My favorite part of this recent picture of Tibet under Chinese rule is that while there are lots of imperialist riot police protecting all-important Han capitalist ventures, the shop signs are Tibetan-language free; the streets of Tibet have no Tibetans.
"Residents of 27 states that passed laws banning gay marriages boasted 11% more porn subscribers than states that don't explicitly restrict gay marriage."
"States where a majority of residents agreed with the statement "I have old-fashioned values about family and marriage," bought 3.6 more [online porn] subscriptions per thousand people than states where a majority disagreed."
PINE BLUFF - Edward Robinson, accused of strangling his 6-month-old daughter, stood before a judge Friday morning and listened as a prosecutor outlined evidence against him.
His baby girl, Rihanna, was crying Tuesday night, and Robinson choked her to get her to stop, Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Hunter said.
For a moment, Rihanna stopped crying, then started up again, Hunter said.
The choking continued, Hunter said, and the crying stopped - this time for good.
After the court hearing, Rihanna's grandmother, Lisa Williams, said she informed state officials four months ago that child abuse was occurring in the home.
Lisa Williams said she called the state abuse hot line and the Children and Family Services Division about 25 times before Rihanna's death.
We must teach our children, especially our young men, that to be a "man" does not mean beating one's wife into submission. That is not a measure of strength, but rather profound and pathetic weakness. The Prophet (pbuh) said, "The strong man is not one who can wrestle someone to the ground. Rather, the strong man is the one who can control himself when he gets angry." We all must heed this Prophetic wisdom.
If we know that a man is an abuser, he must not be allowed to marry again and continue the cycle of abuse. Imam Mohamed Hagmagid Ali of the ADAMS center in Virginia first made that call, and I echo it. Sister Aasiya was the third wife of her accused killer, and the two other women filed for divorce because of spousal abuse. How could this be? It does not matter who the man is; if he is a abuser, and does not want to change, then he should not be allowed to marry. Period.
My heart bleeds for the family of sister Aasiya. My heart bleeds for this terrible tragedy. My heart bleeds for the countless other women - Muslim and otherwise - who endure terror at home at the hands of those who should be their best and closest companions.
And my heart burns with rage at those who think that beating their wives is sanctioned by our beautiful faith. They are terribly mistaken. Islam does nothing of the sort, and God does not accept this terrible behavior. Neither should the Muslim community.
Wake up, Muslim community! Wake up! There must never be another Aasiya Zubair. There must never be another instance of an "honor killing." Nay, from this day forward, there must never be another spouse who goes home to a place where she does not feel safe. As Muslims, who are accountable before God on the Day of Judgment, we must eradicate the stain that is domestic violence from our community, once and for all.
(Antidote to stories about child abuse, christian fisting, and Dick Cheney's inner life.)
" . . the fundamentalist view of humanity is such that humans are viewed as sinful and hell-bound by nature. This rebellion must be addressed. The best way to save one’s child from hell is by “beating the hell out of him or her.”
In Grevens’ Spare the Rod: The Religious Roots of Punishment and the Psychological Impact of Physical Abuse (1991) the notion of using physical abuse to “break the child’s will” is explored. It is the parental responsibility to break the will so that the child will conform to the parent’s wishes, thereby learning obedience to God.
How much force must be applied?
Most fundamentalist commentators state that the parent must remain fairly emotionless and turn a deaf ear to the protests of the child.
[Thus engendering numbing and avoidance in the the parents, btw, a classic symptom of PTSD.]
The child must be struck repeatedly until s/he begins crying profusely, for that is the sign of a broken will—the objective of striking the child in the first place.
Grevens demonstrates through much anecdotal evidence that the whole notion is fraught with difficulties. . . .Citing examples of well-known Christians reflecting on their childhood, a picture emerges of children waiting during the “cooling off” period, making deals with God, and pleading with God that they would not be beaten again.
As for the love part, Ruth Wilkerson Harris (sister of evangelist David Wilkerson) in her book, It was Good Enough for the Father: The Story of the Wilkerson Family (1969), recounts how the Wilkerson children, had to face the “humbling” of embracing their father after a beating and saying, “I love you Daddy. Forgive me for disobeying.”
[Thus teaching the important lesson that people who love you get to hit you and hurt you.]
Capps, in Religion and Child Abuse: Perfect Together (JSSR, 1992), points out that this mixture of anger, pain, beating, and love is very confusing to children.
[No, really?]
They likely come to view the ritual as a pain filled affair necessary to gain the parent’s love. They must surely long for a love that might, someday, be unconditional, with no beatings attached.
[or -- they might go the way of -- Vitter?]
They plead for God to deliver them. God doesn’t. As much anecdotal evidence indicates, as adults, such children do not thank God that they had a parent willing to inflict physical punishment on them and many grow up with a very confused image of God. They have been taught that God is all-powerful, yet God did not rescue them when they pleaded with God for mercy."
