Are fathers who murder their own daughters capable of any sort of love?

Question

I just read the story here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070125/ap_on_re_mi_ea/jordan_honor_killing_1
about a Jordanian father who doubted his daughter's virginity, even after a medical examination (which, in my opinion, is itself a breach of trust), so he shot her four times in her head. She died, and an autopsy again confirmed her virginity. Is the type of person who would do such a thing to their own daughter evil to the core, psychotic, schizophrenic, or perhaps have a schizoid personality? I was briefly reading about these disorders, and discovered that a schizoid personality is "characterized by a lack of interest in social relationships, a tendency towards a solitary lifestyle, and emotional coldness. Its prevalence is estimated at less than 1% of the general population."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizoid_personality_disorder

Why, then, do you suppose that Middle Eastern men murder their daughters? Is it cultural "brainwash", if you will, or a personality disorder?

Dear Loskillz, I fail to understand how killing someone is a form of protection.

Answer 1

i think it is a demented cultural "brainwash" as you so accurately described it. when women are born in the middle east and in some other countries around the world it is considered to be a curse and a great big slap in the face. but imagine the family that has several daughters and no sons, the "burden" of having to unload all of these girls onto other families can sometimes take its toll on the husband's sanity and he can be driven to horrible acts. often times, families must pay a lot of money (i have heard of lavish gifts including new appliances, cars, homes and cash) to a potential husband and his family and that burden too can cause a lot of stress and some people do crack under such pressure. many men in those countries cannot afford to be providing such things to others and still keep up with the pressure of providing for his own family that they do extreme things to relieve themselves of their responsibility.

there is also the issue of pride and honor in those societies. the thought that you have a daughter that is not a virgin when she is married can disgrace the family name and can cause major problems for everyone involved and can also cause men to do extreme things do uphold the family honor. i read a story a few years back about a woman who was raped in her own home by the taliban or someone like that. she was raped more than 30 times by 10 different men and after all of that, her own family disowned her. they wouldn't even acknowledge that she was alive and was forced to live on the streets in poverty. the poor woman was reminded daily of what happened to her and her own family didn't even care. she had disgraced them by allowing herself to be raped (in their minds) and didn't want to have anything to do with her ever again. stories like these are very sad and it makes me happy that i am a woman in america and not on the other side of the world.

Answer 2

It seems very cruel to us, and it is really. We have to also remember that the Bible give us license to kill our "lewd" women as well. This incident stems from a cultural belief that a man's ability to control his women's( I mean family, not just wives), is his honor. When the women of your family go out and act lewd in these cultures, the shame on your family can be so great that you can't make a good marriage for your other daughter's, no one will do business with you, etc. So deeply ingrained is this idea to protect his family from this "shame" that he feels he must prove himself a good man and do the honorable thing, which is an "honor killing."
Most Muslims would probably look for some sort of proof of the conduct, though(lack of virginity, etc). Women have been stoned for being raped there, because the justice system is perverted in that way. I don't believe it's a personality disorder.
Think about it this way.
Say you live your whole life in a culture where they perform human sacrifice. You are taught if the gods are not appeased terrible things will befall the city you live in. It may seem horrible now, in your present situation, but if you were actually in that situation, you would feel no remorse for this. Does it make you a
psycho? No.
I'm not saying that I agree with this man who killed his daughter, I'm just saying he's probably not psychotic.

Answer 3

It's called an honor killing. In a lot of rural areas in predominately Muslim countries, a man in the family is allowed to do that to a woman they feel who has shamed the family, either on just suspicion or hard proof. A father (or brother) can do this if the woman was raped, or participated in an affair, whether she knew the man was married or not. It really is a shame because the men are almost never held accountable for anything.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor_killing

Answer 4

Things like this happen everywhere. Why do sooo many mothers here in American murder their children? He is a horrible person. Love is something that comes from within not from one place of birth or country. Culture is a different. If you're not a psychologist please don't try to figure people out! Some people just do horrible things that's life...Nothing you or I can do to fix that!

Answer 5

Love comes from within, as does hate. Whatever's in ones heart is what will come out. In some cultures, virginity is a much desired quality in a young lady (as it should be everywhere) and a non-virgin lady is liable to be shunned and never find a husband. She brings shame on her family, even if it's just a rumor and not true. It's sad, but their moral structure is much different than ours.

Answer 6

this is a different culture, with a different mentality than we can comprehend. These are people who will stone a female to death for infidelity. people who think a woman deserves to be raped for letting her veil down, or can even be raped as a form of punishment...

In our culture yes... it is sick. In their culture ? perhaps if she was no longer a virgin she was basically useless ( sometimes you NEED to be a virgin to be wed )

I don't know, who is to decide what is right and wrong, tragic as it may be we cannot go around the world telling other cultures how they need to be like us, disavow what they have believed in for centuries and listen to us.

Answer 7

No, fathers who murder their daughters in what muslims call "honor killing" are not capable of real love. I also read the story you posted the link to and did not see anywhere in the story a mention of the real motivation for the murder, islam.
For those who want to educate yourselves to this evil muslim practice, google the words : muslim honor killing.
You will learn why we must defeat the islamofascists who are trying to force the world to accept their evil rule.

Answer 8

The really sad thing about this story is even though she died.. in her culture she will be considered vindicated and her reputation and her families reputation will probably be intact. No one will look down on her father or anything. It is truly sad. Thank GOD I am here not there..

Answer 9

I don't think they have a clinical mental illness.

It is a societal and cultural illness (by our standards).

This is why, for the foreseeable future, we will never completely understand them, or them us. Also why democracy will not work in Iraq right now.

Answer 10

That is the way of the islamic people. If the average American person knew of the true ways of islam we would not have 1 living muslim in our country