Dad lets daughter drown in Dubai so she's not 'dishonored' by male lifeguards' touch

[nomorenomore08]

208. I think it's a fine line between rejecting scapegoating of a particular group or faith -

which is absolutely legitimate - and becoming too caught up in cultural relativism. I try to avoid both, myself, but it's something of a balancing act.

I agree that there are possible steps to take, which don't involve starting another war/bombing campaign. But again, it's tricky - for example, severe sanctions against an already poor country might well lead to the deaths of many, and disproportionately young children at that, as we saw with Iraq in the 90's.

Needless to say, the more separation between (any) religion and the state, the better. As has been noted by many others, though, the lack of a democratic tradition in much (if not most) of the Arab world poses a serious obstacle to reform. Just look at what happened after the coup in Egypt - arguably, they wound up in even worse shape than before, with an explicitly theocratic faction taking control of things.