Re: When do or should customs trump law?
 

If someone is going to leave their country and start a life in the United States I don't think it is out of line to ask them to adopt the customs of the United States. Likewise if an American moves to another country I would expect them to adopt the customs of their new home.

How to do it isn't as easy, but bending over backwards to be tolerant of someone else's old customs without encouraging them to adopt new ones is probably not the best way to do it.

Re: When do or should customs trump law?
 

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blarg,

i dont know about the dogs head, but the other things would be illegal in their respective countries so calling it "their culture" seems pretty silly. i am definitely against female gentil mutilation.

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What is legal and what is cultural are not identical.

Female genital mutilation may or may not be illegal in the countries of origin, but it is absolutely the culture there.

I know forcing women to wear veils and cover their bodies from head to toe is legal in some countries, and I'm sure that is forced on women when they come to the U.S. against their will. I'd be surprised if beating your wife was not legally allowed in some of those countries, and I know that killing her for adultery or even rape is legal.

The kidnapping and rape of child "brides" is absolutely standard among the Hmong hill tribes in the hill country of their origin, because that's their culture. Whether it's legal or not, it's obviously "effectively" legal, with the law turning a blind eye.

Re: When do or should customs trump law?
 

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3. Hmongs in California have a big problem with this type of thing: 20-ish Hmong man decides he wants to marry a 14-year-old Hmong girl. So in keeping with tradition, he kidnaps her, against her will, and rapes her and keeps her locked up to make her his wife. Against American law, clearly



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Wait a minute, this is 20-somethings????? That means that they have probably been raised in this country!!! WTF?

Re: When do or should customs trump law?
 

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Wherever Americans are, their customs are surely the ones that are wrong and intolerant. If people with crazy habits visit or live in our country, it is we who should be tolerant and understanding, and if we aren't, we're xenophobic racists. On the other hand, if we as Americans visit another country and engage in our usual behavior, offending local sensibilities, it is we Americans who are being ignoranant and racist when we don't pay proper heed to local customs.

It's simple, really. American = bad. Foreigner = good. Americans should be tolerant, foreigners should be authentic. Anyone American who disagrees should be stoned to death.

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are you auditioning to be rush limbaugh or something? this is retarded.

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Yes, it is. It's also unfortunately true, especially among liberals, who never cease to find things to feel guilty about.

Re: When do or should customs trump law?
 

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Female genital mutilation may or may not be illegal in the countries of origin, but it is absolutely the culture there.

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Absolutely! As much as I feel, as many others, that the practice should be abolished I have encountered quite a few women that after there babies are born want the doctors to repair the circumcision.

Re: When do or should customs trump law?
 

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Female genital mutilation may or may not be illegal in the countries of origin, but it is absolutely the culture there.

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Absolutely! As much as I feel, as many others, that the practice should be abolished I have encountered quite a few women that after there babies are born want the doctors to repair the circumcision.

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What do you mean "repair" it? Do you actually see women who have had this type of procedure? I'm shocked. I would have thought it quite rare.

Re: When do or should customs trump law?
 

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Female genital mutilation may or may not be illegal in the countries of origin, but it is absolutely the culture there.

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Absolutely! As much as I feel, as many others, that the practice should be abolished I have encountered quite a few women that after there babies are born want the doctors to repair the circumcision.

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What do you mean "repair" it? Do you actually see women who have had this type of procedure? I'm shocked. I would have thought it quite rare.

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I see a large population of African women who have been circumcised, sorry for being blunt, and sewn closed for the most part.

After they have their babies they(some) want to be sewn back shut-to some extent.

Re: When do or should customs trump law?
 

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I see a large population of African women who have been circumcised, sorry for being blunt, and sewn closed for the most part.

After they have their babies they(some) want to be sewn back shut-to some extent.

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My mind is officially blown.

Re: When do or should customs trump law?
 

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Wherever Americans are, their customs are surely the ones that are wrong and intolerant. If people with crazy habits visit or live in our country, it is we who should be tolerant and understanding, and if we aren't, we're xenophobic racists. On the other hand, if we as Americans visit another country and engage in our usual behavior, offending local sensibilities, it is we Americans who are being ignoranant and racist when we don't pay proper heed to local customs.

It's simple, really. American = bad. Foreigner = good. Americans should be tolerant, foreigners should be authentic. Anyone American who disagrees should be stoned to death.

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are you auditioning to be rush limbaugh or something? this is retarded.

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Yes, it is. It's also unfortunately true, especially among liberals, who never cease to find things to feel guilty about.

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Why bring politics into this. Culturally, our country has turned a blind eye to the illegal goings on of foreigners.

Here in Los Angeles, it is surely illegal to sell unrefrigerated hot-dogs on the the street corner. It is illegal to not pay for work that has been done. It is illegal to build houses without permits, and also illegal to hire for less than minimum wage. It is also illegal to stand at McArhtur Park and buy and sell fake IDs. When I went to jail, I was in a cell with 50 mexicans who did not speak a word of english.

No, politics withstanding, it is the Republicans who want to keep them here. It is also the Democrats who don't want to spend more than 30 cents for an orange.

Get off the high horse and just keep the line simple. If you break a law, you need to be jailed and deported. You obviously have no respect for our country if you do these illegal things.

Re: When do or should customs trump law?
 

This just in:

Liberian guy, I think they said in Georgia, has nine charges dismissed for repeated rape of his 7 year old female relative because the court took three years to find an interpreter in his language.

Oh, and -- the guy went to an English-speaking school in America, and he spoke to the investigators in English.