蜜芽传媒

Two days ago, Farzana Parveen was stoned to death in a so-called 鈥榟onour killing鈥� for marrying a man she loved. As a father, I cannot begin to fathom the insanity which drives a person to stone his daughter to death. The Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has described the stoning to death of a woman by her family in front of a Lahore court as "totally unacceptable" and ordered an inquiry.

Its yet another outrageous example of violence against women which surfaces in so many cultural contexts. This shocking story is one of many brought to our consciousness by the brutalising behaviour of male dominated communities. It includes the inhuman imprisonment of Meriam Ibrahim in Sudan, the rising concerns about female genital mutilation, and the fact that in England and Wales, male partners kill 2 women every week.

But this disturbing murder in Pakistan also unmasks another reality: it鈥檚 the recognition that increasingly, atrocities like these deeply embedded in our cultures and falsely justified by religious behaviour, has become an affront to universal principles of right and wrong.

Farzana鈥檚 death extends an emerging frontline in the battle between religious customs and human dignity. And in this regard, the cry for human dignity does not discriminate.

The recent death of the Black civil rights activist and author, Maya Angelou is another poignant reminder that within our own lifetimes, Christian cultures paraded in the lynch-mob behaviour of the Klu Klux Klan and Apartheid South Africa. Today, we still wrestle with religious abuse in exorcisms which have led to the death of children in London.

As a father I鈥檓 lost for words. As a faith leader, I feel implicated and ashamed by Farzana鈥檚 death.

Two thousand years ago, a faith leader was approached by a mob who wanted to stone a woman to death because, unlike the women in our news bulletins, this woman had actually been caught in the very act of adultery. His name was Jesus of Nazareth.

The situation called for a judicial, as much as a religious and cultural response.

鈥淲hat should we do with this woman?鈥� they asked. 鈥淭he law says she should be stoned to death.鈥�

No questions about the man involved. The nameless woman was merely a religious bait to test Jesus鈥� loyalty to their moral code.

And his response was a slow-burning question. 鈥淭he one without sin; let him be the first to throw a stone,鈥� Jesus said.

No pronouncements, condemnation or even collusion with the woman鈥檚 character at this point. Just a penetrating question for people of all faiths, and culture-champions who say they are committed to human flourishing.

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