Dec 10 2007
What I Want for Christmas is… No Violence in the Name of Religion
Especially, less violence against women.
I cringe at all forms of violence in the name of religion, be they psychological, or infringements upon personal liberties. I cannot find anything moral or any virtue in teaching children that they must obey a fictional character such as Jesus, or in teaching little girls that their purpose in life is to grow up, marry, obey their husbands and make babies.
But, I can accept that adults may believe in the god of their choice. I can accept that some find comfort in the placebo of religion.
But the brutality some unleash in the name of religion is sickening:
“Khalaf [Iraqi Police chief Maj. Gen] said bodies have been found [in Basra] in garbage dumps with bullet holes, decapitated or otherwise mutilated with a sheet of paper nearby saying, “she was killed for adultery,” or “she was killed for violating Islamic teachings.” In September, he said, the headless bodies of a woman and her 6-year-old son were among those found. He said a total of 40 deaths were reported this year.
“We believe the number of murdered women is much higher, as cases go unreported by their families who fear reprisal from extremists,” he said.”
(International Herald Tribune, “Police chief in southern city of Basra says religious vigilantes have killed 40 women this year,” Dec. 9, 2007)
Of course, this news is no news, as these stories have surfaced more and more recently. Also, there are plenty organization who deal with violence against women, and some even take a look at the interplay of religion and violence against women.
And then we have those who simply don’t get it, such as conservative Phyllis Schlafly who claims that if the US adopted an International Violence Against Women act it would diminish the benefits that American women enjoy, because:
U.S. women are the most privileged class of people on the face of the earth. That’s because we are the beneficiaries of the Judeo-Christian civilization, including the requirement in the Ten Commandments to honor mothers and the Christian religion that honors the Virgin Mary and respects women.
Schlafly’s words are in line with all other tyrants’ ideas that their regime is good and just, and as a result there can’t be any violence within the confines of their establishment.
Another view religious folk take on the issue of religion and violence is that church teachings themselves are not the perpetrators of violence but rather how people interpret religious teachings and choose to act.
The National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women published an article co-written by a reverent and a rabi, that promotes the idea that religious leaders should receive training on how to deal with victims of violence, and secular advocates should have training on how to address religious issues. The article faults religion only for “roadblocks” to handling violence.
So far so good. But they take the issue a step further and state,
Training for advocates should include addressing the religious concerns that women may present and how to make appropriate referrals to religious resources.
Once again, the assumption is that the particular teachings of that religion are not the source of the problem, and the problem can be treated from within the jurisdiction of that religious group.
Certain religious, such as the Mormon church, discourage consulting with psychiatrists or psychologists outside of those recommended by the church leaders themselves.
In reality, if the religious source is the problem, referring the victim back to the perpetrator may not be an option. It would be similar to sending the wife for counseling with the mother of the perpetrator– odds are the victim will get the blame.
Also, if the religious leader has similar opinions with Schlafly, referring the victim back to the religion may result in the amplification of the problem. If the violence is stemming from the religious group itself, yet the religious group leaders are refusing to recognize violence issues within their religion the claims of violence will just be written off and the victim will be pushed back into the circle of violence.
While there are many who appear to present solutions that take respect for religion into consideration, there are very few solutions that accept religion as the perpetrator. Is it time to rethink where to turn for help?
5 responses so far
It is only by the denial of the fact that atheism is a religion that you can say what you have about religion being the cause of all of the world’s evils. Atheism is a religious stance or philosophical religion practiced by fanatics of the worst sort. It leads to tyranny as in the USSR. They certainly didn’t lack for the violent shedding of blood in the name of Marxism. RLJ
You are correct, the assumption is that Atheism is not a religion. Frequently the only defense religious folk can play against their religion is to say atheism is a religion too. I am still hoping one of these days someone will realize that counter-attack is not a proper logical defense.
Stalin is an example of a tyrant, who did kill religious folk, but he also killed scientists, and anyone whose work might have threatened his regime. After WWII he allowed revival of the Orthodox Church after the NKVD (secret services) recruited the Church to do its work. Stalin also placed restrictions on science, only allowing ideologically safe science to be performed. Area such as genetics, and cybernetics were seen as bourgeois pseudosciences. His regime was not determined by atheism, no matter how hard some folk try to make it so. Stalin attempted control on all and any aspects of life regardless of whether it was science or religion, for the ideals of Marxist-Leninist ideology.
Are you using the statement that atheists are fanatics of the worst sort to avoid the issue at hand, that claiming religious ideals a certain group in Iraq has been killing women who refuse to wear their head scarf? I’m not sure if you’re defending them, or committing the same fallacy as Schlafly, by denying the existence of violence just because you think religion is good and kind, thus it can’t possibly be violent. Think again.
This was a great post.
(Pity about the trolling that followed it. Why do they even bother, if they can’t read the text to even respond to its actual content not its imaginary content?)
Wonderful post. I have another example, this from my childhood (long, long ago):
I moved to Western Maryland when I was in sixth grade. Wow. Talk about culture shock. From a small Arizona town with people from all over the country, and a very well educated group at that, to a serious bible-belt area. A girl in my sixth grade class got pregnant. The father was her thirty-five year old uncle.
Her parents said she had to have the child. They also said she had to stay in school. This was ‘god’s punishment’ for the girl. She was being punished by god because she ’seduced’ her uncle. I have no idea if any of this hit the courts. In the late ’70s, I tend to doubt it.
I realize this is a different tack on your post, but much of religious violence, through (possible intentional) misrepresentation of ‘holy’ writings, comes more within families than without. For every women’s health clinic bombed, how many girls have been beaten (possibly to death) in the United States as punishment for failure to be pure? We will never know.
Schlafly calls women in America the most privileged class of people on earth. Tell that to a 12-year old girl forced to have her uncle’s child becuase mom and dad believe that this is god will punish her. Tell that to a woman who’s husband has bought into the Christian Domestic Discipline idea (which says that, basically, as man of the house, the husband has the right to beat his wife and kids to ‘correct’ their behavior). Tell that to a woman who has been told by her doctor that another pregnancy would threaten her life, but her church says that birth control is immoral.
I truly feel sick over the religious violence in Iraq. And Iran. And Saudi Arabia. And America. Though American religious violence is often much more covert, it still exists. As long as men sieze and twist religious dogma into a macho-rambo maleficent worldview, this problem will continue. Everywhere.