" I think it is extremely valid to question this episode as "a major tragedy". "

Why would you consider it "extremely" valid to question this, yet you question others who consider this a "tragedy" in their own culture?   Steve, how does this effect your world to the "extreme", so much that you feel compelled to write about it? Yet, when someone else feels their world has a "tragedy", there is something about your moral compass that is compelled to question it?   Sorry, but it sounds a little inconsistent to me.

As I read through some of these posts, I do see people looking for knowledge and understanding. I see others that wish for nothing more than an altercation and an excuse to act out. This discussion had nothing to do with your opinion of religion and dogma, yet some of you feel a need to find an opportunity to share your thoughts with the world - at the expense of others who in their own world are feeling troubled. Instead of compassion, or simply ignoring, some people choose to put salt in the wound. What does that say about you?

Rabbi Sol, you have my sympathy - although I don't think you were looking for any. Your post appears to have been an attempt to share some knowledge and give those of us who do not understand the culture a bit of insight.   What attracted me to the world of folk music and folklore was the ability to see and understand cultures that were different from my own. I guess that there are still people around who suffer from ethnocentric leanings and do not wish to understand. It is easier to pass judgement instead of trying to learn something.

I hope that something good can come from this terrible situation.