Globalization shrinks the world around us daily. As cultures meet, we realize how similar and different our ethics can be from one another. In certain cultures, when someone is seen to bring dishonor to the family, they may be killed. This is called an “honor killing” and it is extremely uncommon in western culture compared to elsewhere. This essay will discuss cultural and communication conflicts as they relate to honor killings. First, this essay will provide a background relating to issues on the subject. Next, this essay will discuss current conflicts and recommend an approach to improving cultural communications regarding honor killings. Finally, this essay will go into detail on cultural ethos and if they can be superior to each other.

The concept of honor has a relatively universal meaning of virtue and respect, regarding personal and family reputation ( Gray, 2010, 1). Although many cultures emphasize the importance of honor, different cultures have different paths to achieving it. Therefore, it is important to understand what cultures consider honorable and dishonorable.  Honor killing is most prevalent in cultures where the “rights of individuals are restricted due to communal soliditaries, patriarchal authority structures, and strict religious beliefs” ( Chesler and Bloom, 2012, 2).  In these cultures with strict customs, marriage is often an integral component of  honor. The utmost importance of an honorable marriage is evident in the beliefs of Islam and Hinduism.

Both religions not only consider marriage the joining of two individuals, but the joining of families and strengthening of kinship relations. The marriages show respect for the joining families, and thus these marriages are typically arranged and allow the families to maintain  honor and respect (Gwynee, 2009, 174:186).  Through a “thick description” these practices strengthen the bond of families and are generally accepted by the followers. However, these strict marital practices ultimately deprive the followers of freedom of choice, and put an extreme amount of pressure on females, who unjustly become the scapegoats of failed marriages.

It is no surprise that women are the scapegoats of failed marriages in these religions as  the Quran says “and the men are a degree above them [women],” and one of the most widely known of the Dharmashastras, the Laws of Manu, says women are  entirely subordinate to men;  “a girl is governed by her father, a married woman by her husband, a widow by her sons” (Qur’an. 2:228), (Kinnard, 2014, 1).  Woman who refuse to enter an arranged marriage, seek divorce, portray suspicious behavior, are raped; or in the case of Hindu culture, marry outside of their  caste, are often unfairly scrutinized  as having dishonored their family (Chesler and Bloom, 2012, 2).

The females are outcasted, which reiterates the injustice of female treatment in these cultures.  These females that bring dishonor to their families'  are  killed by their fathers and brothers. The people who kill their beloved ones, truly believe that it is the only way they can restore their families’ honorable reputation. However, these believers do not realize that in “restoring their families honor” they are losing the respect and acceptance of other societies and place a stigma on the religion itself.

Unfortunately Honor killing is still prevalent today and in 2000, the United Nations estimated that there are 5,000 honor killings every year, making it evidently clear that many people believe that the restoration of honor is of the utmost importance (Chesler, 2010, 2). The majority of these honor killings happen within the Islamic culture. One example of honor killing in the Islamic community, happened in 2002, in which a young kurdish woman by the name of Fadime Sahindal, paid the ultimate price for rejecting an arranged marriage and choosing love instead. She shamed her family for being with another man, so her father and brother shot and killed her. Her father immediately admitted to killing “the whore” who brought shame to his family (Mojab and Hassanpour, 2002, 1-2). Although it seems that his motives were based on honorable intentions, the only thoughts this man had were evil ones. To be able to kill your own blood is reprehensible and there can be no justifiable excuse, and there is no “thick description” that will ever  rationalize the action of these fathers and brothers.

In many cases these victimized women are not only being killed due to their so called “dishonorable” actions, but are being severely tortured. In the Muslim world over one half of all victims die in agony, which includes being “raped, gang-raped; strangled, or bludgeoned to death; being stabbed numerous times; being stone or burned to death; being beheaded, or having ones throats slashed” (Chesler, 2).

Due to the irrational actions of the those who commit honor killing and that the majority of honor killings occurring in the Islamic culture, many people unfairly associate Muslim people with being murderers. This atrocious stereotype is evident from  a slander website known as banislamofficial.com, where the anonymous author puts down Islam and says  “one can very genuinely lead to the conclusion that honor killing is indeed the vice of Islam” (“Ban Islam”). The author of the article is by no means right, and the practice of honor killing has no sanction in the Qur’an, or in the Islamic law. The majority of  Muslims are peaceful, and in contemporary Islam women can divorce peacefully,  as long as they establish grounds to do so and return their mahr (Gwynee, 174).

Although neither Islam or Hinduism condones honor killing, both unfortunately can take blame for legitimizing what occurs, and both can be held responsible for the stereotypes that are given to them, even if wrong. Both have failed to use their religious authority to rid their religionand culture of  such inhumane practices. The blame for stereotypes in the Hindu religion can be placed on the fact that “society is divided into religiously  mandated castes, membership in which is hereditary and effectively permanent ” ( Chesler and Bloom, 2). In the Hindu law and tradition having a relation with a different caste is forbidden  as well has having romantic relations with family.  Most Hindu honor killings consist of the suspicion of the violation of these two commandments. In norther India the murders are condoned by caste-based councils known as khap panchayats. And even though inter-caste marriage and family marriage are both now legal  in the Hindu marriage act of1955, both generally remain unacceptable in the Hindu society (Diwan, 1957, 268).  This  disregard of the implemented marriage act shows that honor killing is no longer a religious practice in Hinduism, but a custom that  many believers refuse to give up.

Much like in Hinduism, the placement of blame can be attributed to the lack of authoritative initiative in Islamic culture. Although Islam does not specifically promote honor killing, many cases involve the suspicion of adultery, which by Islamic law is punishable by death. There women who commit adultery can be murdered with justification. Most Islamic authorities refuse to condemn the practice of “justifiably” murdering women, and therefore it only encourages potential honor killers ( Chesler and Bloom, 2).  This being said, one step of action to attempt rid these cultures terrible traditions is to pressure the authoritative figures to emphasize the immorality of honor killing.

 Other than emphasizing the inhumanity of honor killing to the authoritative figures of  Hinduism and Islam, another step that could be taken is to emphasize the inhumanity of such practices to the children of these cultures.  As they are the future generations, they will have the ultimate say in what customs are condoned in their respective cultures.  Those that  truly understand the immorality of honor killing must devote themselves to push these children to grasp an understanding of whats right and wrong.  The dire need to take action can be seen in a recently conducted study by the University of Cambridge, which gaged the attitude of teenagers in a predominantly Islamic community, Jordan’s capital city of Amman. The results of this study revealed “that almost half of   all boys and one in five girls believe that killing a daughter, sister or wife who has ‘dishonored’ or shamed the family is justified” (Eisner and Ghuneim, 2013, 205). This shows that honor killing is still prevalent today and the beliefs of traditional parents have been passed on to their children.  By the time supporters of honor killing are adults there is little anyone can do to convince that their beliefs are truly wrong. Thus, the best form of action would be to stop support of honor killing at the children.  It needs to be stopped before they are old enough to pass it on to future generations, with the hopes of ultimately ending the cycle.

The study also reiterated that the support of honor killing is not based on religious  practice but  instead the factors include patriarchal and traditional world views. The emphasis of  honor killing by the teens was placed on female virtue, and when necessary, violence against others is morally and ethically justified (Eisner and Ghuneim, 205). Ultimately, this supports that honor killing is not a religious practice, but a cultural practice.

  While it is important to keep an open mind when delving  into the many world religions, it is also the utmost of importance to make sure these religions and the cultures that they entail maintain moral and ethical practices.  Once a religion or culture deprives people of their basic human rights, then there is no longer  a “thick description,” the only thing that needs to be deciphered is why these people commit such immoral acts, and if and why their religious beliefs permit them to do so.

 Once its understood why these religions or cultures commit such cruel actions it is the duty of  humankind  to take a stand. For the case of  honor killing in Hinduism and Islam, once it is understood that the lives of  people are taken for the sake of honor, it is the job of outsiders and those of the religion that disagree which such practices, to take a stand and prove that honor is not a life or death matter. 

People need to dedicate themselves to  making a change and no longer allowing  believers to justify their criminal actions through their distorted understanding of the Islamic and Hindu tradition. Although the proposed resolutions previously mentioned were from Islamic examples, both religions could benefit from the spreading of word that honor killing is extremely immoral.  It can be argued that the  spreading of word to children is the best method of eradicating such intolerable practice, however, there are many other  possible solutions to this problem such as installing stricter penalties, or having the respective religions spirituals leads remind the followers that the world should be based on compassion. It is evident to outsiders that the actions of honor killing are extremely immoral, and until a actions are taken, honor killing will continue to be an unfortunate  tradition in the Hindu and Islamic culture.

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Eisner, M. and Ghuneim, L. “Honor Killing Attitudes Amongst Adolescents in Amman, Jordan.” Aggr. Behav.  (2012) 39: 405–417. Print.

Chesler, Phyllis. "Worldwide Trends In Honor Killings." Middle East Quarterly 17.2 (2010): 3-11. OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson). Web. 1 May 2014.

Chesler, Phyllis and Nathan Bloom. "Hindu Vs. Muslim Honor Killings." Middle East Quarterly 19.3 (2012): 43-52. OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson). Web. 1 May 2014

Gray, JW. "Honor Killings, Moral Education, Justified Punishment, Justified War, and Dehumanization." Ethical Realism. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. 

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Rodrigues, Hillary, and John S. Harding. Introduction to the study of religion. London: Routledge, 2009. Print.s