Should we always excuse abuse if it falls under "religion"?

I think we start by not excusing human abuses just because it falls under "religion".  Women should not be considered second-class (or in the case of Saudi Arabia, more like slave-class) just because people interpret their religion in that way.  Sure, it can become a slippery slope, but  there is no way any human with a conscience can excuse girls being sold into marriage, or being denied freedoms just because some dusty old book says that men should rule over them.  It simply can't be excused, and we have to start by simply saying so.

See, I think there's a point when we have to say that something is not tolerable, whether sanctioned by religion or "culture".  Human rights violations are human rights violations.  Killing gays, subjecting women to what amounts to slavery, imprisoning people because they don't believe in the "right" god . . . none of that should be tolerated.  It's not a Western view.  It's a Humanistic view.  Treating other humans as less than human is not a matter that should be excused or tolerated because it's part of a different culture.  Maybe we can't force a change, but we don't have to shrug our shoulders and say, "well, it's not our business how you treat your women and children" and look the other way.  We need to start  saying out loud, "This is not okay."  We need to stop excusing it as "cultural differences".

I think we've allowed too many abuses in the world by saying that it's not our business.  We are all a part of the human race.  Nation borders don't change that.  I think we have a responsibility for each other, and while I recognize that I can't force a backwards culture to give up its misogynistic ways, I certainly can say that I think it's wrong.  It took us a while to involve ourselves in WWII, but eventually we did.  Maybe the reasons were political, but they were also humanistic.  We didn't like what Germany was doing to its own citizens, and we set out to free them and shut down the concentration camps.  How is this different?  Except that we're not going to invade a country for its mistreatment of girls and women . . . that doesn't mean that we can't voice our disapproval.