Gilberto, At 08:42 AM 1/25/2005, you wrote: >>But if its not a case of abused and if you are just talking about people >>getting married at ages atypical for 21st century Kansas, I don't think >>that's a moral question.<<
I think it would clearly be a moral issue to most Americans for an adult to marry a prepubescent child - even without immediately consummating the marriage. >>So what is the difference between ettiquette and morality?<< Using common sociological terminology, etiquette would fall under what William Graham Sumner called "folkways" (folk norms). In all contemporary Western societies, marrying a prepubescent child would be a more violation. >>Something like that. I would want to be sensitive to the specific nature of a >>situation and realize that there are extremes and exceptions. I ithink I'm >>kind of a pragmatist.<< So, if you think that morality is absolute, and that the Prophet Muhammad exemplified it, you believe it would be acceptable for an American to marry a prepubescent child??? >>But I don't consider myself a moral relativist.<< Based on what you wrote, I would not consider you one either. You appear to be a moral absolutist. The difference is that your moral standard is, um, different. >>You probably meant Aishah.<< Yes, I did. >>Here is the best article piece I've seen discussing the issue: >>http://www.islamic-awareness.org/Polemics/aishah.html<< However, Gilberto, this writer is making **my** point about cultural, or historical, relativism, which you appear to dismiss. For instance: "It is no surprise that both of the above authors agree on the fact that the marriage of cAishah and Muhammad took place when the former had reached puberty and that this was normal at the time." >>Really? Why not? What if it turned out that the Bahai Writings actually came >>from someone like Charles Manson or Jeffery Dahmer ?<< I said, "I hope not." That is the most I can determine. No one can really know for sure how she or he would react under such circumstances. Regards, Mark A. Foster � http://markfoster.net � [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Sacred cows make the tastiest hamburger." ---- Abbie Hoffman __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected] To unsubscribe, send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, use subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:[email protected] Web - http://list.jccc.edu/read/?forum=bahai-st News - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Public - http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
