> From: thomas malloy ... > My first reaction was to say that I fail to see > the connection between this part of Gulliver's Travels > and the the question at hand. On further reflection > You have the misguided idea that the difference > between Judeo Christianity and Islam is the same > difference between a Lutheran and a Baptist. This > is just not the case, all you have to do is look > at the fruits of the two systems; Islamic nations have > no rights for women and are all third world economies. > We have rights for women and are all first and second > world economies.
Recently, Amina Wadud, an Islamic scholar at Virginia Commonwealth University was probably the first woman to have presided over a mixed-gender prayer service in public since Islam's earliest days. Wadud thinks women's inequality is not a tenant of the faith but a mark of misguided tradition. She went on to say, "That's where most of the rules came along to say women cannot do things." There is Asra Nomani who is author of the new book "Standing alone in Mecca: An American Woman's Struggle for the Soul of Islam". Nomani stated "It's time that women take their rightful place alongside men." One of the most influential elders in the U.S., Khaled Abou El Fadl, a sheik and a professor of Islamic Law at UCLA, stated that he saw no reason to keep women from leading. Let us not forget Aisha, a wife of Muhammad, who led an army and taught both women and men. The above information was assembled from an article in TIME Magazine. See page 49, 03/28/2005. It would appear that the rights of women who follow the Islamic faith are slowly changing, perhaps waaaay toooo slow for some, for the better in countries where the economies are more advanced and the political systems have had a chance to evolve into democracies. This is beginning to happen in the United States. I also found it interesting to note that Islam originally not as restrictive of the rights of women. I don't think it was scripture that caused Islamic women to lose their rights. The more logical explanation was that men in charge at the time wanted to consolidate their control over all parts of society, and to that end, unfortunately, they were exceedingly successful. Never the less, seems to me that Times are A'Changing. Not fast enough for some Islamic women I would imagine. But they are changing never the less. ... > >Stephen Lawrence wrote: > >The difference lies in the words and thus opinions > >of men, not in the two gods. Peace between these > >world factions must finally be won in the hearts > >of humanity, not in the interpretation of scripture. > > More nonsense, why are there two world views? Two gods > perhaps? That's the story, starting in Genesis 3 and > ending in the last chapter of the Revelation. Speaking of Genesis and the creation of the universe, Thomas, I was wondering what your interpretation of the Scriptures has to say on the possibility of discovering life on other planets in the Universe, and especially intelligent life. Just wondering... Regards, Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com
