[FoRK] 16 year old girl "Peace and Love"d to Death over Hijab

[Dr. Ernie Prabhakar]

Hi Aaron,

On Dec 16, 2007, at 10:01 AM, Aaron Burt wrote:
>> Tut, tut, Aaron. Don't you realize that *every* evil act committed by
>> a religious person *must* be because of their religion, whereas any
>> good act done by a religious person is to due to social and cultural
>> factors?
>
> That doesn't help things.  Nor does sanctimony.

I 100% agree with you; sorry if you missed the irony.

> What helps in a society like Canada is finding ways to address the  
> usual
> social issues (e.g. violent culture clashes between immigrant parents
> and assimilating kids) without triggering fears of religious  
> oppression.
> Of course, every group has rabble-rousers happy to raise such fears,  
> make
> a fuss and boost their prestige thereby.  Welcome to the monkey house.

Right.  Violence and abuse have complex causes.  Yes, religion can be  
*a* factor, both as a cause and as in impediment to solutions.  On the  
other hand, religion can also be an ally, as a source for educating  
communities that won't trust government intervention.  It is a  
delicate balance.

> What also helps is finding ways to talk about this stuff without  
> getting
> people all het up about swarthy foreigners, exotic cuties, infidel
> religions, or the strange practices of far-off dark continents.  Mind,
> that's the stuff of cheap adventure stories and romances, so it's  
> ideal
> for modern journalism.

Hear, hear!

-- Ernie P.