Wednesday, February 25, 2009
  Aasiya and an Islamic theology of equality
I have written a longish piece for newsweek/thewashingtonpost online about domestic violence and Islam.

Hopefully hard hitting and insightful about the Muslim community's response to Aasiya's murder. The response has been appropriate on many levels, but there is so much lacking on other levels.

Please click on the link to read it. That's how I get paid -- by the click.

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/pamela_k_taylor/2009/02/aasiya_hassan_domestic_violenc.html

Probably will post it here in it's entirety next week some time.
 
Comments:
My letter to editor Mike Vogel of the Buffalo New, was rejected. It's below.

"I want to thank the Buffalo News for providing reading a wonderful insight into how misogyny is revealed in media. Three men reporting on a husband murdering his wife, including a mention of police knowledge of years of abuse. As for the many years of police inaction? Completely ignored. Readers were not reminded it's not the job of the victim to make the case.

Thus, in a male-dominated media, the Buffalo News chose three men to provide readers no insight at all.

My focus would have been on the police not doing their job. I would have reminded readers a basis for these murders is from the U.S. Supreme Court 2005 ruling (Castle Rock vs. Gonzales) which stated the police aren't legally required to enforce restraining orders.*

I would have reminded readers police officers have the power to make arrests with or without he victim's assistance. I would have reminded readers misogyny exists in government, particularly in law enforcement; and true throughout the country.**

Not reporting the long, storied history of police inaction - continuing reporting murders, getting the facts correct, yet entirely missing the story, isn't merely journalistic malpractice, it's Exhibit A for ensuring the public remains uninformed and ignorant to underlying problem, because media owns a part of the problem. This in part, is why www.FamilyLawCourts.com/badcop.html exists.

It's only when media investigates why the police aren’t doing their job, when media fundamentally changes how murders are reported that they'll slow. And not a moment before.

* Ruling is on the top left of this page.
www.FamilyLawCourts.com/domestic.html

** See http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1052440734466 and http://www.purpleberets.org/macias_instead.html)

*** www.FamilyLawCourts.com

Most sincerely,

Bonnie Russell
www.FamilyLawCourts.com
 
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Progressive Muslim, feminist, mom, writer, mystic, lover of the universe and Doug Schmidt, cellist, theologian and imam.


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