(01-08-2018, 06:57 PM)Catherine Wrote: I know it is defended as a cultural tradition and all that kind of stuff, but if a tradition is barbaric or cruel it is time to discard it.Quite right! The historical, cultural argument has no place, if cruelty is involved. If it is cruel - it deserves to be challenged, opposed and hopefully made illegal - no matter how long the cruel practice may have been done in the past. Cruelty is cruelty and must be challenged, regardless of the country or culture.
There are lots of historical cruel practices which went on for centuries in the Americas and Europe. A few examples are:
Burning witches, viewed by the public - which went on for centuries - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pe...witchcraft;
European bear-baiting, involving setting dogs on to a tethered bear, which also went on for many centuries - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear-baiting;
Burning cats alive as part of public festivities - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat-burning
These abhorrent practices were part of European "culture" for many centuries, but were eventually banned. So the "we have done this for centuries" argument does not mean that a practice cannot be abolished as public awareness grows of cruelty issues.
