[Alchemy]

Your daughter had a VERY different up bringing than a girl (same age), likely poor, in Nigeria. Emotional development has less to do with age than the society/circumstances one is raised in. The maturity level of your daughter and a 13 year old girl from Afghanistan for example would be poles apart; only because one child has had a pampered life, shielded from the realities and hardships of life while the other has been exposed to them all her life.

that said, I do not condone marrying off 13 year olds.

This is very true. Social conditions like HIV in which child headed homes have become the norm in these countries generally display emotional maturity not generally found in children.

[Gravy]

This is very true. Social conditions like HIV in which child headed homes have become the norm in these countries generally display emotional maturity not generally found in children.

There is no way to gauge maturity; so you cant use it as a standard for making decisions.

Also, (im not sure if you were implying this) just because a 13 year old girl takes on signifigant household responsibility does not mean she is ready for sex.

[Alchemy]

There is no way to gauge maturity; so you cant use it as a standard for making decisions.

Also, (im not sure if you were implying this) just because a 13 year old girl takes on signifigant household responsibility does not mean she is ready for sex.

True, there may not be a universal tool to gauge maturity, but you will find that all studies show that emotions are developed rather than instilled at childbirth so denying conditions that arise to psychosocial maturity is extremely ignorant. As Samuel Ullman said “Youth is not only a time of life, it is also a state of mind and a matter of will…”.

Just how are you able to measure sexual readiness using the barometer of western family, which plays an important role in the personality development of children in western societies? I mean can you honestly say that stimuli found in slums and suburbs allow childrens emotions to develop on an equal fotting. Do you believe that they would have the same sensitivity to their environments and the people that they interact with?

[Jackal]

In the modern, Christian world this is distasteful and as a Catholic I find it as such. However, even though I feel it is barbarity, it is not in a modern Western, Christian nation so I do not care too much about this. I support a Christian Nigeria and a Muslim Nigeria (to put an end to this division) and each side should go about its business. I also do not care if such a marriage happened in Chad, Azerbaijan, or any other Muslim world. We abide by our set of rules and we should let them abide by theirs, as long as their set does not interfere/conflict against ours.