Thursday, March 22, 2007

Islam Oppresses Women?

It's been quite fashionable as of late for western pundits to flood the airwaves and thoughtwaves of Americans with stories of how "Islam oppresses" women. The women must wear burkas, they can't leave the house without escort and don't have the power of "choice".

Yeah, maybe. But let us not forget that the religion of secularism isn't exactly honoring women either.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Geez, its only 8:30 a.m.

Anonymous said...

But you certainly made your point.

...Ima have to be sure and close my browser today when I'm not in my office. Secretary may wander in and get a shock. At quittin time, I may even delete the cookies. Damn, DV, you gon' have people in here thinkin' I'm crazy.

Anonymous said...

make no mistake, that's going on there as well. free will and bareback. believe that.

Denmark Vesey said...

which is more or less my point Jasai.

"Oppression" is completely subjective.

Just because a woman "chooses" to be gang banged does not mean she is not just as oppressed as a woman forced to wear a Burka or denied the "choice" of leaving her toddler in the care of others while she works in an office all day.

I think we in the west have some nerve.

Anonymous said...

no more or less nerve than anyone else including you. you presume to know which position is more oppressive. i submit that you can know which feels or seems more oppressive to you but that's about as far out as you can reach.

you can never know another man's (or woman's) heart..

I think you beating this subject about the head and neck makes clear where your prejudices lie and that's fine but to attempt to put a whole nation in it's place because their means of subjecting women offends you more than another country's (and again, that presumes these women feel as subjected and oppressed as you feel for them) is a bit like telling me i fell sicker than my neighbor. how would you know? you can not be sick for me nor for them. the most you can say is how I appear to you. it doesn't make you right it just makes you observant. and i guess there ain't no crime in that.

Denmark Vesey said...

"you presume to know which position is more oppressive."

Actually Jasai, that is not what I mean at all.

I don't suggest any culture is "more" oppressive than an other. Far from it.

I am suggesting the massive campaign to characterize the religion of Islam (1.4 billion human beings) as "oppressive of women" is not only hypocritical, not only is it breathtakingly stupid, but that it is evidence of 'radical secularists atheists' waging a propaganda war on people who genuinely worship God.

Today Jasai, it's Muslims. Tomorrow it will be yoga practicing, spiritually eclectic Buddhists.

Anonymous said...

be that as it may - and i do not disagree that a day such as that could come. But as i stated in the first post referencing this subject, someones intention to oppress me has nothing whatsoever to do with the degree in which I understand myself to be oppressed.

That is the critical thing it seems your position is forsaking. I decide how any given situation affects me. I can feel oppressed by riches or empowered by them, opressed by my marriage or empowered by it. The reality of being oppressed comes from within, never from without.

If we taught that to our children in the inner cities, or boys without fathers, or girls without "proper' guidance, what we would have is a nation of overcomers and the oppressed would be far fewer in number.

we are who we think we are. we have what we think we have.

Anonymous said...

be that as it may - and i do not disagree that a day such as that could come. But as i stated in the first post referencing this subject, someones intention to oppress me has nothing whatsoever to do with the degree in which I understand myself to be oppressed.

That is the critical thing it seems your position is forsaking. I decide how any given situation affects me. I can feel oppressed by riches or empowered by them, opressed by my marriage or empowered by it. The reality of being oppressed comes from within, never from without.

If we taught that to our children in the inner cities, or boys without fathers, or girls without "proper' guidance, what we would have is a nation of overcomers and the oppressed would be far fewer in number.

we are who we think we are. we have what we think we have.

Anonymous said...

be that as it may - and i do not disagree that a day such as that could come. But as i stated in the first post referencing this subject, someones intention to oppress me has nothing whatsoever to do with the degree in which I understand myself to be oppressed.

That is the critical thing it seems your position is forsaking. I decide how any given situation affects me. I can feel oppressed by riches or empowered by them, opressed by my marriage or empowered by it. The reality of being oppressed comes from within, never from without.

If we taught that to our children in the inner cities, or boys without fathers, or girls without "proper' guidance, what we would have is a nation of overcomers and the oppressed would be far fewer in number.

we are who we think we are. we have what we think we have.

Anonymous said...

oh please delete those repeated posts. i can't even bear to see me saying so much.

Denmark Vesey said...

LOL. Great post Jasai. All of them.

However, you continue to misinterpret this piece as a contest of oppression as opposed to reality check of perception.

Burka wearing Muslim women in arranged marriages are no more "oppressed" than are thong wearing American women who "choose" to sell $40 blowjobs.

This piece was not about oppression - it was about the selling of perception.

The mainstream mantra that "Islam oppresses women" is so fundamentally flawed, so conceptually ludicrous, that it begs the question - what do they want us to believe and why?

Anonymous said...

after all that back and forth, i agree.

Anonymous said...

Interesting discussion you two. Denmark...this is exactly what I expeceted from your blog. Well done. Can't wait to be able to actively participate in similarly important and timely discussions in the near future.
Blue

Denmark Vesey said...

Hey Blue!

I've been wondering where you were. You are going to get a kick out of Jasai. Gives me a run for my money.

There's so much in this world independent thinking nonconformists like us need to talk about. I call it "Counter Media".

See you soon.

D

Anonymous said...

hmmm, a kick out of me....

is that what it feesl like?