Religion and the Repression of Women

 

                                                                      illustration from Wired 

Sometimes I regret that I don't believe in Hell as a place of eternal torment because there are people who I would gladly consign there. And even if I did, I doubt I would be given the role of judge by the God of justice and mercy. Who would I send to Hell? A lot of religious people, mainly men, from a variety of religious traditions. They are the ones who have convinced themselves and others that their religious convictions give them permission to control the lives of women because the deity or deities has given them this right. 

I see this in the United States where male legislators who often claim to be Christians have passed dreadful laws regarding the reproductive rights of women based on bad theology and even worse science. We've  also seen images from the fundamentalist Christian sects where women are required to dress as though they lived in the 19th century, often with heads covered,  while men wear current clothing.  

I am appalled by what is currently unfolding in Afghanistan where the Islamicist Taliban are crushing the rights of women in every sphere of life. No girls or women are allowed to attend school and they can't leave their homes without accompaniment by a man. Women who provided leadership in the country before the return of the Dark Ages are in exile or are being assassinated. Now Afghans are dying of the cold and starvation because women who are workers in foreign aid agencies aren't allowed to fulfill their roles. 

Now we're told that the Iranian government is using facial recognition with women who aren't "modest" enough in fulfilling draconian quasi-religious laws regarding wearing the hijab.  

This is evil, plain and simple. Religion is not meant to be a blunt tool for repression. Should we be surprised that so many people have been turned off religion when all of this is done in God's name, whatever name is used? It is essential that we identify these regressive practices in any and all religions, decry them, and pray for change. 

Under the Taliban, the mannequins in women’s dress shops across the Afghan capital of Kabul are a haunting sight, their heads cloaked in cloth sacks or wrapped in black plastic bags.