No910

the910group

Thursday, October 26, 2006

A higher purpose

Eteraz has a piece up about a letter from a man who watched his mother being stoned to death in Iran, 26 years ago.

Myself, I am always afraid to click on links in which this topic is discussed, because I don't want to see the pictures. It's not that I can't stomach them, but that some part of me rebels at the idea that, by voluntarily choosing to look at something that I don't need to see to get the point, the death of that victim becomes a matter for titillation instead of dialogue.

This is what I worry about, because it takes a choice to avoid graphic images that are potentially dehumanizing, both to the victim and to the viewer. Even a squeamish person like me is momentarily tempted by the spectacle alone.

At the same time, a publisher must publish such images in spite of concerns about exploitation. They are documentary evidence of a crime.

Further down in the post, another choice awaits the reader.
By the way, I really want to warn all of you to not use such human rights violations as a way to try and undermine Iran’s national interests. Ms. Kars seems to be opposed to that.
There's a bit of conflict here. Ms. Kars states plainly that the regime makes it all but impossible to repeal the stoning law, yet she appeals to us to not use these stonings against the regime.

We're being asked to square a circle, to act on this horror and yet avoid attacking the regime that is responsible for it. I'd like to hear suggestions.

One thing I would point out is that the letter has been posted by Eteraz at Kos and by others at sites that lean more, in fact all the way, to the right. While there was no shortage of invective against the other side of the domestic political scene in either location, there were similar and similarly sourced expressions of sympathy for the victims. Maybe it's an opportunity.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm afraid squaring circles is impossible. One cannot be against stoning, and the Iranian regimes' cruelty to women, and simultaneously support that same regime.

Trying to square circles, and reconcile impossibilities; it's been the curse of the 20th Century. I hope it won't be the curse of the 21st.

8:01 AM  
Blogger SGlaiser said...

And yet, we see examples of squaring-the-circle every day in the MSM (Main Stream Media), political contests, and several forms of comedic media. It is a reality that no matter the course undertaken, many will pound and pound in all venues, until their agenda has been accepted.

5GW is already here. I just believe that it is more, a form of neural network, than it is one form or another within a simple "package" one can recognize. I believe we are already well within this battle, yet no one is armed.

Great post! I'm working my way up from bottom to top in your blog!

10:06 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home