JUST SAY NO TO RELIGION

Women and girls have been discriminated against for too long in a twisted interpretation of the word of God.

I HAVE been a practising Christian all my life and a deacon and Bible teacher for many years. My faith is a source of strength and comfort to me, as religious beliefs are to hundreds of millions of people around the world. So my decision to sever my ties with the Southern Baptist Convention, after six decades, was painful and difficult. It was, however, an unavoidable decision when the convention’s leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that women must be “subservient” to their husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service.

This view that women are somehow inferior to men is not restricted to one religion or belief. Women are prevented from playing a full and equal role in many faiths. Nor, tragically, does its influence stop at the walls of the church, mosque, synagogue or temple. This discrimination, unjustifiably attributed to a Higher Authority, has provided a reason or excuse for the deprivation of women’s equal rights across the world for centuries.

At its most repugnant, the belief that women must be subjugated to the wishes of men excuses slavery, violence, forced prostitution, genital mutilation and national laws that omit rape as a crime. But it also costs many millions of girls and women control over their own bodies and lives, and continues to deny them fair access to education, health, employment and influence within their own communities.

The impact of these religious beliefs touches every aspect of our lives. They help explain why in many countries boys are educated before girls; why girls are told when and whom they must marry; and why many face enormous and unacceptable risks in pregnancy and childbirth because their basic health needs are not met.

In some Islamic nations, women are restricted in their movements, punished for permitting the exposure of an arm or ankle, deprived of education, prohibited from driving a car or competing with men for a job. If a woman is raped, she is often most severely punished as the guilty party in the crime.

The same discriminatory thinking lies behind the continuing gender gap in pay and why there are still so few women in office in the West. The root of this prejudice lies deep in our histories, but its impact is felt every day. It is not women and girls alone who suffer. It damages all of us. The evidence shows that investing in women and girls delivers major benefits for society. An educated woman has healthier children. She is more likely to send them to school. She earns more and invests what she earns in her family.

It is simply self-defeating for any community to discriminate against half its population. We need to challenge these self-serving and outdated attitudes and practices – as we are seeing in Iran where women are at the forefront of the battle for democracy and freedom.

I understand, however, why many political leaders can be reluctant about stepping into this minefield. Religion, and tradition, are powerful and sensitive areas to challenge. But my fellow Elders and I, who come from many faiths and backgrounds, no longer need to worry about winning votes or avoiding controversy – and we are deeply committed to challenging injustice wherever we see it.

The Elders are an independent group of eminent global leaders, brought together by former South African president Nelson Mandela, who offer their influence and experience to support peace building, help address major causes of human suffering and promote the shared interests of humanity. We have decided to draw particular attention to the responsibility of religious and traditional leaders in ensuring equality and human rights and have recently published a statement that declares: “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.”

We are calling on all leaders to challenge and change the harmful teachings and practices, no matter how ingrained, which justify discrimination against women. We ask, in particular, that leaders of all religions have the courage to acknowledge and emphasise the positive messages of dignity and equality that all the world’s major faiths share.

The carefully selected verses found in the Holy Scriptures to justify the superiority of men owe more to time and place – and the determination of male leaders to hold onto their influence – than eternal truths. Similar biblical excerpts could be found to support the approval of slavery and the timid acquiescence to oppressive rulers.

I am also familiar with vivid descriptions in the same Scriptures in which women are revered as pre-eminent leaders. During the years of the early Christian church women served as deacons, priests, bishops, apostles, teachers and prophets. It wasn’t until the fourth century that dominant Christian leaders, all men, twisted and distorted Holy Scriptures to perpetuate their ascendant positions within the religious hierarchy.

The truth is that male religious leaders have had – and still have – an option to interpret holy teachings either to exalt or subjugate women. They have, for their own selfish ends, overwhelmingly chosen the latter. Their continuing choice provides the foundation or justification for much of the pervasive persecution and abuse of women throughout the world. This is in clear violation not just of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but also the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul, Moses and the prophets, Muhammad, and founders of other great religions – all of whom have called for proper and equitable treatment of all the children of God. It is time we had the courage to challenge these views.

For the first time in almost 1,000 years, many of the legendary Byzantine treasures of Mount Athos in Greece are on view to women.

Almost 200 works of art from the male-only Orthodox enclave in northern Greece are on show at the Petit Palais in Paris until July. Most of the works have never previously left the peninsula, from which women – and even most female animals – have been banned since 1045.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/06/mount-athos-treasures-on_n_198043.html

HERAT, Afghanistan (AFP) – Afghanistan’s extremist Taliban publicly executed a young couple who had tried to elope, a provincial governor said Tuesday.

The pair were shot dead on Monday in front of a mosque in the southwestern province of Nimroz, an area where the Islamists have influence.

It followed a decree by local religious leaders that they should be put to death, governor Ghulam Dastageer Azad told AFP.

He branded their execution an “insult to Islam.”

“An unmarried young boy and an unmarried girl who loved each other and wanted to get married had eloped because their families would not approve the marriage,” Azad said.

The pair, both adults, were discovered by Taliban militants and returned to their village in Khash Rod district where the extremists are active.

“Three Taliban mullahs brought them to the local mosque and they passed a fatwa (religious decree) that they must be killed. They were shot and killed in front of the mosque in public,” the governor said.

Azad said some reports said that the families of the young couple might be associated with the Taliban. The Taliban could not be immediately reached for comment.

The 1996-2001 Taliban regime, which was based on an austere interpretation of Islamic Sharia law, carried out public executions by stoning for adultery, while a couple who had sex before marriage would be lashed 100 times and then made to marry.

Extrajudicial “honour killings” are also practised in Afghanistan by families who believe a relative has brought them shame, including by refusing to marry a chosen partner.

The Taliban are waging a bloody insurgency to take back power and have significant influence in several remote and mostly southern districts where they are reported to run their own courts.

In neighbouring Pakistan, the government Monday signed an agreement allowing the Taliban to impose their version of Sharia law in the Malakand district of around three million people in North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

Critics say it will embolden Taliban and Al-Qaeda extremists.

AP, 4/13/09, Noor Kaan
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – A female provincial official known for fighting for women’s rights was gunned down in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, following a day of fighting in the region that left 22 militants dead, officials said.

A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmedi, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Gunmen killed Sitara Achakzai outside her home in Kandahar city and then drove off, said Matiullah Khan Qateh, police chief of Kandahar province. He said the four men drove up on two motorcycles and shot Achakzai as she was getting out of her car.

Achakzai, a dual German-Afghan citizen, spent the years of Taliban rule in Germany and returned to her native country to fight for women’s rights, said Shahida Bibi, a member of the Kandahar women’s association who worked with Achakzai.

A member of Kandahar’s provincial council, Achakzai was vocal in encouraging women to take jobs and encouraging them to fight for equal rights, Bibi said.

CAROLYN THOMPSON | February 17, 2009 09:17 PM EST | AP |

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The crime drips with brutal irony: a woman decapitated, allegedly by her estranged husband, in the offices of the television network the couple founded with the hope of countering Muslim stereotypes.

Muzzammil “Mo” Hassan is accused of beheading his wife last week, days after she filed for divorce. Authorities have not discussed the role religion or culture might have played, but the slaying gave rise to speculation that it was the sort of “honor killing” more common in countries half a world away, including the couple’s native Pakistan.

Funeral services for Aasiya Hassan, 37, were Tuesday. Her 44-year-old husband is scheduled to appear for a felony hearing Wednesday.

by Robert Imrie
The Associated Press, Dec. ‘08

WAUSAU, Wis. (AP) – A judge Monday refused to dismiss reckless homicide charges against parents accused of praying instead of seeking a doctor’s care as their 11-year-old daughter died of untreated diabetes.

Marathon County Circuit Judge Vincent Howard rejected arguments that prosecuting Dale and Leilani Neumann violated their constitutional rights to freedom of religion and due process.

“The free exercise clause of the First Amendment protects religious belief, but not necessarily conduct,” Howard wrote in a 20-page decision.

Parents have a legal obligation in Wisconsin to project their children, care for them in sickness and do whatever may be necessary for their “care, maintenance and preservation, including medical attendance if necessary,” the judge said.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

OLYMPIA, WA — Several hundred people rallied Sunday at the state Capitol to protest a holiday display inside that provoked a national outcry by disparaging religion and declaring there is no God.

The “winter solstice” sign sponsored by the atheistic Freedom from Religion Foundation calls religion “myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”

An organizer at Sunday’s rally, Steve Wilson, said outrage over the display was growing, and that it was offensive to people of all faiths.

“When it comes to disparaging my faith on public property, that’s where I draw the line,” Wilson said.

Three counterprotesters stood at the side of the rally, holding up signs that said, “Get Over It.”

The sign went up Dec. 1 in the Capitol rotunda, alongside a “holiday” tree and a Nativity scene.

It generated national debate after TV talk-show host Bill O’Reilly made it an issue on his program.

Gov. Chris Gregoire’s office reported receiving hundreds of calls, mostly to protest the state’s decision to allow the sign to be displayed.

Gregoire and Attorney General Rob McKenna have defended the atheists’ right under the law to display their sign in the Capitol.

The state began granting broader access to religious displays a few years back, after a Jewish group added a Hanukkah menorah to the long-standing display of a massive evergreen Christmas tree — these days called a “holiday tree” — sponsored by the Association of Washington Business.

Organizers pleaded with Sunday’s crowd to keep messages positive, but there were still signs portraying Gregoire as a Grinch. Even scheduled speakers took political pot shots.

“You have led the state of Washington to be the armpit of America. And I’m afraid that our governor is the one adding the offensive odor to the armpit,” said the Rev. Ken Hutcherson, a Christian preacher known in the region for his commentary on social issues.

Also on hand was a manger scene made from balloons.

The wise men were missing, but the scene included an image of O’Reilly slugging Gregoire.

The atheist sign was briefly stolen Friday but was returned to the Capitol after somebody dropped it off at a Seattle radio station.

It was restored to its display site, along with the added message, “Thou shalt not steal.”

State Patrol troopers were on duty at the rally site, but no problems were reported. Source: seattlepi.com