I agree that religion can be many things, good and bad. I also agree that the position of women in all of today's religions (that I know about) is questionable, especially Islam. But remember that when their prophet lived, he improved the status of women immeasurably. He gave them inheritance rights, which they had not had at the time and he gave them the right to say "no" to an arranged marriage. The custom of burkas did not come into use until his "movement" was co-opted after his death. There are some scholars who claim that he actually gave the leadership of his movement to Ayosha (spellings vary), who was an eighteen-year old girl at the time of his death. Obviously, the guys in the organization did not allow that to happen.
The bottom line on him for me is that if you read his history carefully, you can see that his first wife, Hatice, who was quite a bit older than he was, was probably his guru. But, of course, that is not something that would fly in today's Islam. a --- Irmeli Mattsson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Long ago as a young adult I agreed with Freud in his > saying:â Religion > is opium to the peopleâ. > That was what I saw: religion and its beliefs as a > place to hide > behind. I saw it being also a main source for > hypocrisy, a stopper of > inquiry and curiosity about life. It seemed to have > a dangerous > capacity to create a self-satisfied, numbing feeling > of belonging, > safety, being on the right side, giving a > justification for condemning > others, while belittling and hiding once own > transgressions. > > No wonder religion felt as a truly filthy thing to > me. Later I saw how > religion has truly helped people in different kinds > of anguish. I was > also thinking that so many people throughout human > history cannot have > been completely wrong. Some important function > religion has to have > for humanity. > > After learning meditation I gradually came to the > insight that certain > forms of prayer are actually also functioning as > meditation. And > simultaneously I started to perceive that also > meditating communities, > which considered themselves to be much above > ordinary religions, had > belief systems, that were considered as ultimate, > were not accepted to > be questioned, and became again a kind of opium. In > some aspects even > the more advanced approaches seemed to create the > very opposite to > what they were advocating. > > Concerning mythic fundamental level of development, > and lower, I feel > I have started to understand, what might cause this > pathology. People > who have not gone through a true individualization > process, are not > really capable of being in dialogue with others. > True others on their > own right donât actually exist in that reality. > The same is true > internally. These people cannot be in a true > dialogue with themselves. > It is all about controlling, trying to control > others, and also > themselves. > > People who have evolved further know pretty well how > inefficient a > tool control is in truly working through oneâs > shadows. If you want to > feel good about yourself and see good results with > controlling, > hypocrisy, and focusing on the sinâs of others > becomes a lucrative > solution. > > Religions can have also incorporated in themselves, > when looked at > from a modern perspective, truly pathological values > and beliefs, the > most notable of these being the position of women. > As I see it, the > relationships at home are reflected directly in the > functioning of > societies. > > Christianity has in its old doctrines had a best > respect for human > rights that also includes women. And there has been > also a respect for > truthful intellectual inquiry. On the other hand in > Islam world the > poor position of women has kept the whole area > slowly evolving or even > regressing. > > Religion and spirituality have the important > function of a helping us > to connect to our depth, or the collective depth and > creating values > to follow. But this area has also severe defects and > pitfalls. The > most severe of them is the intense fight against > opening their own box > of worms of ultimate truths to inquiry. > > Irmeli > > > Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
