Muslim feminists from around the world vowed to create the first women’s council to interpret the Koran and overcome two stereotypes about their religion: Muslims are terrorists and Islam oppresses women.
Many in the newly formed group, the Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality, or WISE, said strict sharia law was not divine because it was created by men and should be changed to incorporate women’s rights.
“In our societies men hold power and they decide what Islam should mean and how we can obey that particular understanding of Islam,” said Zainab Anwar, executive director of Sisters in Islam, a Malaysian organization working on women’s rights within the Islamic framework.
“I can’t live with a God that is unjust,” she said. “The law is progressive, but those men controlling the law aren’t.”
Does everyone understand why the meeting wasn’t held in one of the centers of the Islamic world – like Riyadh, Tehran or Islamabad?
More ‘have your cake and eat it too’ cafeteria religion.
Keep the parts you like and disavow anything that displeases or inconveniences you, just keep ignoring the elephant in the room – the fact that the entire enterprise is a ludicrous crock of primitive man-made idiocy.
The lengths that the average human will go to cling to their pet irrationalities never ceases to amaze.
Well put Lauren.
Don’t spare our feelings Lauren. Tell us how you really feel.
I know, I do tend to sugarcoat things, don’t I? 🙂
1,4, Lauren, Awwright! Now we can have a new religious war, ’cause some terrorists won’t be gettin’ any for awhile. Cool. 😉
5, 1 – Well, at least they’re catching up with Lysistrata, written in 411 before the “common era” as BC now means. Or maybe Aristophanes foresaw these Muslim women long before they heard the siren song of distaff empowerment. A prophet, in fact. Quick – we need a new religion! Maybe Lauren will agree to be our pope, that would be perfect when we adopt a fish symbol.
Jeez I wish my wife would get back with my meds.
>>Does everyone understand why the meeting wasn’t held in one of the centers of the Islamic world – like Riyadh, Tehran or Islamabad?
You know why! Neither Riyadh nor Tehran would host it. Islamabad might host it but conservatives might try to attack it.
#1 >> the fact that the entire enterprise is a ludicrous crock of primitive man-made idiocy.
>> The lengths that the average human will go to cling to their pet irrationalities never ceases to amaze.
If only everyone in the world were just as gracious and respectful as Lauren!
C’mon Lauren, you’re as intolerant and disrespectful of religious differences as the worst of Christians.
(Lauren’s religious intolerance got me off-track from the subject. )
This meeting is potentially a very good thing. (assuming these women are progressives — not all are!)
Both the west and the Muslim world need some serious reformation if we are going to avert a horrific “Clash of Civilizations” between one billion Muslims and the several hundred million of us in the West.
Islam needs to loosen the grip of conservatism on its religion.
The West — especially Americans — need to learn that military solutions to international conflicts usually create more problems than it solves. (mostly a conservative problem but not exclusively)
So, this conference could help the Muslim side. What can help the Western side?
For years humans have had two choices: God or Darwin. Today our choices are God, Darwin or Lauren. Actually I’m surprised she paused her soundtrack to the vagina monologs long enough to make the post, perhaps she’s multitasking.
Feminism only liberated slacker men. If we listen to God, women don’t belong in the military. If we listen to Darwin, women don’t belong in the military. Global warming is a myth cooked up by the U.N. to redistribute wealth. Liberals have never made an honest wage, they live off the sweet of Conservatives. The South should have won the Civil War. And, oh yes…Nuke Iran.
Let’s see how many of you start name calling.
9- I like you because your screen name looks like bacon…. and I LOVE Bacon…. therefore Beacon looks like Bacon and I love bacon…. so thus I love Beacon…..
John S
Women in burkhas get me hot! There never is a panty line.
Now watch all those peace loving Muslim men start killing their woman.
–I mean killing them more often.
Lord I do love a religion of “peace and tolerance”!
#11 I still remember people complaining that the UN (or anyboydy from the intl’ comunity, fot that matter) didn’t get militarily involved earlier in Bosnia and that, had they done so, it wouldn’t have been as bad.
When you say “people” of course you mean Repubilcans who, back then, were dead-set and philosophically against using the military for nation building.
My, how things have changed.
Bosnia could be a case study for how careful and judicious use of the military can help stabilize a situation.
Iraq is a case study of how coming in with full-guns blazing will make things a helluva lot worse than if we had maintained the status quo.
#13 >>Now watch all those peace loving Muslim men start killing their woman.
As opposed to our country which now killing their woman.
On a related note, this is the BBC news of the day:
British requests for access to 15 Royal Navy personnel held by Iran have been denied, the UK has said. In a meeting in Tehran between Iranian government officials and the UK ambassador, Iran also failed to say where the 15 were being held.
The UK will need help attacking Iran to get these 15 guys (probably spies on a mission) back. Who do you think will join in, and open another war front?
#16 — we’re all waiting for something like this.
Bush and his neocon demons are itching for a war in Iran but are seemingly to stupid to realize that a war on Iran would surely be an much bigger mess than Iraq.
If we bomb Iran’s nuke sites — there is about a 0% chance that Iran will just take it without retaliation.
What Iran’s counter-attack will be is the great question. One scary possibility, that comes to mind, is a dirty-bomb attack on the Green Zone.
More likely, is a full-court press to take Iraq from our hands through
their Shiite proxies in Iraq.
I’m not making any specific predictions — just that it is very unlikely that Iran will just take it. It’s also TOTALLY LIKELY that the Bush administration has not anticipated this at all. They never anticipate anything, it seems, outside of domestic politics.
Lauren, ‘pick and choose’? Who are you kidding?
It’s a good thing there are no theological disagreements or differences of opinion of how Christianity should be practiced, right?
Terry,
I gather Lauren is against religion, in general, not just Islam.
I, personally, think one way any religion can go off the rails is if the devout don’t “pick and choose.” This is part of reformation — which any religion needs after enough centuries pass.
#9 Did you get to the party late or are you funnin when you portray The Fish as female?
hi
i’m a puertorican who converted to islam three years ago with my wife. I’m so happy with islam in my life. I pass from being a drunk abussive and unhealthy person to a drug free organized and dicsiplined man. The problem with islam are two things.
One, the tradition and regional customs are not part of the sharia and there are brothers claiming that this spiritual sickness is part of the religion of allah. The prophet muhammad himself banned adding things to the sharia. He also forbade forced mariages, told us to be merciful with our wifes, and not to kill innocent people.Islam was the first group in the world claiming human rights in the 7th century, having female khalifas, scollars and with important possitions in the goverment, while in america and europe this rights were given in the past century. Who’s the one having naked women loking at their butts intead of their minds. Now who abuses of women
Two, It will be unfare that i judge all americans for the thimoty mcveigh bombings, the killings made by the klu klux klan, or the abuses and killings of the catholic inquisition. There are 2.5 bbillion muslims in the world and the number is growing dramatically in U.S. and Europe. If Islam was the monster the media has portrate none of these people will be acepting Islam. Please read from the right sources and don’t be so racist calling a whole muslim world idiots for just a few hipocrites that call themselves muslims.
I congatulate sisters like this ones in malasya and arround the world speaking the truth about islam.
I don’t get you John…
First you complain about Muslims getting hard with their women. Then, when finally they become organized, you complain too?
So…let’s talk about women in America of the XX century? How about that? What happened to her in the days before the 60’s and 50’s?
It takes time things to move on, but at least, they are moving!
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