Religion and Women

A new group in Dallas is doing very well in bringing the issues and finding answers. I have removed the names of the individuals for the sake of privacy, all it matters is the subject, no matter who says it.

I will be in town on Sunday and plan on participating;

Glad to see the group evolving and expanding, it would be nice to see different points of view.
Its good to see Tao, Hindu, Islam and Christianity have joined in so far. I will invite my Jewish, Bahai, Sikh and Zoroastrian members of the faiths to join us to give a full spectrum of views.

Religion is all about mitigating conflicts and nurturing goodwill, with a simple idea of justice and harmonius co-existence for all of creation. Justice means justice for one and all regardless of gender or any other uniqueness.

The Organizational aspect of religions were typically run by Men, and as such quite a lot of ideas were powered by them, as opposed to the spirituality and religiosity of the religion. No one had the guts to question a few aspects of the culture that was created to suit the whims of such men,
and we have perpetuated those ideas that at times appear to be relgious but find not basis in the scriptures.

Thank God for the internet, human race is given back their freedom to sort out the essence of religion and question what is presented in the name of religion, but ain't there or what is out there is propaganda.

We have to resist the temptations to claim superioririty of one faith over the other, or fight the temptation to demean other faiths. It is not a business to gain customers, it is about spirituality to bring humility, which mitigates conflicts.

I believe spirituality and arrogance are inversely proporations, higher the arrogance lower the spirituality. Arrogance such as - my faith is the best, largest, oldest, diverse or answers evey question... instead faith should inculcate humility, which kills the conficts that emanate from arrogance.

In humility,

Mike Ghouse
www.FoundationforPluralism.com
www.WorldMuslimCongress.com
www.MikeGhouse.net

-----Original Message-----
Subject: Re: The Faith Club -Women's Issues


Welcome:

As to the questions for the next meeting on Women's Issues, I believe what we are looking for is current ideas - what do we presently believe and why. I would hope we would not be concerned about putting our religion in a "bad light" as we all know that religions continue to unfold and develop under divine guidance, or at least Christianity does, according to our sect's beliefs. As we look back, we see customs that were " bad" and "good" -- most important, we see how far we have come. Also, you do not need to answer all of the questions -- basically 1) how does your faith deal with women's issues - 2) what are the issues, if any, in your faith?

Please keep your presentation to no more than 2 pages. Do you plan to attend in person? Or just present a paper? Please submit your paper (whether you attend or not) at least 5 days before the meeting. We like to read the presentation in advance and be ready to discuss. Please send your presentation to all the individuals listed above. We now have 16 participants.

Welcome to our Faith Club, and thank you for participating!

In a message dated 3/11/09 7:44:32 AM, sk writes:

Greetings,

Many Thanks for inviting Kalyan Ji, Hari. It will be a great honor to me as well as Rev. Marylou and all on the group. It will be nice if you include both; as we are going to take a historical perspective of the religions as well as we are looking for some absolutes, beyond - in today's day to day experiences.

You are very valuable to me, because Hinduism is the oldest of all the religions and even Quran talks about it. I lived in Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) India for 14 years in a boarding Convent - Rosary Convent on Gunfoundry, Rosary Convent and my brother20from Little Flower, he was
the first student of Little Flower when it emerged as such from All - Saints

You are welcome..
Sincerely

SK

On Tue, Mar 10, 2009 at 11:02 PM, KV wrote:

Hello all,

Thanks for inviting me...

The questions seem formidable indeed...!

Now I have some concerns regarding the questions themselves :

a. Naturally, each person would be inclined to present their religion in the most favorable of lights... and therefore depart from the truth.... unless one belongs to a religion about which one is either ambivalent, or even hostile...

b. Each person has a subjective understanding of their own religion, which they have acquired through whatever means - their own views are likely to be biased by that... how do we create a balanced perspective...?

c. The religions themselves have gone through major periods of evolution and renewal. Ideas that were valid at a certain time, are no longer valid... etc. So, I wonder if we are going to take a historical perspective of the religions or are we looking for some absolutes i.e. this is what is so ...and it is final for all time ?

KV

On Tue, Mar 10, 2009 at 5:30 PM, HR wrote:

ANamasthe (Hello) everyone

I would like to introduce KVto this group (cc'd in the email). He is the president of SDF organization that is committed to the intellectual study of Hinduism and to the unification and co-ordination of activities of various Hindu organizations.

He will represent the Hindu perspecitve on the issues that are discussed in this interfaith club.

Per our conversation, the faith club need inputs on Women's issues on the next meeting on april 5th. It will be good if we can represent someone during the meeting with the right information. Also please find the email below with the statement of purpose of the faith club.

Regards
H


PS: Here are the questions

We now have 4 faiths represented, Christian, Muslim, Tao & Hindu.

As taught by your religion:

1. How do you believe that women should be treated? Are they to serve man?

2. Should they feel free to discuss matters of concern with men?

3. What is the role of the father in a marriage? The mother?

4. How should women dress? Are certain types of clothing taboo?

5. Are women as important as men? Or does God/Allah ordain them to be subjugated to men?

6. Is a single-parent family sinful - especially if the woman has had a child out of wedlock?

7. Are there ritualistic practices that invade the body of young women?

8. Are there any empowerments available for women -- or is that sinful?

9. Should women own businesses?

10. Is interchange between women encouraged or discouraged?

11. Should men and women date and decide whom they will marry, or is it better or decreed that the parents will arrange marriages?