Commentary on Politics, Religion, and Society and their - Yes

This has been a week of multiple stories about the emerging role of women around the world. For example, this year?s London Summer Games have been dubbed ?Olympics 2012: Year of the Woman? as for the first time in history women are represented in all participating national teams and comprise a record 45 per cent of all athletes. Enactment of Title IX in 1972 has definitely enhanced the role of U.S. women in sports and this was spectacularly on display at the London Olympics perhaps best captured yesterday as the U.S. women?s soccer team won the gold medal while the U.S. men?s soccer team did not even make it to the Olympics. Overall, U.S. women have captured double the number of gold medals as U.S. men. But contrast the U.S. women?s success to the picture in the Washington post this week of a lonely Afghan woman competing in an Olympic event for the first time despite considerable risk of punishment at home by a male dominated society where sports and most other aspects of society outside the home are restricted to men.? She and other brave Muslim women from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Brunei competed in the London Olympics for the first time at the prodding of the International Olympic committee.? We should all stand up and applaud these brave women, some who may well be at risk as they return home.

But the news is not all good for American women; witness the nuns (The Leadership Conference?of?Women Religious) who are huddled in?St.?Louis to decide whether they will bow to Vatican demands to toe the official line on sexual matters. In effect, the Vatican, in a recent reprimand, accused the nuns of spending too much time with the poor and not enough espousing church positions on women?s reproductive rights and homosexuality.? To enforce this, the Vatican has assigned three American Bishops to now oversee the nuns.? How sad and pathetic are these developments after the abysmal record of the Bishop?s on the pedophile cover-up. ?It would seem more appropriate to have the nuns assigned to oversee the Bishops on sexual matters.? Let?s hope the nuns do not bow down quietly on this one; they need our support.

Meanwhile, the City of Houston recently reported the opening of Freedom Place, the state?s first privately run safe house that provides long-term housing for American girls who are victims of sex trafficking, a practice rampant here and around much of the world.? And right here in the nation?s capital at our own N Street Village?s Promise Place, we saw a record number of homeless women come through our doors this year, many who have suffered from sexual and other abuses.

And finally, it?s ironic that for many of our male Presidential aspirants this year, women?s reproductive rights were often their lead issue while so many Americans are suffering through a weak economy.? Similarly, among male dominated state legislatures, we have seen increasing attempts this year to repress women?s reproductive rights with such measures as Personhood amendments, vaginal ultrasound requirements, and elimination of Planned Parenthood funding.? So with some irony, we may truly declare this the ?Year of the Woman?.?

On a more serious note, we need to ask why women?s rights are still such an issue here at home as well as around the world.? One answer is that fundamentalist elements of all three monotheistic religions tend to subjugate women. This often comes from a literal reading of the scriptures, which leaves cultural customs stuck in the same place they were two thousand or more years ago. For example, Paul's writings (e.g., 1 Corinthians 11:2?10) implying subservience of women is particularly problematic in Christian communities. But progressive churches, including my own Lutheran tradition, have come to a position of full inclusion of women through study and reflection of the scriptures as a whole and interpretation for our times. In regard to the equal role of women, progressive churches typically cite the following aspects of scripture, among others:

????????? Old Testament prophets call for justice, speak out against inequities, and stand with the oppressed.

????????? Jesus had women as friends, disciples, and witnesses; he challenged the conventional beliefs of his day that women were inferior and men were superior.

????????? The Apostle Paul called the people of God to create a world where the gifts of both women and men are celebrated and used, where ?there is neither male nor female, but all are one in Christ Jesus? (Galatians 3:28).

So yes we can celebrate the many recent gains for women in our society while recognizing that there is still a long way to go.

Source: http://gary-maring.blogspot.com/2012/08/year-of-woman.html

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