01 March 2016

Are certain cultural practices inferior to others? Yes.

It is morally inferior, indeed repugnant, to beat one’s spouse no matter the religious or cultural justification—of which plenty is offered.

It is morally inferior to justify killing a person for leaving their faith, regardless of how important identity and religion is to anyone’s politics, and despite which regime thinks otherwise.

Likewise, sexual intercourse with a minor is rape. There can be no legal consent involving a child. Euphemistically calling this “child marriage” does not change the fact that it is nothing but child sex abuse.

That these are subjective moral positions should be as relevant as it is when discussing the abolition of slavery. In other words, not at all.

You would be forgiven for thinking this is all incredibly obvious. You may even have believed that such moral viewpoints had become as enshrined in the West as the prohibition on torture. If so, and to naughtily lift a phrase from the left: check your privilege.

In a move that can only ever go down in history as incredibly regressive, a municipality in the Swedish city of Malmo decided to approve underage “child marriage” among refugees. [The Daily Beast] Read more