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April 17, 2008
The most dangerous man, to any government, is the man who Is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos
Flea-readers might wonder quite what the point of liberating Afghanistan from the Taliban or what point the continuing expense in blood and treasure fighting the Taliban in Kandahar and elsewhere. Surely not so an Afghan parliament committee can draft "moral law" in what is at best a gesture toward Taliban-lite.
In a similar move the parliament, which is dominated by former anti-Soviet Islamist warlords, called earlier this month for a ban on dancing and Indian soap dramas on private television networks. Men and young boys must avoid wearing bracelets, necklaces, "feminist dresses," and hair-bands, the draft reads. The proposals also demand an end to dog and bird-fighting, pigeon-flying, billiards and video games, all past times favoured by many Afghans.
That last point is the most important. There are a number of reasons for imposing - or attempting to impose - a moral law ranging from order and continuity to cynical factional interest and political power. All moral codes from all times and places must have one thing in common: They must regulate those things people actually wish to do. There is no morality forbidding people from acts which are either impossible or so banal as to be without affect. The first lesson we learn from this proposed legislation is the Afghan people are not willful Hobbesian tribes in a forever war against the rest but people who want to enjoy life in the company of their friends and loved ones as much as anyone else on earth. People worth fighting for, in other words.
The second lesson is more of a reminder. You can defeat the mullahs - whatever clerical garb they wear or creed they pretend to espouse - on the battlefield. You will never defeat the impulse that drives obnoxious busy-bodies from telling the rest of us what to do. Call them Taliban jirgas, witch hunts, inquisitions or human rights commissions, the real forever war is to hold on to whatever liberty we can. Including the inclination to wear "feminist dresses" whatever those might be.
Posted by Ghost of a flea at April 17, 2008 07:27 AM
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