Thursday, February 15, 2007
A More Compassionate World
In every society, there needs to be balance. The differences between the Muslim and Western world are striking, and who are we to say which one is better? The United States is all about freedom; of speech, religion and most importantly, freedom to be equal. In Islamic countries, they feel that the West has too many freedoms; that their more conservative way of life is better. An ideal world would be a combination of both sets of ideals. The freedom to be equal is very important, however, in the Muslim community, it is different. Mobarak, a friend of Tony Horwitz says that "women must be protected and cared for, because they are controlled by emotions" (57). He continues to say that "man is not woman, and woman is not man". While this must seem very backwards to Westerners, it has a shred of truth in it. In our modern world, caring and love often seem to be pushed to the side in pursuit of materialistic goods. Some of us will back-stab anyone to get what they want. Where is the compassion for our fellow human beings? In the Muslim world, women are cherished and cared for, abet for the wrong reasons, but cherished all the same. In our modernized word, many of the old values have been turned obsolete? In our hurry to become equal, women of today have lost much of the respect that our elders held. Where are the gentlemen, who will gladly hold the door open, or give a women their coat when it is raining out? Now everyone has become so equal, that we are all the same. There is almost no respect for either gender. In India, "a woman is not to be used up and then thrown away... In India a man takes only one wife and they are one until the funeral pyre" (64). Today, most married couples will become divorced. There is something to be said about a country which has an insignificant divorce rate. Even though the "unmodernized" world of Arabia can be seen as backwards, maybe we need to learn from them, to try to create loving and gentle world, where compassion is valued above all. gr
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
It is certainly true that men and women are inherently different. Our society often pretends that men and women desire the same jobs and lifestyles, and that therefore women are oppressed. The Middle Eastern society is correct in its assertion that the sexes are different; women are more ruled by emotions than men, ask any woman. Where it goes wrong is in its post-colonial fear, it needs to oppress someone. Women, clearly different and therefore easily oppressible, are right there.
Many societies do have equality but separation between the sexes. In Orthodox Judaism, women and men have very separated but equally important tasks, suited to their abilities. Separation between the sexes, unlike between the races does not mean unequal.
Our societies preoccupation with the Muslim woman, while undestandable considering her plight, is very much caught up in our warped idea of a woman who must be completely independent. Many woman seem determined that every woman be independent, just to prove that complete independence is possible. It is not, men and women need to rely on eachothers' strengths. If the Muslim world's radicalism was balanced with its women's ideas, then it would be a much gentler place. as
gr, It seems to me that you are saying women are better off in middle eatsern society than in ours which I find is incorrect.Women have little to no rights in the middle east. A man can have many wives, while if a woman commits adultery she can be stoned. I hardly think living behind a veil and covering your whole body while in public is better than our current situation. I would rather deal with the occasional rudeness that goes on in our society than be horribly oppressed. - AB
Post a Comment