Where is the "honor" in "honor killing"?

The concept of "honor killings" shouldn't be respected. No one... NO ONE... is forced to kill his daughter or sister or cousin or mother. It's impossible. Culture or religion or *anything* doesn't force a man's hand or absolve him of criminal or spiritual guilt for the murder of people he is supposed to protect.

Honor is important and valuable, but let me paraphrase one of my favorite fictional characters... reputation is what others know about you, honor is what you know about yourself.

*Honor* can not be won by a public display of piety to make up for embarassment or personal failure. A man who kills his daughter because she runs away from home or refuses his authority or rejects his religion and culture has not redeemed his failure by a public display to prove that she was the guilty one. Because honor isn't what happens in public, it's what happened at home that made her leave.

Honor lies in truth, not in appearances.

A man concerned with honor can NOT be concerned with reputation.

A man concerned with honor, when faced with a victimized daughter or wife, is not concerned with how this reflects on *him*, he's concerned with protecting her and helping her heal. What he knows about himself, his personal honor, might well demand public shame. A man concerned with reputation will natually care more that he will be condemned by his neighbors for his failure to protect his family and will then transfer that guilt even if it means compounding the sin in his heart.

An honor killing is the action of a coward.

Comments

Synova said…

Thank you. :-)

8:04 PM

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