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Afghani rape victim freed from jail, on condition she marry rapist

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by YankeeFan, Dec 2, 2011.

  1. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    How did we fight Apartheid? How are we fighting Syria?

    What about Cuba or North Korea?

    And, as I said earlier, we should mock them.

    A scientific study says allowing women to drive will lead to the end of virgins? We shouldn't make fun of that?

    Will SNL or John Stewart have the guts to mock that? In a wired world, a video like that could/would go global.

    This video, mocking Gaddafi has been watched over 4 million times on YouTube alone:



    Once you make someone, or something, a joke, you take away their/its power. They're no longer fearsome.

    But, at the very least, we shouldn't ignore it.

    Who has spoken up about this? What human rights groups? What diplomats?
     
  2. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    Apartheid was relatively easy to undermine as a diplomatic, political and economic matter.

    Religious convictions are another matter entirely.

    As to mockery, sure. Mock who?

    And the UN does the vast majority of work for international women's rights. So maybe the US needs to stop undermining and unfunding it.

    The other women's rights groups you won't like - or fund - because of their stand on reproductive rights.

    Google 'international womens rights'
     
  3. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    You asked this earlier, but we need to stop allowing them to hide behind religion as some sort of shield against criticism for barbaric practices.

    Islam is an ideology. There is no separation of Church and Mosque in Islam. It's a political system as much as it is a religious one.

    And, it's every bit as evil and destructive as Communism.

    During the Cold War, it was our goal to not only defeat the USSR, but to defeat Communism. Our system was better. We did mean to replace theirs with ours.

    The Japanese no longer worship their Emperor as a deity. We did that. And, they're better off as a result.

    To not confront the evils if Islam simply because they're based on a Holy Book is to surrender our own morality.


    We should mock Islamic "scholars" who think every woman is checking them out and report it as science.

    We should mock the Saudi's, the Iranians, and the rest of them when they make ridiculous pronouncements.

    Don't we fund a greater percentage than anyone else? Just as we've pushed other nations to up their own military spending, so we can reduce ours, and our commitment, we should push other nations to do this work and to fund it.

    Not true. The opposite is more true.

    Faith based organizations would partner with liberal organizations to do this work.
     
  4. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    Look, I agree that something needs to be done, but even where a political answer is possible, a religious answer is not.

    As to who funds what, and which women's rights organizations get money and help and muscle, I would refer you to the Republican Congressional Caucus.
     
  5. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    I know you're not trying to defend anything and recognize the problem.

    As far as funding goes, I'm not sure anything's ever really been proposed to combat this kind of thing. Who would have thought George W. Bush would direct so many dollars to combat AIDS in Africa?

    I'd support the hell out of dollars being spent to undermine Islam's policies against women. Maybe it's some kind of Voice of America program, I don;t know. But, I'd argue it is in our national security interests as well as a humanitarian goal.

    And, trust me when I tell you that conservatives/right wingers/religious folks would work hand in glove with women's groups and others to combat China's one child policy, or women's issues in the Islamic world.

    Abolitionists and the anti-drink folks worked with all comers on those issues.

    So would today's religious right.
     
  6. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    Ask these three women which side of this fight the United States has been on.

    www.nytimes.com/2011/10/08/world/nobel-peace-prize-johnson-sirleaf-gbowee-karman.html?pagewanted=all
     
  7. JakeandElwood

    JakeandElwood Well-Known Member

    Yeah, YF let's declare a war on Islam, or declare our desire to "defeat" it like we did with communism. Pure genius, right there. And I actually agree with your broader point.
     
  8. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    That's been a failure of multiple administrations, of both parties, who have put "stability" over human rights. I'm against that.

    But, I don't see anything in that article that says conservative or religious organizations would have failed to join a coalition of organizations that included liberal ones, if presented with the opportunity.
     
  9. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    www.undispatch.com/house-votes-to-eliminate-funding-for-unfpa


    www.unfpa.org/public/
     
  10. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    Conservatives and religious people are perfectly capable of working with people who disagree with them about abortion on programs they can support.

    They specifically don't support these programs. That's a big difference.
     
  11. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    But, if you agree with my larger point, don't we need to "defeat" Islam as an ideology, if not a religion?

    What other way is there?

    If it was defined as anything other than a religion, you'd want to "defeat" it, wouldn't you?

    How is it different in this regard than WWII Japan? Didn't we need to humble their Emperor to defeat them?
     
  12. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    As a practical matter, PR, right/left is how these things are debated in this country. Which determines the efficacy of our attempts at change. Especially because the very issues being raised about women and independence are both political arguments and religious arguments.

    As awkward a debate as women's rights may be as a political matter, they're impossible to win on religious grounds alone.
     
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