Iraq's 'Emo' Killings Raise Horror and Religious Debate

[cbayer]

http://www.albawaba.com/editorchoice/iraqs-emo-killings-raise-horror-and-religious-debate-416505



Iraqi religious clerics have reacted differently over reports of the killing of dozens of “Emo” teenagers in the country.

Recently, activists rang the alarm over the killing of dozens of teenagers by religious police for donning “Emo” hair styles. “Emo” is a popular culture by some teenagers in many parts of the world and comes from the English word “emotional.” “Emos” use their appearances and type of accessories as a way to express their emotions and to embody their will and their view of life in their behavior. Their way of dressing and use of certain accessories such as piercings is not acceptable by some conservative sections of the Iraqi society, some even brand them as a cult of “devil worshipers.”

The death toll of the total number of “Emo” youth is not clear, but reports of their killings have created a big uproar in Iraq. Hana al-Bayaty of Brussels Tribunal, an NGO dealing with Iraqi issues, said the current figure ranges “between 90 and 100.”

Various reactions

“Emos” are “fools” and “experts must finish them,” the Iraq-based Al Sumaria News TV reported the firebrand conservative cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as saying on Saturday.

more at link

[ButterflyBlood]

1. Gah, the nonsense being talked about here has nothing to do with emo

Emo is one of the most misused terms in existence, what it refers to is a style of hardcore punk music that started in DC in 1984 with Rites of Spring. Even Wikipedia mostly gets it right: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo#Origins:_1980s

[cbayer]

2. What would one call kids who choose these ways of expressing themselves?

[enlightenment]

3. So, since what these young people are doing is not 'emo'

then what is happening to them is acceptable?

(My point, if you didn't grasp it, is that your post takes something that is not even addressed - the legitimacy of using the term 'emo' - and gives it primacy, while completely ignoring the point of the article. Young people are being killed for the way they look - isn't that slightly more important than how accurately the word is being used?)

[deacon_sephiroth]

4. even emos don't deserve that

I dislike emos...

I really really dislike emos.

But I don't find it grounds for summary execution