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Women's Rights & Religion
Former president Jimmy Carter and other world leaders issued this statement: "The justification of discrimination against women and girls on grounds of religion or tradition, as if it were prescribed by a Higher Authority, is unacceptable." What's your reaction to these statements? Are 'male interpretations of religious texts' to blame for the 'deprivation of women's equal rights?'
Riding in the back seat of a taxi to Washington's Reagan National Airport last week I asked the taxi drive where he was from. He answered, "Afghanistan, but I've been in America for twenty years." It seemed like an answer to head off any preconceptions I might have about people from Afghanistan.
We talked about Washington weather, the economy and his recent move back to D.C. from Chicago where his jewelry business was forced to close in our downsized economy. Then he switched the conversation to politics and war in his home country. He said that the Taliban won't allow full education of women and strongly asserted that the Taliban "isn't really Muslim." At least to his thinking it was not his religion that deprived women of their human rights but an aberration of his religion played out in politics.
The Bible extols many women leaders from Deborah who led the nation of Israel to Priscilla who was a New Testament teacher. That doesn't mean that there have not been individuals who have used the Bible as a tool to deprive women and others of their human rights. There always have been and always will be those who interpret faith for personal and political purposes. But, let's be sure that we decry the injustice most of all and not only the texts used for purposes of injustice.
As we promote justice, equality and human rights we must also respect religious teachings and traditions that specify gender roles within the practice of faith. Promote the full equality and human rights of women and men in every culture but also respect the rights of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and others who define religious orders and roles by gender.
By
Leith Anderson
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July 21, 2009; 2:49 PM ET
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Posted by: LaurelYves | July 22, 2009 12:17 AM
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It is generally a good thing to respect other religions' tenets, but to the degree that power is held more by men than women (religiously or politically), women are going to get the short end of the stick, at least on average.
It seems to me that the religions of the book lend themselves to more than one interpretation or misinterpretation. This gives misogynists have a toehold to support their excuse to maintain their supposed superiority.