In my culture, it is common for a girl of 16 to marry, and usually to marry an older man. Girls of the appalachians are trained in homemaking from a very early age. Mothers pass on to thier daughters what the job of wife entails and the girls go willingly into it at such an early age. It doesnt happen often anymore, but in my generation and those previous to mine, it is commonplace.
So if the girl is culturally aclimated, is it immoral? If you grow up expecting certain things to happen, and you prepare for them, does it matter that another culture disagrees?
I think the important element here is choice. If you have chosen a country and a religion that say if you consume alcohol and have extramarital sex you will be flogged, then I personally don't think we westerners should have anything to say about it. After all, it's not like they flogged him for eating rice on tuesday instead of friday. He had the option to not do the things he did.
I have an issue with female circumcision because it involves a permanent physical change before the child is old enough to make a decision. Hypocritically, I have none of that issue about males. But it is my understanding that female circumcision leaves the person impotent, whereas male does not.
Anyway, I lean toward the "let them do thier thing" side most of the time. Canada may be a multicultural country but it really has little tolerance for non-western cultures even in her aboriginal peoples.
