Shocking but hardly unusual evidence of why neither Iraq, nor much of the rest of the Middle East will be joining what counts in the West as the community of civilized nations any time soon, the U.K. Daily Mail reports of a 17 year old girl in Kurdistan brutally stoned to death for the crime or sin, take your pick, of having a romance with a boy of a different religion.
(As is nearly always the case now, the video from which the still shots shown on the first linked article were taken is also available for viewing, if you have the stomach for such things, here.)
Yes, my own culture and its people have too often committed or condoned and sometimes still commit or condone different sorts of brutal, savage acts; so, no, I won't be taking this opportunity to take a shot at cultural relativism. Let's just say instead that stonings, female genital mutilations and beheadings are among the many reasons why, not only do "they" not want to be like "us," but most of us don't have a clue as to how profound those cultural differences are.
Aside from their evidence of crimes, the only ethically legitimate reason to look at videos such as these (and I would just as quickly say to view evidence of our own acts of savage brutality) is to get a better sense of the human condition as it all too often really is.
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Saw the video linked elsewhere a few days back and clicked on it, to my regret. Had to stop watching about a minute in because it made me too upset. And I have a pretty strong tolerance for upsetting images.
While there is something to be said for confronting the reality of the evil that people actually do, some stuff I just don't ever wanna see.
Of course, there is nothing moral in my revulsion; the choice of looking or not looking doesn't change what happened and it doesn't change my feelings about the act itself. It's a more selfish thing, e.g. "Maybe I shouldn't be watching this" to (30 seconds in) "Oh brother, why am I still watching this?" to (afterwards) "Why did I want to watch that? Did I think it was going to be entertaining? I'm such a moron." And the fact that my initial reaction was so self-absorbed instead of on the actual violence I had just witnessed made me feel even worse.
And the fact that her family condoned this? Just beggars belief. While I would try not to reach any broad conclusions about a whole culture from a single act, you are right that this is an indication of a wide cultural gap.
That said, it is not impossible to close such gaps. 100 years ago, lynching was culturally sanctioned violence here. Not to play the moral equivalence card, just an example of how things can change.
Just so everyone is clear: this isn't a case of stoning by Mohammedans. This is a case of stoning, by adherents of a bizarre religion called Yazdanism, of a girl because she was dating (or, according to come reports, had married) a Mohammedan.
Of course, a bunch of neighboring Mohammedans then showed the depth of their commitment to religious tolerance by taking 23 Yezidis off a bus and executing them in retaliation.
I'd point out that all of these folks are Kurds--i.e., the group than many supporters of our intervention in Iraq would like us to set up in their own independent state--except that I have no confidence that things will be any better in a unified Iraq.
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