ajax18 wrote:It seems to me the specific promises that Islam offers generates a strong religious fervor and willingness to sacrifice in its followers.
In my experience, Islamic women in their full covering and dress don't strike me as depressed or abused. They seem proud of their religious convictions and walk with their heads held high. I think they're happy because they believe in the promises offered them in the next life as well. I don't think this attitude is the result of being beaten down and conditioned to believe they have less potential for happiness than men do. They must see their own good in it somewhere.
While I don't agree with the Islamic belief system, I do believe that their works and sacrifice will not be completely in vain. To me Newton's second law applies to spiritual matters as well. I can't help but respect their fasting, committment to family, and faith in the afterlife. The universe always has a way of balancing itself out.
Hi Ajax,
I'm assuming you are referring to American Muslim women? Yes, in the United States men who beat their wives go to jail. Women can be seen in pubic without getting punished. Our culture is moving to a place where it is not appropriate for a man to harm his wife and children. Not so in other countries.
There is a big difference between women wearing a hijab by choice and women who can't be seen in public without a man, who have to walk behind men, and who are invisible in society, and beaten by their husbands with the blessings of Allah.
Have you ever actually spoken to women who live this way?
Would YOU like living this way? (Not being able to leave your home without a full black cover where you peek out of the black netting of your mask)? Where you have virtually no rights? Where you can't drive a car? Have to walk behind women and girls as an inferior being?
If not, why do you think women are happy with it? Why do you think this works?
I'm reminded of a FLDS woman I once talked to, she was absolutely suffering beyond what I can write. Yet, she "knew" she was doing God's will. She believed she was taking the "Abrahamic test" giving up her life for something in the next. She was vacant of life. It was like she didn't think she even existed.
When a child is constantly abused, she doesn't know anything else. She may not even complain believing her treatment is all part of life.
Similarly, people often find ways to accept their challenges.. doesn't mean they like them or are happy with them. It means humans have the ability to cope, to survive.
Does enslaving, denigrating, degrading women work? It works like slavery. It is all about men gaining power by exploiting others.
Does the universe balance itself out? I do think the universe has a sort of homeostasis but I do not see it in anyway as do you.
We have been out of balance for the past six thousand years and are finally, slowly moving toward a way of life that is more in harmony with existence.
~td~