I was going as a husband and father of three young girls, who is concerned about their rights as women and their future. I wanted to hear what Parker had to say, hear some of the discourse from other speakers, and make up my own mind. However, I was not prepared for what I’d experience.
Like all great traditions Islam has struggled to make sense of the human condition, to console our deepest existential anxieties. Ramadan, a month dedicated to fasting, prayer, and self-reflection, is one way Islam has striven to do this.
What is clear is, rather than feeling any compulsion to defend women, many men, and from unexpected quarters, still actively seek to abuse them, either verbally or, as we have seen, physically. Attaching to a moral crusade is wonderful cover for that.
The New Zealand Police has a shameful history of mistreatment of women, but until this weekend many had hoped that its culture had improved.
Every day is a school day in Tok. I thought I had seen it all before moving here. It’s a town of characters, legends, rascals and storytellers.
What I am asking of you is far less dangerous than going to war, but harder to actually do because we don’t have the endorsement of the state which is now under the control of the death machine.
NZ Police’s inaction and ill-preparedness to ensure public safety and rights to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly is inexcusable.
For me, free speech is the right to attempt to make your views heard but it is balanced by the right to civil disobedience by those who oppose those views.
If we don’t take action now, we will be counting the costs to our children’s health for decades to come.
