When Barbarism Ceases to Seem Barbaric

By now, almost everyone knows about the Afghan woman who not too long ago was raped and then -- as punishment for reporting the rape -- imprisoned for adultery.  It seems people around the world have been raising hell about her treatment.  Especially after it came out that she is under pressure from the Afghan authorities and others in that country to marry her rapist!

Yet, Amanda Marcotte -- who is an excellent commentator on many issues -- pointed out in an article published the other day that many people here in America are actively working to force raped women to bear the child of their rapist. In both instances, women are being treated worse than some criminals.  Moreover, I think Marcotte is right to say that the problem in both American and Afghanistan is fundamentalism:

Our fundamentalists at home wouldn’t force you to marry your rapist, of course. No, they just want to force you to have children with him. Same song, different note: fundies around the world working hard to make sure that once a rapists chooses you to rape, he owns you forever.
Of course, some folks will insist there's a vast difference between being forced to bear your rapist's child and being pressured to marry your rapist.  And I suppose on some level they have a point.  Nevertheless, both of those practices are barbaric.

We may be more inclined to see the barbarism of being pressured to marry your rapist than to see the barbarism of being forced to bear his child, but that's only because one barbarism is more familiar to us.  And when a barbaric practice is familiar, it ceases to seem barbaric.

(H/T: Ahab at Republic of Gilead)

10 comments:

  1. I don't think I can post a comment on this. It just sends shivers up my spine. Both the stories from abroad as the ones closer to home. It's madness.

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  2. Thanks for the shout-out. The RH Reality Check commentary is yet another reminder that misogyny is dangerous, no matter what form it takes or what culture espouses it.

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  3. What is perhaps even more amazing is that most Christians would condemn such forced marriages, even though it is exactly what God called for in Deuteronomy 22:28-29.

    You're right though, forcing a woman to marry her rapist is very close in principle to forcing someone to have a living, breathing representation of that rape. It's barbaric.

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  4. This fundamentalist push is the result of valuing a woman only for her reproductive capabilities rather than her "personhood" -- which "personhood" takes a back seat to the newly fertilized egg, the result a nonconsensual act. The objective scientific facts establish there is no justification for forcing a woman to suffer the pregnancy and bear that child. But when your god decrees that women are less than cattle, what more can we expect?

    It is barbarism. It is ignorance.

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  5. Wise Fool -- I'm also stunned that so many fundamentalist Christians condemn honor killing in Islamic countries, when the Bible itself commands honor killing (Leviticus 20:11-14, Leviticus 21:9, Deuteronomy 22:13-21, Deuteronomy 22:23-24, ad nauseum).

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  6. No difference between Christian and Islamic fundamentalists in so many respects. The Republicans demonize the Taliban version of Sharia Law but want to establish America (and the World) under their version of Christian law

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  7. Marcotte makes an excellent point, and the comparison sends shivers down my spine as well.

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  8. There's just something about religious fundamentalism that turns a person's brains to mush, that prevents them from being able to think clearly. That's the point. Fundamentalists follow, never lead; accept, never question; look backwards, never forward. It just isn't a healthy mental attitude to have.

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  9. @Ahab - I hadn't really considered those "honor killings," but you have a point there; the label fits well.

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Comments Welcome -- but no flaming. If you wish, you can email me at paul_sunstone@q.com