"A Malignant Vestige Of 'Tradition'" - Misses the Point

This piece misses what was really tragic and shameful about the death of Aqsa Parvez - the teenager killed by her father in Ontario for not covering herself with an Islamic veil. The core problem is that it is one thing for politically correct types to indirectly advocate a wall of separation - i.e. women should have rights, but cultural and religious diversity should be respected. That may sound like a nice conceptual distinction but in practice things are much more blurred. Parvez did not want to obey an aspect of religious dogma yet even in Ontario she could not get out. Her case, thankfully is not very common in Canada, that is religious dementia leading to death. However, it may indicate that religious dogma, particularly Islamic dogma, suppresses many women in Canada yet don't escalate to the point of death and wishing Islam was more of a "religion of peace" does not make it so. In fact when MSM bends over backwards to always couch these perverted actions as the work of a few misguided individuals it misses the point - they are animated by a particular ideology and that common root cause deserves denunciation.

On CBC radio this morning a feature was done on women being killed in Iraq for not dressing sufficiently Islamic - CBC only described this as the view of "some people" which required Islamic covering of women. Could it be the work of "some Islamic nuts"? Moreover, who's to say these religious fanatics don't have the correct interpretation of their religion? Isn't that debatable?


Update - letter in today's G&M:

Fifteen schoolgirls in Mecca died a fiery death when religious police refused to let them leave their burning school because in the haste to escape the flames their hijabs were forgotten. A dozen female broadcasters in Gaza are living in fear since the Swords of Islamic Righteousness threatened to behead them if they do not wear the hijab. Forty women in Iraq have been murdered, allegedly by the religious vigilantes in Iraq who threaten and beat up unveiled women, including Christians, for not wearing the hijab.

Like Wahhabism, the hijab is an export that has superseded traditional cultural and religious mores. Our Canadian freedoms allow Muslims to speak up for human rights. For the sake of women everywhere, may the compassionate, reasonable voice of Tarek Fatah prevail (It's No Sin To Shun The Hijab - Dec. 17).