Honor killing

Honor Killing An Justifiable Act Regardless of beliefs and customs, very few would deny that religion has played and continues to play a vital role in how society functions. The many various religions of the world have laid down the fundamental basis for moral, ethical, and occasionally irrational behavior. The truly unique cultures and customs of the many world religions continue to perplex those looking from the outside in. One of these confounding customs is the phenomenon of honor killing, which takes place in many of the worlds’s different eastern cultures, and consists of the premeditated murder of an individual that has “dishonored” his or her family (Chesler, 2010, 2). Typically, when trying to grasp a better understanding of these customs, one should keep an open mind with a “thick description” as theorized by Clifford Geertz, without imposing one’s own ideas and beliefs, while maintaining an open mind to allow one to decipher the many ideologies of the various religions (Rodrigues and Harding, 2009, 60). However, when the practices of religions and the customs they entail start to become immoral and disregard natural human rights, it is the responsibility of all of humankind to stop the injustice. Thus, Honor killing, which arguably no longer a religious custom but cultural, is still prevalent today in many Hindu and Islamic communities, and unjustifiable regardless of beliefs. Geertz theory must be postponed so actions can be taken to stop the unjust treatment of women, the tearing apart of family relations, and the religious stigmas that come with the practice of honor killing. The concept of honor has a relatively universal meaning of virtue and respect, regarding personal and family reputation ( Gray, 2010, 1). Although many cultures emphasize the

importance of honor, different cultures have different paths to achieving it. Therefore, the first step to take action against the injustice of honor killing, is to first

Cited: Diwan, Paras. The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 . International and Comparative Law Quarterly (1957): 263-272. Print Eisner, M Chesler, Phyllis. "Worldwide Trends In Honor Killings." Middle East Quarterly 17.2 (2010): 3-11. OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson). Web. 1 May 2014. Chesler, Phyllis and Nathan Bloom. "Hindu Vs. Muslim Honor Killings." Middle East Quarterly 19.3 (2012): 43-52. OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson). Web. 1 May 2014 Gray, JW Gwynne, Paul. World religions in practice: a comparative introduction. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2009. Print. Mojab, Shahrzad, and Amir Hassanpour. "In Memory of Fadime Sahindal: Thoughts on the Struggle Against “Honour Killing” ." Kurdish Women Action Against Honour Killing . Kurdish Media, n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. .