The fault is in us all, for not submitting.

PZ Myers looks at a disturbing case of attacks on women in Turkey.

What should me make of this ugly story from Turkey?

A high school senior and an elementary school student were attacked in the Mediterranean town of Mersin with strong acid spray. In two separate incidents within the same hour both girls were approached from behind by a group of young men who commented on the length of their skirts and told them it was too short. The girls were sprayed with acidic substance that burnt and melted their stockings and caused deep lacerations on the back of their legs. The girls were treated in the hospital. The police is searching for the culprits that are believed to be the same ones, in both incidents.

According to media reports, uncovered women in Mersin, who wear shorter length skirts, are in fear of similar attacks.

I understand this kind of thing is done to 'protect' the honor of women with a religious justification, but does anyone ever ask where the honor is in a group of men coming up behind young girls and scarring them with acid? Shouldn't there be some kind of deep cultural shame that their young men are being indoctrinated into growing up as bullying cowards?

This is sadly not a rare enough event. It happens all over the world where women have mistakenly thought that they had the right to choose their own outfits, and how they want to present themselves to the world. Obviously that is crazy thinking. In Iraq and Afghanistan, where we promised freedom, and particularly bragged about it for women, it is quite bad. It is quite brutal.

And there is no national defense of it. There is no cultural one. It is wrong.