| Last week, on Olbermann, I heard Keith remark that Afghanistan had passed a law legalizing the rape of a woman by her husband. It was one of those "this just cannot be happening moments". But yeah, it's true. While the law affects Shia and not Sunnis, it's pretty clear on where women stand: "As long as the husband is not traveling, he has the right to have sexual intercourse with his wife every fourth night," Article 132 of the law says. "Unless the wife is ill or has any kind of illness that intercourse could aggravate, the wife is bound to give a positive response to the sexual desires of her husband."
President Obama was very clear in his comments about his feeling about this law: "I think this law is abhorrent." Personally, I agree with the President, although I'm not convinced "abhorrent" is a strong enough term. There is not a term strong enough, in my mind, to codify the violation of a human being. Still, this whole situation raises a number of very interesting points. "Conventional wisdom" holds that people are religious because it gives them a moral compass and non-believers are "heathens" and "devoid of morals". As we all know, "conventional wisdom" is often wrong. In yesterday's USA Today, there was an op-ed (6 April, page 15A) called No religion? No problem. It discusses the fact that recent surveys indicate that the fastest growing "religious" group is "no religion at all", currently comprising about 20% of the population. Newsweek has an article this week called The End of Christian America, which details the decreasing percentage of Christians in America. Is it possible that all of us non-practicing types will rise up against religion on moral grounds? How is it that a religion codifies rape (along with preventing women from leaving their houses for any reason without permission from their husbands or fathers) while those of us who have either given up religion all together or only show up for a few things a year out of respect for elderly parents find this sort of "religion" intolerant and intolerable? Why is it that the most extreme sects of religions are the ones that are so restrictive on their members, especially their women? (It's not just the Muslims...this sort of denigration is found in many religions.) And then there are the political ramifications. The United States, along with other NATO allies, is engaged in Afghanistan, and the clarion call is out for more troops, and more money. None of the NATO countries condone rape; in fact, we all have laws against it. We prosecute, we jail. Should we be fighting for a country that legislates what we find abhorrent? Yesterday, news broke that Karzai had agreed to have the law reviewed. This in the face of huge international outcry. However, the review is by the Afghan Justice Department, and could take many months, potentially taking until after the scheduled August elections. |
