Women Rights and the Role of Religion

If men and women are equal in the eyes of God, then how come they aren't equal in the eyes of men?

God does not judge differently based on gender. I have never heard of that not being the case in any religion. Be it Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, or any other religion of the world. Then where did this discrimination come from? When did people start thinking of women as inferior beings? Who taught them to? Here's the answer.

Among all religions, men and women are considered equal. But unfortunately, in all the religions of the world, the heads of the religion, the people that are responsible for the control of the message and for making decisions, are all men. Religious institutions are dominated by male leaders. Examples include the Pope (Catholic Christianity), Imams (Islam), Rabbi (Judaism), Dalai Lama (Buddhism), Fathers of churches (Christianity), etc. They are all men.

The male leaders misrepresent and manipulate scripture to create policies that benefit them. They cite religious scripture in their defense. That is how they gain support for their opinions. More often than not, those citations are taken out of context. Slowly and gradually, these misrepresented citations become common and influence our social and cultural norms, our laws and our societies so much that we fail to recognize it.

Women rights and religion are not mutually exclusive. One does not need to be absent for the other to be present. They are not the opposite of one another. To ensure the full participation of women globally, we have to reclaim religion. We cannot overlook the damage that has been done in the name of religion.

Our foundation is weak. It is not possible to build a straight house on a crooked foundation. If we cannot change the system entirely, we cannot realistically expect the economical and political participation of women. 

We as women need to be present. We need to speak up. If we remain silent, we will allow for the continuous persecution and abuse of women worldwide. We have to do it not for ourselves, not for the women in our families, not even for the women out there, but for the society.