No, but you said we should respect the cultural element of honor killing. I think that pretty much amounts to saying we should respect honor killing. It seems to me you're basically saying we should respect honor killing as culture. I disagree with that very strongly. Now maybe I’m misunderstanding what you’re trying to say, I don’t know.

What about the women who commit the crime? Like the Palestinian mother who killed her teenage daughter for being raped by her brother, or the mother mentioned in the article above who helped her husband to kill their daughter, or the mother who sent her son to kill her daughter.

Attempts to respect the practice/tradition of honor killing (as in "it's their culture, we must respect it", a common refrain heard on this subject) have led to authorities being unwilling to get involved helping would-be victims, which has led to deaths that could have been avoided. It has also led to people being unwilling to outright condemn honor killings. Respect cultural values by all means, but let's not respecting anything about honor killing.

I disagree. People on this thread have already brought up how people's views on honor killings affect how the problem is treated by the authorities. The sort of attitudes people have about honor killings is a subject that is very much relevant to the discussion. That attitude that was posted in the FF post I mentioned is just an example of the sort of attitude some people have on the subject.

Cultural understanding and tolerance is important. But all too often when they're invoked with regard to this subject it's code for "I don't want to come out fully condemning honor killing because I'm afraid I'll look politically incorrect doing so." I don't mean to say you mean it that way, but that's what some people mean when they talk about that stuff.

Actually, you can probably find "WASPs" doing that sort of thing, but they probably wouldn't consider it to be about honor. But evoking the difference in culture in this subject is all too often used to effectively say "It's a different culture so we should respect honor killing as their different way of doing things".

Let's remember that so many people in cultures that have honor killings are very strongly against honor killings. Honor killing is not "their" way of doing things. It's the way of a minority of people within the culture. It's an aberration.

Depends on what sort of understanding you're trying to do. Too often talk of being understanding re honor killings is talk about not whole-heartedly condemning the practice. Genuine understanding is valuable and should be pursued, but too often talk of "understanding" really means not supporting the would-be victims enough and not opposing the practice enough.

You talked of having respect for the cultural element of honor killing, which I think amounts to saying we should respect honor killings, the tradition and practice of honor killings. I don't think we should respect anything about honor killings. (Now maybe I’ve misunderstood what you meant, if so I apologize.)

Whereas I think the authorities can fail to help would-be victims and properly oppose honor killings because they're more concerned with cultural sensitivity than with preventing horrible crimes. Cultural sensitivity is very important but it should never get in the way of preventing people from murdering their daughters over "honor".