Jimmy Carter on Women's Rights

 Thanks to xinef for the tip about this one!  It's an op-ed by Jimmy Carter from yesterday.

The words of God do not justify cruelty to women.

Some choice bits:

So my decision to sever my ties with the Southern Baptist Convention, after six decades, was painful and difficult. It was, however, an unavoidable decision when th e convention's leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that women must be "subservient" to their husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service. This was in conflict with my belief - confirmed in the holy scriptures - that we are all equal in the eyes of God.

This view that women are somehow inferior to men is not restricted to one religion or belief. It is widespread. Women are prevented from playing a full and equal role in many faiths.

Nor, tragically, does its influence stop at the walls of the church, mosque, synagogue or temple. This discrimination, unjustifiably attributed to a Higher Authority, has provided a reason or excuse for the deprivation of women's equal rights across the world for centuries. The male interpretations of religious texts and the way they interact with, and reinforce, traditional practices justify some of the most pervasive, persistent, flagrant and damaging examples of human rights abuses.

At their most repugnant, the belief that women must be subjugated to the wishes of men excuses slavery, violence, forced prostitution, genital mutilation and national laws that omit rape as a crime. But it also costs many millions of girls and women control over their own bodies and lives, and continues to deny them fair access to education, health, employment and influence within their own communities.

The impact of these religious beliefs touches every aspect of our lives. They help explain why in many countries boys are educated before girls; why girls are told when and whom they must marry; and why many face enormous and unacceptable risks in pregnancy and childbirth because their basic health needs are not met.

It is not women and girls alone who suffer. It damages all of us. The evidence shows that investing in women and girls delivers major benefits for everyone in society. An educated woman has healthier children. She is more likely to send them to school. She earns more and invests what she earns in her family.

It is simply self-defeating for any community to discriminate against half its population.

I'm trying to come up with something intelligent to add, but I can't say anything other than this - This is why I'm a feminist.  I truly believe that making things better for women would make things better for all of us. 

In the developing world, it has an incredible impact. 

In the United States, there are many people who want to say that feminism is no longer needed.  Women and men are equal. 

Yet it is still women's health care issues that end up being morally or politically charged. 

Daycare and family time is still framed as an issue that only women really care about, when all of us would benefit from an understanding that there are members of our society who must be taken care of (the young, the infirm, and the elderly) and that it is a job with value.

Problems that affect women and girls affect EVERYONE. 

DV