Eye for an Eye

Today’s “eye-for-an-eye” story is troubling.  While human rights groups understandably want Ameneh Barami to forgive the man who threw acid in her face for refusing to marry him–and thus refrain from blinding him in return–others feel the court was right to give her this act of revenge.  The Iranian government believes giving Barami, who was blinded and badly disfigured by this man’s violence, the right to retaliate will discourage other men from throwing acid in the faces of women who anger them.  The whole question seems brutal, but it is important to bear in mind that these acid attacks are common in the Muslim world and need to be stopped.  It may take some dramatic action to do it. Nevertheless, it is horrible to even think about the state and the victim deliberately blinding a man in this premeditated way.