deeply imbedded racism that exists in Southeastern Europe and can only imagine that, even with the high ideals spouted by some, it must not be much different in the whole of Europe. So while the older generation stands firm to ideals from the old country, and perhaps in the face of racism embraces more radical ideas, the young generation ceases to be defined by the same principles. This is an awful situation which, as I know from personal experience, leads to conflict; but, is this really enough to kill someone over?
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