Should We Even Bother?

Several weeks ago I made a post related to the Pay It Forward project Nikki and I are doing about Coca Cola's many human rights and environmental abuses in several under-developed countries, especially India and Colombia. One comment on the post brought up the fact that there are many other companies with whom F&M is affiliated that commit many of these same attrocities. With so many of these powerful multi-national corporations out there, is it even worth trying to stop them?

I immediately responded to the post saying of course it's worth the effort to stop these abuses. Just because there are so many companies doing the same wrong thing, that doesn't make it right, and it certainly shouldn't mean that we look the other way. But so many people still buy the products, right? I mean these are some of the largest manufacturers out there. What can we really do to stop them? Will ONE project at ONE school targeting just ONE of these companies truly make a difference? Should we stop trying, or should we realize that maybe everything has to start with "one"..........

MORE Trouble in Sudan

If an ongoing Genocide and the incarceration of an elementary school-teacher were not enough to keep Sudan in the news, this may seal the deal. On November 28, Jean-Marie Guehenno, the UN's Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, reported to the UN Security Council that Sudan has been making excessive demands that block Unamid (the 26,000 person peacekeeping coalition in Darfur) from effectively operating. Among other things, the Sudanese government wants advance notice of troop movements and the ability to shut down communication. Although Unamid is due to take over protecting the people of Darfur in a month's time, the Sudanese government has been reluctant to facilitate this takeover. Guehenno also said that Sudan's demands "create serious uncertainty with regard to the government's commitment to the deployment of Unamid." Despite the government's denial of such claims, it is very evident that Sudan is not fully committed to fixing the situation in Darfur. How much longer will this denial last? Is it Unamid's job to secure Darfur and fight for peace, or should individual nations begin assisting in peacekeeping measures?

More Trouble in the Sudan

As if the crisis in Darfur is not enough, the Sudan has now played host to another questionable human rights situation. Gillian Gibbons, a British teacher who had come to the Sudan to teach Sudanese children, has been arrested and sentenced to 15 days in jail for allowing her students to name the class teddy bear Muhammad. Sudanese prisons are among the worlds worst due to their lack of beds and clean drinking water as well as very poor quality food. The prisons in Sudan are apparently so bad that the people who are used to the poor conditions of life in the Sudan would find the conditions of the prisons to be deplorable. Should the Sudanese government be allowed to keep its prisons in such a poor condition? Should the British government do anything to intervene in this case on behalf of Gibbons? Should the Sudanese government be able to commit such an obvious breach of Gibbons' human right to free speech or is her "crime" culturally relative?

Oxford University: Host to Anti-Semitism?

Oxford University, host to famous individuals such as Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama, plans to feature David Irving and Nick Griffin, two openly anti-Semitic men, in an open debate on the college campus. David Irving is a historian who spent a year in an Austrian jail after denying the Holocaust. Nick Griffin, leader of the British National Party, was convicted for publishing material denying the Holocaust.

Voltaire once said, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Should this approach be taken with Irving and Griffin? Does the issue of freedom of speech apply to these openly anti-Semitic men? Will hosting this debate at Oxford University serve only to spread fear throughout the British community? Or, is an open debate the most effective means of discrediting the men? Perhaps exposing racial or religious hatred is the solution to eradicating it.

The students of Oxford voted in favor of the men speaking. How would you vote?

Honor Killings on the rise in Palestine

As order has disintegrated in Palestine their has been a rise in killings known as "Honor Killings." An Honor Killing occurs when a woman is suspected of having an "illicit relationship" family members kill the woman in order to cleanse the families honor. Over the last 50 years these types of killings have increased. If someone admits to an Honor Killing the sentence is just 6 months in jail. This is not a fair punishment for killing someone. This sentence encourages future Honor Killings because the sentence is so light. A member of a particular family doesn't mind spending 6 months in jail if it means cleansing the family. There have already been 21 Honor Killings on the West Back and 25 more in Gaza.

One may argue that these Honor Killings can be justified by cultural relativism, because in Islamic law an unmarried woman found guilty of having an affair can be sentenced to 100 lashes, and for a married woman, the sentence is death by stoning. However, some of these killings may not even be Honor Killings, may not even be Honor Killings. The killings of Wafa Wahda and her sisters Sima and Eman el-Adel by their brother was said to be Honor killings, but it is believed that they had an inheritance dispute.

What is to be done about these killings when the government is in such array that it has other matters to attend to? The sentence is astonishingly light and something needs to be done, so that these killings do not continue.

Psychologists to endorse gay marriage

At a meeting in Honolulu last Wednesday, the American Psychological Association officially endorsed the idea that Gay couples should be able to get married. Currently, the APA is the worlds largest group of psychologists. This new endorsement is important to the on going question as to whether or not Gay's should have equal civil rights. Many people who oppose Gay marriage believe that it is wrong, and mainly a psychological problem; the APA's endorsement of the situation basically throws a wrench into that argument. The APA also believes that Gay couples should have just as many equal parental rights. Gay marriage is an issue that will continue to be argued for many years. Gay couples are humans just like everyone else, and should not be denied rights just because of sexual orientation. Will the APA's endorsement of Gay marriage change people's opinions and eventually make Gay marriage legal, or will the ongoing argument continue to be a social and political issue with no resolution?

When is it appropriate to intervene? How much faith do you, personally, put in "cultural relativism"?

A 19 year old Saudi girl was sentenced to 6 months in prison and 200 lashes.

Her only crime? Meeting with an unrelated man (and getting gang raped by 7 others).

The court claims that they upped her sentence because she spoke to the media. However, the fact remains that a sentence was imposed upon the victim of a heinous crime simply because she had the guts to speak to the media about her presumably harrowing ordeal.

We've discussed cultural relativism, but how much is too much? Can we admonish a country for punishing a victim?

First Amendment Right for South African scholar fighting denied visa?

After being denied a visa to attend an academic conference, a prominent South African scholar named Adam Habid pressed the US embassy to provide him with a reason as to why he could not obtain a visa. The embassy would only point to the statute of US Immigration and Nationality Act which grants the right for the US to deny entry to anyone who has engaged in terrorist acts or is signaled to engage in them.

Adam Habid says he is not a terrorist. Instead, he is a critic of the current administration and he believes, backed by the ACLU that is in charge of his case, that this is the reason he is being denied a visa. Since 9/11, writers, artists and others have found it much harder to get in the US. Like Habib, many of this people have in common being vocal critics of US foreign policy. Habib is arguing that his first amendment right is being violated because he has the right to speak out against the US government and the people at the conference he is trying to attend have the right to hear what he has to say.

Habid’s case raises many questions about free speech and due process. A spokesman for the US government states that “The US would never sacrifice civil liberties, but life is the liberty on which all others depend.” Does national security override free speech? Are Habid’s rights being violated? Does he have the right to speak and be heard in the United States? Is it ok for an American to criticize US foreign policy without being labeled a terrorist or does this only apply to foreigners?

Don't Discrimiante Against Them, Just Disinherit Them

The Prime Minister of Cambodia, Hun Sen, disowns his adopted daughter because she is gay. He was quoted saying, "My adopted daughter now has a wife. I'm quite disappointed". Furthermore, he is planning to file a civil case to disown his daughter, so she cannot claim any inheritance from his family.

Generally, the Cambodian society is tolerant of homosexuality. Even so, in 2004, “then-King Norodom Sihanouk announced his support for gay rights, including the right to marry."

In spite of his actions towards his daughter, the Prime Minister in his speech to a graduating class pleaded to parents and society not to discriminate against homosexuals.

How can he disown his daughter because of her sexual orientation and then tell others not to discriminate against homosexuals? What do you think about his actions? What is your view towards homosexuals?

'I was forced to kill my baby'

Africa is a continent known for its rich culture and tradition. Millions of people around the world are fascinated with the traditional practices and cultural beliefs African societies possess. However, such practices and beliefs contain elements that simultaneously shock Western communities. An example of this is evident in the terrible use of human body parts for black magic. These body parts are used by magic men, otherwise known as sangomas or muti-men in South Africa, as ingredients in concoctions and traditional medicine’s. The body parts of children are primarily demanded by sangomas as they are believed to be the most potent. Children are therefore brutally murdered and mutilated. Their body parts are either sold to these magic men, or stored.

In South Africa, a young mother named Helen Madide was forced by her husband, a muti-man himself, to kill their child. Her husband believed that his ancestors demanded that both the child and the mother die. According to these ancestors, once the two were dead, he would become rich. The man forced the woman and the child down a path where he then told the mother to hold the baby while he cut its throat. After the baby was dead he began to remove its various limbs and sexual organs. Helen survived the ordeal, however, she is plagued by the fact that she participated in hers child’s brutal death.

Jeffery Mkhonto is a survivor of an attack by gang members who removed his sexual organs. Jeffery was coerced into going to a neighbour’s house to get some food. His neighbour, along with a few other men instead removed his genitals with the intention to sell them later on.

In many cases, the body parts of these children are removed while the child is still alive. This is done as magic/muti men believe that the screams of the child enhance the strength of the magic.
This is a practice that receives little attention from the international community. Investigators believe that it is something that occurs far more frequently than we think. A prominent South African human rights activist states that “… children [go] missing every week from our townships… The assumption is that those missing children are being put into prostitution and also that they are being used for muti murder."
As believers in the ideal that all deserve the protection of their human rights, and that one is entitled to live life free from, what is our responsibility to these victims? The rights of these children are being sickeningly abused. Consider the possibility that these events may very well exist in this society. Consider the notion that everyone is at risk. In this regard, this is something that may happen to you, as well as it may happen to anyone around you. Therefore, we are all affected. What chances does the youth of South Africa, and the youth of the world for that matter, have in building a bright future for themselves?