Tuesday, May 6, 2014

What's In A Name?

Articles about abducted Nigerian schoolgirls translate the name of the Islamic terrorist organization claiming credit - Boko Haram - as meaning "western education is forbidden." Or to paraphrase, perhaps "ignorance is bliss" or "ignorance is heavenly."

Boko Haram opposition to education for women resembles the pre-Civil War prohibitions of teaching slaves to read. The parallel is almost exact; women-as-slaves.