Are religions unfair to women?

""If we look at the real world, there are thousands of women – millions of women, all around the world who, as a result of religion, are being denied the right to vote, being denied the right to drive, being denied the right to leave the house and get the job that they want. Young girls are having their clitorises removed, unsafely, in unsanitary conditions. Women being killed, women having their lives ruined, and we're sat here bickering about what verses mean. Just look at the real world – religion is incredibly damaging to women".

Yep! I totally agree with all of that. Glad my religion is Christian.

You don't have to answer. It's obvious what the answer is. All of it is true. And all of it is done in the name of religion.

So, lily, which bit of this quote from the article is bullshit and which bit is true?
"If we look at the real world, there are thousands of women – millions of women, all around the world who, as a result of religion, are being denied the right to vote, being denied the right to drive, being denied the right to leave the house and get the job that they want. Young girls are having their clitorises removed, unsafely, in unsanitary conditions. Women being killed, women having their lives ruined, and we're sat here bickering about what verses mean. Just look at the real world – religion is incredibly damaging to women".

Bulls something!

The essay is a bull's eye – which expression, just for your information, is not used in target archery.

It is a good target precisely because it is true. Why shouldn't people who care about justice attack injustice wherever they see it? We don't have to attack all of it all at the same time. We can focus on "good targets" wherever they are. This happens to be one of the best in the sense of most obvious and easy not to miss!

But what the essay says is true, regardless of whether there is evil outside of religion. The article isn't saying all aspects of religion are evil. It is describing evil things that religion endorses. This essay is addressing the unfair and unjust in religion and the excuses that are made for it.

No. Oppressive religion is one form of oppression. It doesn't 'add to' other forms of oppression. It is easy to identify 'religion' without further definition as the cause of all the ills in the world. It gives you a target to have a go at and makes it unnecessary to have to analyse or even think about the cloudier aspects of life. Man (and woman) cannot face too much reality.

Of course there is evil outside religions. But religion taken to extreme adds to it.

And other oppressors don't exist?

"Secularism does not control belief; it keeps religious oppressors away from power and, most importantly, keeps women safe and free from these oppressors."

It's not bizarre at all. Power corrupts says it all. Religion is about power.

Sorry, but I can't think of any other description for such a bizarre view of the world.

I accept that you don't agree with her, Lilygran, but she is definitely not barking.

She is barking! Historical precedent suggests that the dominant group(s) in any society, culture, class will exploit and suppress people outside that group. We had thousands of years of chattel slavery all over the world until in the 18th century a body of Christians mainly in this country and the US spoke out against it and successfully campaigned to bring it to an end. It still exists almost everywhere. Bad things have been done in the name of religion(s). The same bad things, and worse, have been done for other reasons or no reason other than that power corrupts. The most dangerous and violent regimes in our lifetimes have described themselves as atheistic or 'secular'. You don't have to believe to be moral but it doesn't follow that you have to be 'secular' to be good!

Great article! My pet hate is the way justifications for oppressing, abusing and terrorising women are intellectualised, as though to convince us that, if we only understood culture, religion, the status quo, we would accept the need for this treatment. Anne Marie Waters cuts through that crap!

Excellent article. It's what I've always said - I don't have a problem with people believing what they like. It's religion I have a problem with. Too controlling as this was the reason why they were created in the first place - to control the populus.

High-five to Anne Marie Waters. A powerful article.

Religions are human constructs so they reflect the prevailing culture, which has historically been male-dominated in the majority of cultures.