Hanging a Child: "Militants" Touching the Hearts and Minds of Afghanistan

This is - sad, putting it mildly. I'm a father with four surviving children: and grieve with the Afghan police officer.

"Militants hang 8-year-old boy in southern Afghanistan"
David Ariosto, CNN (July 24, 2011)

"An 8 year-old boy was hanged by militants in Afghanistan's Helmand province after the boy's father -- a police officer in the southern city of Gereshk -- refused to comply with militants' demands to provide them with a police vehicle, officials said.

"Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the hanging, saying 'this action is not permitted in any culture or any religions,' according to a statement Sunday, which provided details of the incident...."

I suppose I'm nitpicking - but President Karzai's statement that "this action is not permitted in any culture or any religions" may not be quite true. Between honor killings, and beheaded a man because he wore trousers, it's hard to shake the impression that at least some subcultures in the Islamic world have - interesting? - laws and customs.

Still, assuming that President Karzai meant 'cultures similar to those of post-18th-century Europe and America,' I think he's fairly accurate. Not that cross-burnings are completely unknown, even now.

Points I've made before:

• Some folks in the Islamic world were yanked from a culture that hadn't changed for millennia into the Information Age
  • In one or two generations
  • No wonder some of them went a bit nuts
• The "Islamic world" isn't a big, monolithic block of nearly-identical cultures
  • Examples:
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Sudan
    • Indonesia

I think Information Age technology and social structures have forced some Muslims to take a hard look at what they actually believe - and want to believe.

Vaguely-related posts:

• Diplomacy, culture, and unpleasant realities
  • "War is Not Nice"
    (February 15, 2010)
  • "Afghan Husband Rapes Wife: Culture, Law, History, and Catching Up"
    (September 24, 2009)
  • "Obama Reaches Out to Taliban: This Might Actually Work"
    (March 8, 2009)
  • "Iraq: Car Bombs, Awakening Councils, and Hope"
    (June 18, 2008)
  • "America, Al Qaeda, and the Taliban: Who's on Your Side?"
    (October 4, 2007)
• Living in a big world
  • "Norway: Oslo, the Island of Utoya, Dead Bodies, Bad Motives"
    (July 24, 2011)
  • "Actions have Consequences: Burning the Quran"
    (September 7, 2010)
  • " 'Allah,' Dominant Cultures, and Tolerance"
    (January 9, 2010)
  • "Of Bias, Veils, and Crucifixes"
    (February 25, 2008)
  • "Islam, Denmark, and Freedom of Speech: a Learning Experience"
    (February 13, 2008)
• Freedom
  • "Freedom, Burma / Myanmar / Myanma, and Getting a Grip"
    A Catholic Citizen in America (June 29, 2011)
  • "Beer, Basketball, the War on Terror, Today's News, and Me"
    (March 10, 2011)
  • "Zimbabwe, Where Watching the Wrong Videos is Treason"
    (February 25, 2011)
  • "What is an Information Gatekeeper?"
    (August 14, 2009)
  • "Tolerance: Yes, it's a Good Idea"
    A Catholic Citizen in America (August 3, 2009)
• Religion
  • "Religious Freedom, Niemöller, and Muslims in America"
    (April 7, 2011)
    Particularly
    • Why the Rights of Muslims Matter to This Catholic
  • "Hating People: Not a Good Idea"
    A Catholic Citizen in America (January 22, 2010)
    Particuarly
    • Legislating Beliefs / Protecting the Innocent
  • "Fatwa Condemning Terrorism? Apparently"
    (March 3, 2010)
  • "Sudan, Women, Trousers, Culture and Common Sense"
    (September 7, 2009)
  • "Honor Killing is Against Islam, Islamic Party Members Say"
    (September 7, 2008)

In the news:

• "Militants hang 8-year-old boy in southern Afghanistan"
  David Ariosto, CNN (July 24, 2011)