Reply #11: This is NOT in the Koran or the Bible

[happyslug]

"Honor Killings" are a long tradition in the Middle East, older than Christianity and Islam. IT IS NOT ORGANIZED RELIGION, BUT THE LONG TERM COMMUNITY BELIEF ON WHAT PEOPLE SHOULD DO IN CERTAIN SITUATIONS. Many "Traditional Societies" have always have this concept. Organized Religion (Like Organized Government) is limited in what it can do to end such practices. You may preach against it, you may punish the people who practice it, but it takes generations of opposition to such traditional beliefs to END SUCH PRACTICES (And require the something to replace the belief with, thus the best way to END this practice is to have the Islamic leadership start to advocate its end and how un-Islamic it is ).

Remember, most religions when their are adopted by a local culture adapt to that culture. For example Catholic Priests dress up in the robe of Roman Nobility, Orthodox Priests dress up in the formal Dress of Byzantine Imperial Court. Protestant Preachers dress like the businessmen of their time and country. None of these style of Dress have any real significance to their Religions, but are accommodations to the culture of the Country their are now in. The same with the rule on "Honor Killers", it is NOT Islamic (In the sense it is NOT in the Koran) but derived from older Arabic traditions. You will hear Islamic Fundamentalist advocate such "Honor Killers", and stress some part of the Koran to justify it (For example using Adultery as a violation of the Ten Commandments to include ANY sex outside of Marriage, even if the woman is RAPED) but that does NOT make it a rule of that Religion (And given that Mohammad demanded that you have to have FOUR wittinesses to an act of Adultery for a woman to be found guilty of Adultery, how can a family do an "Honor Killing" and still be Islamic is hard justify under the Koran).

Thus "Honor Killing" is NOT the produce to organized Religion but the older traditions of the Middle East.