Malala Yousafzai is a 14-year old girl living in Pakistan. In a country not known for the freedom of women, and especially that of young girls, this courageous youngster has become an example for all for her outspokenness in favor of education for young women. Her father, also unusually for this region, is a staunch supporter of her position. He is the owner of a school that educates young women, so he is living his principles.
Anyhow, it appears that this young woman represented such a threat to the local Taliban that they sent one of their thugs to kill her. She survived and is expected to recover, although she is still on a respirator as I write this. Her recovery will undoubtedly be long and painful; she may very well have some level of permanent brain damage. The Pakistani people and even the government have rallied behind her, and to their credit even the local Muslim leaders have condemned the cowardice of the Taliban gunmen.
Still, it gives one pause. (Well, this one, in any case!) What kind of belief system could be so fragile that a 14-year old girl poses a threat to them? So much so that they feel they need to kill her? How can any rational person come to this conclusion? I understand they think they are acting on God’s behalf, but as I outlined in my last post, that’s not good enough. Simply, it makes no sense. If the most powerful being in the universe (as they believe) is offended by someone’s actions, couldn’t He act Himself? Why would He need some puny human to act on His behalf?
I’m no big fan of organized religion in general. That being said, I think we could agree that some religions seem to have a better track record of “goodness” than others. Christians in general seem to be more tolerant; no Christian religions I know of have called for the death of an unbeliever lately, nor any Crusades for that matter. Most Christian faiths condemned this latest round of barbarity and I can’t imagine it was just because it was done in the name of the Prophet; I believe they’d do the same if a splinter Christian faith did something equally heinous. So if my contention of different religions having different levels of “goodness” (I admit that’s a pretty loose term and may be difficult to agree upon) is true, then why would Islam exhibit less of it than, say, Christianity or Judaism?
A theory I came across a while ago proposes that religions (we’re talking the monotheist religions here) mature over time, the process often including a fair amount of violence in the early-to-mid stages before settling down to peaceful coexistence with neighboring faiths. For example, in the 1600s professed Christians were still hanging “witches” and had only recently stopped forcing people into Christianity at the point of a sword. Islam is around it’s 1600-year mark, so by that theory the occasional murder of a 14-year old girl fits right in. That’s not to forgive the barbarians who attempted to kill her, but it might hold out some hope that in another five or six hundred years Muslims may decide to calm down, play nice with other faiths and maybe not be so touchy about their beliefs.
Again, it should be recognized that by and large the world of Islam has risen up in outrage against the attempt on Ms. Yousafzai’s life, and lest Christians get all “holier than thou” remember that there’s a subset in that group who believe a women’s health clinic that also performs abortions is a worthy target of explosive devices or arson, and has been known to threaten (and carry out the threats against) doctors who perform abortions. Nonetheless, most Christians would condemn the bombing of abortion clinics; in contrast lots of Muslims rioted in outrage over the denigration of their faith by a poor excuse for a film (see my last post). I didn’t see too much Muslim condemnation of those riots, so there is a difference here.
In any case, maybe this time the Taliban went too far. We can always hope. And hope that young girls everywhere (and boys too) can get educated without fear for their lives.
About BigBill
Stats: Married male boomer.
Hobbies: Hiking, woodworking, reading, philosophy, good conversation.
And yet more craziness
Malala Yousafzai is a 14-year old girl living in Pakistan. In a country not known for the freedom of women, and especially that of young girls, this courageous youngster has become an example for all for her outspokenness in favor of education for young women. Her father, also unusually for this region, is a staunch supporter of her position. He is the owner of a school that educates young women, so he is living his principles.
Anyhow, it appears that this young woman represented such a threat to the local Taliban that they sent one of their thugs to kill her. She survived and is expected to recover, although she is still on a respirator as I write this. Her recovery will undoubtedly be long and painful; she may very well have some level of permanent brain damage. The Pakistani people and even the government have rallied behind her, and to their credit even the local Muslim leaders have condemned the cowardice of the Taliban gunmen.
Still, it gives one pause. (Well, this one, in any case!) What kind of belief system could be so fragile that a 14-year old girl poses a threat to them? So much so that they feel they need to kill her? How can any rational person come to this conclusion? I understand they think they are acting on God’s behalf, but as I outlined in my last post, that’s not good enough. Simply, it makes no sense. If the most powerful being in the universe (as they believe) is offended by someone’s actions, couldn’t He act Himself? Why would He need some puny human to act on His behalf?
I’m no big fan of organized religion in general. That being said, I think we could agree that some religions seem to have a better track record of “goodness” than others. Christians in general seem to be more tolerant; no Christian religions I know of have called for the death of an unbeliever lately, nor any Crusades for that matter. Most Christian faiths condemned this latest round of barbarity and I can’t imagine it was just because it was done in the name of the Prophet; I believe they’d do the same if a splinter Christian faith did something equally heinous. So if my contention of different religions having different levels of “goodness” (I admit that’s a pretty loose term and may be difficult to agree upon) is true, then why would Islam exhibit less of it than, say, Christianity or Judaism?
A theory I came across a while ago proposes that religions (we’re talking the monotheist religions here) mature over time, the process often including a fair amount of violence in the early-to-mid stages before settling down to peaceful coexistence with neighboring faiths. For example, in the 1600s professed Christians were still hanging “witches” and had only recently stopped forcing people into Christianity at the point of a sword. Islam is around it’s 1600-year mark, so by that theory the occasional murder of a 14-year old girl fits right in. That’s not to forgive the barbarians who attempted to kill her, but it might hold out some hope that in another five or six hundred years Muslims may decide to calm down, play nice with other faiths and maybe not be so touchy about their beliefs.
Again, it should be recognized that by and large the world of Islam has risen up in outrage against the attempt on Ms. Yousafzai’s life, and lest Christians get all “holier than thou” remember that there’s a subset in that group who believe a women’s health clinic that also performs abortions is a worthy target of explosive devices or arson, and has been known to threaten (and carry out the threats against) doctors who perform abortions. Nonetheless, most Christians would condemn the bombing of abortion clinics; in contrast lots of Muslims rioted in outrage over the denigration of their faith by a poor excuse for a film (see my last post). I didn’t see too much Muslim condemnation of those riots, so there is a difference here.
In any case, maybe this time the Taliban went too far. We can always hope. And hope that young girls everywhere (and boys too) can get educated without fear for their lives.
About BigBill
Stats: Married male boomer. Hobbies: Hiking, woodworking, reading, philosophy, good conversation.