[lit-ideas] Re: Europe (Re: Re: Dutch support killer of van Gogh)
- From: "John McCreery" <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 06:04:31 +0900
I find our discussion so far marred by the assumption that we can pass
judgment on whether an arranged marriage is a good or bad thing.
Surely the essential point here is whether the individuals most
directly concerned, the bride and groom, have the right, as
individuals, to reject their parents' arrangements.
This brings me to Judy's question about legal sanctions. Surely the
most appropriate ones are
(1) laws prohibiting marriage except by consenting adults, with the
age of adulthood equal to that at which other adult rights, to vote,
to drink, to serve in the military, etc., are assumed.
(2) laws providing shelter for those who wish to excercise their
rights under (1) who are in danger of assault, battery or murder by
relatives who still believe in things like honor killings. For truly
extreme cases, one imagines something along the lines of the Federal
Witness Protection Program, in which individuals in need of such
assistance are enabled to move away and establish new identities of
which those who threaten them are ignorant.
An advantage of this approach is that those who find arranged marriage
beneficial can enjoy its benefits. Those who prefer to marry for love
or not marry at all remain free, as adults, to do whatever they
please.
--
John McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd.
55-13-202 Miyagaya, Nishi-ku
Yokohama 220-0006, JAPAN
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