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Ethics poll: honour killings

August 2010
Is killing your child in the name of family honour ever justified?
Yes
2.4% (9 votes)
Unsure
0.3% (1 votes)
No
97.3% (362 votes)

Comments

there are a few situations where the taking of life is justified, even the right thing to do, but this is DEFINATELY not one of them. Family honour takes second place to the preservation of life.


Killing your own child would require a heinous crime to justify it. However, there is one example (from cinema) that might fit the bill. This is the 1962 Yul Brynner flick Taras Bulba. In the ending of this picture, the Yul Brynner character (chief of the Cossacks besieging the Polish city) takes it up himself to execute his son (played by Tony Curtis) for helping the enemy (because he fell in love with a Polish girl).

The manner of the execution is significant. The Yul Brynner character dismisses his entourage with a glance. The entourage figure out what is going on and ride off leaving the father to do what is required to salvage the family honour alone.

The Brynner character tells his son to "take off that Polish helmet" and shoots him through the heart.