tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169725043731226809.post5935048369581585905..comments2013-04-13T17:57:39.503-07:00Comments on ...striving...: A New Endeavorktbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06386176067622030705noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169725043731226809.post-24640187178982615522011-06-17T15:33:43.497-07:002011-06-17T15:33:43.497-07:00i'm excited for this project! and i love the i...i'm excited for this project! and i love the idea of a book club that has a subject to explore. totally copying that one.<br /><br />you all are going to do fantastic things!emi.https://www.blogger.com/profile/04504837123208426967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169725043731226809.post-30584213394323390382011-06-15T08:17:27.099-07:002011-06-15T08:17:27.099-07:00Joe- thank you so much for sharing your perspectiv...Joe- thank you so much for sharing your perspective! It is definitely a challenge to know where to step in and what the best solutions are and how to influence societies that are often different from our own. I agree that there are basic moral standards and human rights that cannot be ignored simply because of respect for culture or tradition. What is culture anyway- it's certainly not static, unchanging or set in stone! I think all of us have a responsibility to stand up against injustices for all people-- in our own culture as well as in others. And the United States is not exempt from injustice and inequality, though it is certainly different.<br /><br />Savannah- Keep being amazing! Also, my next post is for you. So tell me if it helps. "Helping" is definitely easier said than done. But it can and must be done. I think caring (which I know you do) is the first step. The right actions to take will depend on each of us individually.<br /><br />xoxo.<br />ktbktbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06386176067622030705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169725043731226809.post-80982751748476668592011-06-09T12:57:23.685-07:002011-06-09T12:57:23.685-07:00So what can we do to help Kendal?So what can we do to help Kendal?Vannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18313084009314151958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169725043731226809.post-17580153362616868542011-06-08T23:32:28.629-07:002011-06-08T23:32:28.629-07:00If the people who do these sorts of things can'...If the people who do these sorts of things can't see that at the most very basic moral level, what they're doing is wrong, maybe soon they'll realize that they're shooting themselves in the foot by what they're doing. Last time I checked, women are kind of essential to oh... everything. <br /><br />Quick soapbox time-<br /><br />We (Americans) have the potential to get a huge amount of flak for intervening or imposing our ideas on other cultures. However, no matter what way you look at it, unless you're using a warped system of morals, it's plainly apparent that the practices of some societies are morally abhorrent.<br />Because it's in my interest to gain knowledge about the Middle East and what makes a good and a bad officer I read a fair number of books about soldiers and their deployments.<br />You'll see a myriad of negative adjectives used to describe the treatment of women in many parts of the Middle East, brutish, cruel, unjust, what have you. One descriptor that's not used very often though, is stupid. When I read your post, that's the first thing that came to mind. When I said that women are essential to everything, I wasn't kidding. During the initial invasion of Iraq, one Marine officer who was part of the advance guard kept a journal and eventually published a book about his experiences. Something he took notice of is how women did all the work. Seriously. Housework, cleaning, cooking, collecting water, hauling around junk, everything. While the men work jobs (when they have them) they don't contribute at all in on the domestic side. When you're literally not doing ANYTHING outside of working at a job, it doesn't make much sense to mistreat the people who do everything else. He wrote about how he saw that when the women were working, men would smoke and joke on the street. <br />In Afghanistan, a few small groups of Special Forces soldiers were deployed initially and worked with the Northern Alliance (Afghans that had been fighting the Taliban since its creation). What these soldiers learned is that after the Taliban came to power, they did everything in their power to subjugate and demean women. As you're probably well aware, literacy and the standard of living plummeted, especially for women. The Taliban sought to take away their self-reliance through ignorance. According to the Taliban, a woman's place was the home and the bedroom. Which is absolutely ludicrous. It should be worth noting that the society that the Taliban created, like in Iraq, called on (read: required) women to make it work. <br />The idea I'm trying to convey here is that not only are the practices of many Middle Eastern (read: hardline Islamic) societies morally reprehensible, they operate by persecuting the very people who make the society function.<br /><br />Going back to the idea of how as Americans, we're not allowed to interfere with the indigenous population, when people in country see these sorts of things going on, it presents a moral dilemma. One of our cadre members related a story about when he was in Iraq and saw an Iraqi man beating a woman to the point where she was visibly bleeding beneath all that clothing. As soldiers, we're explicitly ordered not to interfere. As Americans, and human beings for that matter, whatever the reason, we don't want to see injustices stand. While he didn't specifically state what he did, it was implied that the Iraqi man ended up regretting his actions. In light of retributions that are pervasive in a society that doesn't operate on ideas of justice though, I don't know in the long term, whether his actions were a good idea or not.<br /><br />Getting off soapbox now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com