Uh-huh, it’s rather painfully obvious that the people referring to “that culture” were trying to make some sort of comment about Muslims.
Read the Emirates article I quoted, as I said, the matter sounds either made up or embellished.
It is disgusting. But let’s not get too self-congratulatory. Our culture has Christian Scientists and Jehovah’s Witnesses ( not to mention anti-vaxxers), and now and then they refuse life-saving care. Whackos are everywhere.
The motivation makes a difference, though. Christian Scientists and anti-vaxxers believe that their bullshit is actually safer for their kids than proper medicine. In their own retarded way they think they’re actually looking out for their kids’ health. I’ve no idea what was going through this asshole father’s head, but given that she was drowning at that very minute, it’s unlikely that his daughter’s welfare was his top priority.
Edit: Do Jehova’s Witnesses ever refuse blood fans fusions for their kids? I’m aware of cases where adults have refused them for themselves, but that’s their choice (dumb as it may be). If JW’s forbid life saving transfusions for their kids then yeah, that’s a valid comparison IMO.
Again. We have the recollections of a policeman. Not a lifeguard. With no names, dates or location.
Yes, they do refuse life-saving blood transfusions for their kids. It’s basically the same thing- prioritizing spiritual purity (well, their concept of it) above all.
Yeah. This story is tweaking my bullshit detector. Does anyone have any other articles to back it up?
Hell, we’ve got local governments that let people’s houses burn down and kill all the animals inside if people haven’t paid a fee to stop it. We’ve got our own fucked up ideas of honor over here.
I thought the same. While it’s not completely out of the realm of possibility, it sounds like a bit of ready-for-Facebook anti-glurge aimed squarely at preconceived notions.
At least I hope so.
Before we pass it on, let’s Islamophobe it into a Muslim Lifeguard version of the Two Monks and a Woman story:
“I let that woman drown hours ago, but you’re still rolling in the waves with her.”
Still not proof, but is has been picked up by other sources, including two large and ususally well-respected British newspapers (Daily Telegraph and The Independent), and Emirates 24/7 (referenced in the article) is a legitimate site.
http://news.sky.com/story/1533788/woman-drowns-after-father-stops-rescuers
Albeit they all seem to have the same story as told on the canoe site.
I think it is at least possible, and Dubai, being an Emirate and not a democracy in any sense of the word (albeit a fairly benevolent one for it’s citizens and (paying) visitors), would have no trouble making sure the story did not get much attention, as they depend on tourism for a substantial amount of their income (the Emirate of Dubai is relatively small and doesn’t have all that much oil; the oil is mostly in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi).
So I do think this is possible. People are (tragically) wierd.
Its possible. But, firstly, its not been reported by “other sources”. Both the Daily Telegraph and the Independant have simply repeated the Emirates 24/7 story.
It could be true. OTH, it has all the elements of which make one think that it is made up. A preventable tragedy, exacerbated by the backwardness of a foreign type (foreign for the UAE). Without names, dates, location.
I have no doubt that the officer believes the truth of the story. But, what is more likely? The UAE, one of the centers of regional (and increasingly global) commerce and finance, hid a story like this out of fear of (non existant) chances of losing business or that it sounds like an urban legend related by a police officer that he heard on the grapevine and simply repeated when profiled on a media outlet? Do note, there is nothing to indicate that he was actually present or involved
Tu quoque fail.
Adults can refuse life-saving treatment for themselves (although not always) based on religious grounds. But they can’t force family members to die because of their beliefs.
I’ve never heard of a case “in our culture” where a JW or CS was able to cause a hemorrhaging child in an ER to die because they blocked emergency medical personnel from transfusing her.
There have certainly been deaths from parents not taking their children in for appropriate treatment. It’s may not be legal for a parent to block life saving care, but it happens. It also was not legal for this guy to block life saving care, and, according to the story, he was arrested.
It’s the same thing. Religious whackos are religious whackos wherever the are.
No, they just don’t bring the child to the ER and let them die at home. I’m not sure this is a significant distinction.
She is obviously a whore. Showing off her feminine features like that. For shame.
Nope. It’s not remotely the same thing for reasons already cited.
And in addition to a lack of examples of where a parent was able to physically block E.R. workers from transfusing a seriously hemorrhaging child, I extremely doubt you’d be able to find any U.S. hospital where the response to such a (hypothetical) incident was “well, we need to hire more JWs as ER docs”.
Try to avoid the temptation to indulge in knee-jerk tu quoques.
If the people who live in the house have the means to pay the fee that funds the fire department, and have chosen not to do so, it is both fiscally foolish and a betrayal of those who DO pay the fee to save the houses of those who do not.
(I don’t care about the animals inside.)
The better response would be for the fire department to save the house (and critters) and then send the owners the bill after-the-fact (which they would try to enforce with a lawsuit or a lien if the owners can’t or won’t pay up). (ETA: Bearing in mind that the bill would be massively larger than the before-the-fact fees, the latter being more akin to insurance premium payments.)
If the owners won’t pay (for whatever reason) and the department can’t collect, it would fall into the same general genre as hospital emergency rooms that provide ER care without inquiring much about the patient’s ability to pay, and then attempt to get paid what they can afterward.
That results in nobody paying unless their house catches on fire, then crying poverty when they get that big bill and appealing to something called … hold on, I wrote down the word…
:: checks notes ::
… appealing to something called “sympathy.”
Also, firemen should not risk their lives for dogs & cats. Well, not dogs.
This is a hijack, though, so I’ll shut up now.