"Writing is my passion. It is a way to experience the ecstatic. The root understanding of the word ecstasy—“to stand outside”—comes to me in those moments when I am immersed so deeply in the act of thinking and writing that everything else, even flesh, falls away."
-bell hooks
Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Abortion

I started reading an article about abortion and how highly personal decision it maybe too many women.  A lot of women feel that they are sure they'll never have to think about abortion until they're suddenly faced with an unexpected pregnancy. But this can happen to anyone, including women who are strongly anti-choice. So what does an anti-choice woman do when she experiences an unwanted pregnancy herself? Often, she will grin and bear it, so to speak, but frequently, she opts for the solution she would deny to other women.

Abortion raises ethical, legal and religious issues. It's considered, in the West, a free choice if the fetus is less than 8 weeks old. In the Middle East, it's forbidden and banned in all cases because of religious beliefs. I am completely against abortion of all kinds and types. Abortion is very dangerous to the pregnant female. It can be fatal or destructive to the uterus and it can have extreme psychological effects. Most people who have premarital sex seem relieved for the fact that nowadays we have the latest technologies to perform a safe abortion. I think if you're not ready to get pregnant, don't have sex in the first place, or at least try to have safe sex with the many contraceptive ways available.
 
I think religion and the law in the Middle East are enough reason for people to think twice about abortion. If two people fell in love and the girl got pregnant before marriage, they both should get married and in extreme cases, the girl should undergo abortion because the child will be a bastard child. Yet again I don't think that's enough reason for anyone to perform or have abortion. I believe that no one has the right to take the life off of anyone even if they think they're the "creators". A mother doesn't have the right to deprive the unborn from it's life just because it's her choice. What about the choice of the unborn? I believe that religion is right after all regarding this specific matter because abortion is exactly the same as killing a person, but the person at least had a life, so what about an unborn.


Tuesday, March 29, 2011

France: Headscarf Ban Violates Religious Freedom

I was reading this article France: Headscarf Ban Violates Religious Freedom and this discussion arose from the article. Below is the link to the article.

Feminists concerned about human rights emphasize the confluence of issues here. on the one hand is the right to freely express one`s religion in public or private so along as doing so does not threaten the rights of others. A ban on appeal that appears directly at Muslim girls and women does not seem to be upholding the right to freely express one`s religious beliefs. Nor does it seem to treat everyone equally given that its effects are most evident on school girls. but on the other hand is the right to equal protection and security in one`s person and the state`s obligation to carry that out. If France understands religious symbols as posing a potential threat to an individual or to a group, and views a ban on such symbols as the best way to protect those individuals, then it might be argued that the state certainly has a right to enforce the ban even if it appears to target Muslim girls. Moreover, feminists are divided about the whether the head scarf and other forms of veiling are themselves indicative of sexual inequality or are otherwise demeaning of women. Some argue that the head scarf or veil is freely chosen and even empowering insofar as it protects women from at least women of the objectifying gaze of males. Other argue that the veil is a symbol of women`s subordination and lack of autonomy in some cultural and religious traditions.

Regardless, the feminist efforts to secure human rights internationally, in spite of difficulties determining what that would mean, are important extensions of feminist efforts to secure the legal, social, political, and economic rights of women within one`s own nation.

Women have made tremendous gains all around the world but there is still more to accomplish. Women are still more likely to be victims of violence, women still disproportionately care for infants and children, and women are still underpaid compared to their male peers. Some of the changes in legislation now need to be backed up with cultural changes that affect how laws are implemented. In addition, not all of the manifestations of oppression can be remedied through changes in legislation, the structure of the economy, or even social and political transformation. Oppression is often internalized-incorporated into how one thinks of oneself and others.

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2004/02/26/france-headscarf-ban-violates-religious-freedom