Here is an interesting article on discrimination against women in Religion

This article follows along the same lines of the issues we dealt with in class.

Religious discrimination against women
© G.M. Woerlee


The texts of the Torah, Bible and Koran preach discrimination against women, degradation and subjugation of women, and even violence against women! In other words, the texts of these "holy books" systematically ensure a second-class status for one half of the world population - women! And all these things are forced upon us by a "loving God", and preached by the prophets of this very same "loving God".

Many people might say that sanctified subjugation of women, discrimination against women, and violence against women are things of the past. They are wrong! These things are alive and well today, and are becoming ever more common with the current increasing worldwide tendency towards religious fundamentalism based upon literal interpretations of the Bible and the Koran. So let us examine how the texts of these loathsome books, and the evil religions derived from them, give rise to institutionalized and sanctified discrimination against women (this article is a supplement to the extensive chapter on "Holy Misogyny" in The Unholy Legacy of Abraham).

Jews, Christians, and Muslims all berate women for causing humanity to be driven out of paradise. As a result of the original sin of the first woman, people lost the gift of immortality, had to work hard to find food, and were no longer blessed by a direct interaction with God (Torah and Bible, Genesis, chapter 3). The fault of this first and original sin rests heavily upon the shoulders of womankind, justifying all manner of religion-justified nastiness directed against them. Indeed, many passages in the Torah and the Bible teach us that women are not only inferior, but also must obey men, because God tells us that men are their masters.

Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. (Bible, Genesis 3:16)

And if anyone thinks this ruling was abrogated by Jesus or his disciples, then think again. For we read that the holy Saint Paul himself said:

Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. (Bible, Ephesians 5:22-24)

And not to forget what Saint Peter also said about the necessity for women to submit to thier husbands:

Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. (Bible, 1 Peter 3:1-6)

This passage has profound consequences when interpreted very literally. For example, this passage could be interpreted to mean that if you are a woman married to a psychopathic, violent husband, you must submit to him, obey his every whim, allow him to abuse and beat you regularly, at the same time as you try to change his ways by means of the example of your long-suffering obedience, purity, and piety. Your reward for all this will be eternal life in heaven - shame about your life on earth. However it's probably all part of God's inscrutable, and undoubtedly wonderful plan for women. This brings us to another fascinating example of wondrous discrimination against women in the Bible - the stoning of girls who are not virgins on their wedding night …

The girl's father will say to the elders, "I gave my daughter in marriage to this man, but he dislikes her. Now he has slandered her and said, 'I did not find your daughter to be a virgin.' But here is the proof of my daughter's virginity." Then her parents shall display the cloth before the elders of the town, and the elders shall take the man and punish him. They shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver [a] and give them to the girl's father, because this man has given an Israelite virgin a bad name. She shall continue to be his wife; he must not divorce her as long as he lives. If, however, the charge is true and no proof of the girl's virginity can be found, she shall be brought to the door of her father's house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done a disgraceful thing in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father's house. You must purge the evil from among you. (Bible, Deuteronomy 22:16-21)

Oh…? And what about men who are not virgins on their wedding night? Why are only women stoned for not being virgins on their wedding night, and not men? Nowhere in the Bible does God talk of punishing men for not being virgins on their wedding night - God only tells us in these books that women must be punished. This is but one extreme example of the many, many instances of discrimination against women in the Bible.

And so it is that while women are considered as friendly little creatures, useful to have about the house for fun, sex, childbearing, cooking, and cleaning - they are also loathsome little creatures who try dragging men, (who are by implication holy and pure by nature), into the filthy pit of hell with them.

Many are the victims she has brought down; her slain are a mighty throng. Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death. (Bible, Proverbs 7:26-27)

Women are considered by this verse as sinful, and many other verses in the Bible also tell us that women are also unclean, such as this example:

Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. And doth thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee? Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one. (Bible, Job 14:1-4)

In other words, humans are doomed to die because they are born out of unclean women! Original sin, inherent sinfulness, and uncleanliness are all used as justification for the atrocities perpetrated upon women throughout history. All manner of Christian sects during the last 2000 years have found all manner of Bible verses justifying discrimination against women, violence against women, and even religiously sanctioned rape of captive women.

In the book of Deuteronomy in the enlightened Christian Bible, as well as in the old Jewish Torah, God gave Moses clear instructions as to when the followers of Judaism and Christianity could rape captive women after slaughtering their families …

When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the LORD thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive, And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife; Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house, and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife. And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her. (Bible, Deuteronomy 21:10-14)

As if this were not enough, the God of the Jews and the Christians also sanctions killing infants and ripping open pregnant women during wars.

Samaria shall bear her guilt; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword; their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up. (Bible, Hosea 13:16)

Horrible, horrible. And to think that these are the everlasting laws of a "loving" and "merciful" God, meant to be applied for all eternity! Religions with such instructions are truly evil religions! Islam is no better. Even though many followers of Islam vehemently deny it exists, religious discrimination against women in Islam is embedded in the very structure of Islam, and is even plainly stated in various verses in the Koran. For example, the Koran tells the blessed followers of Islam that women are inferior to men, and require punishment for even suspected disobedience ...

Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah hath guarded. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them. Then if they obey you, seek not a way against them. Lo! Allah is ever High, Exalted, Great. (Koran 4:34)

This verse in the Koran has done more than any other to justify discrimination against women in Islam, to justify their inferior position, as well as actually encouraging violence against women. Many followers of Islam say that such verses should not be interpreted literally. Personally I find this a very strange attitude. After all, many followers of Islam state that the Koran is a perfectly exact and literal transcription of the revelations of God to his last and best prophet Mohammed. So if these are the exact instructions of God, then they should be obeyed by the good followers of Islam. Accordingly, discrimination against women in Islam is ordained by God, and to deviate from divine laws requiring disobedient women to be beaten is to commit heresy. Mohammed himself knew as no other how to treat women in the way God ordained. He was a compassionate man who told his followers to treat their women "kindly".

Narrated Abdullah bin Zam'a: The Prophet said, "None of you should flog his wife as he flogs a slave and then have sexual intercourse with her in the last part of the day." (Sunnah of Bukhari 62:132)

This is true evidence of divine inspiration of the last and best prophet of God! I am sure many generations of women have wept tears of joy and gratitude for this, among all the other clear proofs of "God's love" and "care" for women …



Modern examples of religious violence against women
Religiously sanctioned discrimination against women, and violence against women are still alive and thriving! Here are few examples.

The Bible tells us that women are forbidden to wear men's clothing (Bible, Deuteronomy 22:5). We read in the South African newspapers in the year 2007 CE, that women who dare to wear pants in some parts of Durban are stripped to their underwear or naked, beaten, and their houses burnt. All this for just daring to wear pants (read the newspaper report of this incident).

During 2007 CE in Pakistan a fanatical fundamentalist gunman killed a female politician for violating the Islamic dress code (read the newspaper report of this incident).

During 2002 CE a fire broke out in a large girl's school in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The Religious police prevented girls who were improperly dressed, (according to the Islamic dress code), from leaving the burning school. The result was that 14 girls burned to death because they were improperly dressed according to the religious police, who actively prevented the fire brigade and police from helping these unfortunate girls. Shame! Unspeakable! Such monsters are no more than unspeakable instruments of a truly evil religion (read the true report of this "incident").

A list of examples of how religion profoundly influences our lives, and encourages discrimination against women is unending...



The Unholy Legacy of Abraham frees your mind
The situation of women in many fundamentalist communities, be they Jewish, Christian, or Islamic, has not changed from what is evident in these passages. Read more about similar topics in the The Unholy Legacy of Abraham. This is one of the few books in which you can learn all about those nasty places in the holy books of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, used by all vile fanatical slaves of these religions to justify violence against women, mistreatment of women, discrimination against women, and in general to justify regarding women as inferior to men. After reading this book you will no longer view these religions in quite the same way again, because you will have transcended the systems of thought forming the basis of these books. You will have achieved transcendence, you will be free of the mire of these religions, be free of enslavement to the cesspit of guilt in which fanatics try to force you to wallow, and you will learn the true nature of existence after death. By reading The Unholy Legacy of Abraham you will learn to rise above the mire of murky and misunderstood religious thought systems, and will be uplifted to a person whose thoughts transcend those of the world in which you live.

http://www.unholylegacy.woerlee.org/discrimination-of-women.php