Taliban Movement Gains Strength
in the United States - page one

The Taliban's destruction of ancient works is despicable, but not unusual. The following quote from a CNN page typifies Western criticism of the Taliban:

"There is no precedent for a country decreeing the physical annihilation of its historical patrimony," Phillippe de Montebello, director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, told CNN. "This is a deliberate disfigurement of the identity of a people."

Russia's recent destruction of thousands of monuments to Lenin belie the claim that it is somehow unique to destroy the cultural symbols of the past. There are other precedents for such a dramatic cultural shift. The Taliban consider themselves as the bringers of civilization, just as the Europeans did in North America, where Western society is itself guilty of a similar cultural genocide. Mairi Budreau writes of the destruction of totem poles by European settlers of North America:

"Misconceptions about totems by white settlers and missionaries resulted in the wanton destruction and burning of many poles. This information left Mairi ashamed to be white and she began thinking of ways to repair these past damages."

Dr. William W. Zuzak writes:

"The various aboriginal peoples of North America have lived on this continent for thousands of years. Since the arrival of European imperialist-colonialists 500 years ago, their history has been one of exploitation, betrayal and genocide. It is undeniable that the establishment of the white man's society was predicated upon the complete destruction of the aboriginal societies."

Now on to women in America. The human female is a weak, pitiful, helpless thing. We cannot expect her to take positions of adult responsibility, or to be held legally accountable for her own actions. She needs a big brother figure always at her side to help her cope in a world ruled by strong males.

This is the view promoted both by the National Organization for Women (NOW) and the Taliban. While there is some trace of validity to this view of women, it is one which was never accurate, and is even less so in today's western cultures. This article explores some of the issues such a view raises in a world where the average woman no longer expends her life energy in the birthing and raising of twelve children.

Several years ago, my wife was approached by her cousin for help. The cousin asked my wife to say that she had witnessed an abuse incident, in order for her to obtain the divorce settlement she wanted. The woman made it clear that neither the incident she had concocted nor any similar incident had ever occurred in her marriage, yet she expected my wife to help her by giving the false testimony. The lawyer said, "This is just how it is done."

Apparently the lawyer knew his business, because he is right. There were more than three million child abuse reports filed in 1995. Only a tiny fraction of these were found to have any substance; the rest were simply for the convenience of an easy divorce.

Any responsible person who truly cares about violence in the home realizes that this smokescreen works in favor of those who would prefer that all abuse charges look spurious. That's why many states either already have or are considering laws against false reporting, and why a federal law to that effect is under consideration as well.

So what does all this have to do with the Taliban?