Birthday Thoughts & The Right Verdict

Thank you to everyone for your birthday wishes. It was a fun weekend even if it was just me turning a year older, another year wiser and hopefully finally about to make all my dreams start to finally come true. Unlike some people, at least I have the chance to get a year older, which leads directly to my first real topic of the day.

The Shafia murder trial has finally concluded and the only verdict that could make any sense was returned just yesterday; Guilty on all counts for all 3 of them. After reading many of the articles that have been published on the various websites today and reviewing the evidence that was presented in court, there really is no way there was going to be a different verdict other then the one returned yesterday.

It's been encouraging to read all the different articles that have quotes from different Muslim leaders professing how they want to use their pulpits to change the way women are treated and discourage "Hounour Killings" and the continued oppression of women. The problem is that even if such things are discouraged by moderate Muslims, the radical ones are the ones who are using violence in other parts of the world, pushing the battle for equality further and further from what we have in the Western world.

Yes, there are many people who are appalled by what the Shafia trial showed us can come from a backwards culture, one which places a greater value on that of "Family honour" then the lives of some of their own family members, but these attitudes are still prevalent in places like Afghanistan. One of the stories posted on the Toronto Star website today had direct quotes from both male and female relatives of the Shafia's who actually were defending their actions and then went on to say that they would do the same thing in their place.

Another story from just yesterday was that of a man who killed his 22 year old wife because she gave birth to a 3rd female child, had his mother help attempt to cover up the murder, then fled. His mother even tried to tell the authorities that her daughter-in-law had committed suicide before, again, trying to rationalize her murderous sons' actions.

While some would argue that it isn't an Islamic thing, others WOULD make that argument. The problem is that most of these appalling cases are still coming from the Muslim world, the same place where women are still forced (in some cultures, if not all) to wear burqa's and niqabs. These are still places in the Arab world where women and girls have acid thrown in their faces for trying to attend school or are given lashes for going out in public without a male relative.

The problem is that when people who believe in things like this come to Canada or the US, they don't accept that woman have more rights here then they do back home. They carry with them the same values that  perpetuate the same type of actions that led to the deaths of 3 innocent young girls and a woman who had been forced to subjugate herself into a servant posing as a cousin to the family when she was in fact the first wife of the patriarch of the family.

Many of the stories today focused on the lack of action by the authorities in Quebec. Some, even in the Muslim community, were saying that maybe the fact that some people were being overtly politically correct over the cultural sensibilities of this particular family. It is true that once there were complaints made by the 2 eldest daughters of abuse, instead of being taken away, they were brought back to the family and asked to repeat their allegations in front of the same man whom they had accused of abusing them. This of course led to their recanting their stories and the allegations being forgotten.

If anything, this case needs to wake up everyone to the beliefs in some cultures surrounding women and make sure that ANY allegation of abuse, regardless of what culture the perpetrator happens to be, is investigated thoroughly. This needs to start happening now or else we will see more and more deaths like the one that the Shafia trial shed a light on over the last few months. I hope they rot in those jail cells for the next 25 years and that they are haunted by the actions that they committed against their own family members. That would take a hell of a lot more of a conscience then any of the convicted killers seem to have....