Hirsi Ali on owls and ostrichs

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6 Responses

  1. irisblue says:

    Hello Martijn!

    That was the argument being put forward but there was such a hysterical reaction to the use (wrongly I might add) of the word sharia that the real issues got lost. Religious arbitration has long been around for many different groups –
    For Muslims, and other religious groups without any ‘official’recognition by the government, women’s rights will remain shrouded by patriarchal religious interpretations and without protection outside of the communities involved. There are many women who suffer behind closed doors becasue they wish to follow a religious ruling, yet are being bullied by misogynistic interpetations of Islamic civil law.
    So… no open arbitration that women can use, safely and openly with the certainty that her religious obligations are being met, as well as being protected by Canadian law to make sure she is not being oppressed. Who wins here?
    Sad to see semantics distract people from reality.

  2. martijn says:

    Hi long time, no see 🙂

    Couldn’t agree with you more. But isn’t politics usually about semantics? People should know by now that the word sharia triggers all kinds of reactions, same happened here with a Dutch minister. Are they so ignorant that they don’t realize or do they use it on purpose?

    And of course, in the end we have forgotten that the position of women is the most difficult one (with or without arbitration).

  3. irisblue says:

    i say ignorant.
    it has been a while hasn’t it?
    fasting, work and school combined to make me very very lazy slooooowwwww moving!

  4. F says:

    http://www.cjnews.com/viewarticle.asp?id=10454

    an example of how women suffer from patriarchal interpretations of religion no matter what religion they follow – and how collaborating with the justice system protects them from continued abuse

  5. martijn says:

    Thank you that is a very useful article in this regard. Also very important for the discussion in Canada (and outside) probably.

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