In Pakistan “outraged in-laws slashed the nose and ears of a college student who married a woman without the consent of her higher caste family, and then fractured his legs with blows from an ax.” (News and Observer; 1-4-07)

The newspapers report thirty male relatives of Mohammed Iqbal’s wife ‘stormed into his mother’s village home, set on vengeance for the dishonor the marriage had brought on their family, chanting, You have mixed our honor with dirt, and slashed him with a dagger and an ax.’ They also “slit his brother’s ear and shot his mother in the thigh.”

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan this was not an isolated incident, about 1000 women die each year in this kind of honor killing in Pakistan.

Not long ago the pope – gingerly – raised the issue of violence in Islamic cultures. For that act of political incorrectness he was immediately pummeled. But he had a point.

Instead of this type of violence being universally despised in Pakistan, according to the Human Rights Commission offenders are rarely punished as many people see it as a legitimate way to defend their family honor. Is this an example of multi-culturalism run amuck or old fashioned evil?

We, Americans, of course, do abhor this kind of violence. And that’s one reason the Islamic fundamentalists abhor us. What passes for honor in Pakistan in our eyes is infamy. This conflict lies very near the root cause of their war on us. More sobering, consider this: What could happen if people who believe breaking a student’s legs with an ax is honorable get their hands on nuclear weapons?

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