Re: [RC] UAE Involvement in AERC Functions - Bette Lamore
OK, Heidi
You got me out of my DWR mode---Just a cotton-pickin" minute here (yes,
pun intended)! It seems we did as a nation legislate morality when we
banned slavery, murder, stealing.... although as you say, it did not
completely end the problems, I hope you are not proposing that we stop
legislating --- every law we have has a moral overtone or undertone to
it. That doesn't mean that we stop trying to end abuses. I believe
there are some "moral" issues that should NOT be legislated (and I am
not going to open that can of worms on ridecamp), however, child abuse
is certainly NOT one of them in my humble opinion.
raping little girls is against the law in this country as well--but
well over half of the little girls in the after-school program in
this
county have been sexually abused by male relatives or their moms'
boyfriends. I also think that is an atrocity. Who should I boycott
to
stop it?
No one is suggesting a BOYCOTT of rapists in the US or of the US for
having people who break the laws --- Rape is a crime-- legislated-- so
we report it to authorities-- that is our part-- the rest is up to the
courts. There will always be criminals. The point here is that there is
NO law against this child abuse in some countries and that it is an
accepted practice. Those that are not practicing it are condoning it by
not trying to end this barbaric practice. The US has frequently used
boycotts to encourage other countries to end injustices. Look at South
Africa-- and yes, it did work! It took time but Rome wasn't built in a
day.
By bringing in prohibition you are mixing up apples and oranges. We
decided to end prohibition when the majority (this is a democratic
republic)of people indicated (by ignoring the law) that they didn't
believe it was immoral to drink. Other countries always had the right
to boycott us before prohibition and after it ended-- none chose to,
perhaps because they did not feel it was such a moral or criminal
outrage. This is a totally different situation and hardly comparable
(unless you equate having a glass of wine to enslaving a child. If the
arab nations engaging in child slavery of this kind had laws passed
against it, I do not believe boycotting would even be an issue. We
certainly have had difficulty in enforcing our drug laws and cannot
throw stones at nations who are having difficulties in enforcing laws.
A boycott has been used in the past as a valuable tool to get
international attention -- it certainly deserves consideration. As you
pointed out in your example of rape, role modeling is ineffectual in
many cases-- that's why we have the law to back it up!
Absolutely right John. It has nothing to do with culture it has all to
do with international law, UN conventions to which all members accept
and to common decency.
Truman, if you think this doesn't have anything to do about culture, you
need to go back and review what happened particularly in your part of the
country when booze was outlawed. You cannot legislate morality--that has
been demonstrated time and time again throughout history. If you want to
stop atrocities, you can either try diplomacy and demonstration of a
better way, or you can go to war. Simply telling someone powerful that
you have just made their sordid hobby illegal doesn't get the job done.
I agree that this is in violation of common decency--which sometimes I
think is an oxymoron anyway, as true decency often isn't all that common.
Where we seem to part company is how we in our sport can have the most
impact.
BTW, raping little girls is against the law in this country as well--but
well over half of the little girls in the after-school program in this
county have been sexually abused by male relatives or their moms'
boyfriends. I also think that is an atrocity. Who should I boycott to
stop it? We do all we can to intervene, and every once in a great while
we get enough evidence to prosecute a perp, but that hasn't put a stop to
the horror. Before someone misquotes me by suggesting that I think this
makes the UAE situation "ok"--I most certainly am not suggesting any such
thing. I'm merely pointing out that "being against the law" does not put
an end to such practices--there, here, or anywhere else.
Heidi
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--
Bette Lamore
Whispering Oaks Arabians
Home of Bunny and 16.2h TLA Halynov
who lives on through his legacy Hal's Riverdance!
http://www.arabiansporthorse.com
Always remember: "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." (George Carlin)
