Why Are Fundamentalists in All Religions so Bitterly Opposed to Women Being Educated - Essay Example

Why are fundamentalists in all religions so bitterly opposed to women being educated? In recent years, religious fundamentalists have stepped up their struggle against modernity in particular, the liberation of women. Fundamentalists can be defined as persons who take the holy books to be literally true and who adhere to this truth at all costs. Fundamentalists do not tolerate dissent and are opposed to all forms of secularism primarily since that threatens their way of life. The increased of religious fundamentalists in the modern society has made the role of fundamentalists more impactful. From a secular, modernist perspective, fundamentalists are perceived as religious extremists who do not value the importance of human rights. From a fundamentalist perspective, the modern world encourages immorality, decadence and, worst of all, equal rights for women. This holds true for Judaism, Christianity as well as Islam; in fact, the desire to control women may be the only trait these religions have in common. I will argue that Fundamentalists actually violate the principles of their religion in denying women the right to an education, and that they do so because it is more important for them to control women than to be true to their religion. In regards to most religions, they are anything but misogynistic; in fact, they see themselves as the true guardians of women, the ones who honor and respect them by structuring their lives along religious lines. For fundamentalists, the holy books offer ample justification for their need to control women. In the Christian Bible, for example, women are required to be pure, obedient, silent and nurturing, or else they must die. The book of Deuteronomy 22: 21 declares that if a woman does bleed on her wedding night then all men should stone her to death (The English Standard Version). In I Timothy 2, St. Paul declares that the women should be silent (The English Standard Version). This assumption was a creation by the early church and is still held with much significance. In addition, religious fundamentalists are perceived as a creation of the early church. For this reason, the negativity towards the liberation of women may be justified by the provisions of the scriptures and early church. Men usually denied women opportunities to develop intelligence and challenge them as religious and society leaders. In an argument by Guity & Lois the traditional society blindly adhered to religious teachings (93). The authors further point out that, the interpretation of religious teachings lacked depth and direction (Guity & Lois 93). To prove their raiment, the authors create the assumption that religion is an equal vice in the society and its provisions are aimed at promoting unity not suppressing people depend on their gender. In addition, Guity and Lois also point out that religious affiliations have different ways in which they perceive liberation of women (97). This eliminates the assumption that all religions share the same scripture or belief o liberation of women. Religion is sacred and extreme measures embraced by fundamentalists towards women cannot generate from religious teachings. Scriptures and teachings in the Koran denote that a woman should inherit less than man (Kristof 2). The scriptures further note that a woman’s words or testimony is equivalent to the half testimony of a man (Kristof 2). Fundamentalists in Muslim religion are strict when the topic of women equality is provided. The religion has an extreme disregard on women. In an argument by Lindsay the modern day Arabic nations report the highest cases of abused women rights (101). The author further points out the Taliban deny the involvement of women in western cultures for instance the access to education (Lindsay 101). The Taliban are religious extremists who aggressively embrace sharia laws. One provision in the Sharia law is the exclusion of women in leadership roles. This significantly eliminates even the less positivity a woman can be regarded by in this community. From this analysis, one may point out that the needs created by religious scriptures influence the negativity fundamentalists perceive women using. A Hebrew Orthodox prayer gives praise to God for not creating the author as a woman (Kristof 2). This prayer directly creates an assumption that a woman in the Hebrew society is a weakness. Religious fundamentalists in this religion may fail to provide women with the opportunity to access luxuries to enable them remain in a position where they are viewed as insignificant. For instance, denying them education will be a perfect strategy to diminish their significance in society. At this point, the argument of denying women a chance for education may be solved. As much as religion is supposed to be a sacred vice, its purity must be ensured. The purity of religion refers to the ability of persons to shun embracing western cultures. For instance, provision of education to women is perceived as a western culture. Christianity, Islam and Hebrew are the most influential religions.These religions contain scriptures that denote the menial position in which women should hold. Fundamentalists in these religions may deny women education with the proof that it is against the scriptures. From this argument, one may assert that religious requires fundamentalists to be stern in promoting religious significance. The society arrangement requires a functional religious system that will shape the society’s ethics and morals. This mandate is provided by the scriptures and the will of society dwellers. In an argument by Schulenburg the society allows the operation of religion by being part of the religion and embracing religious teachings (112). The author further points out that the position is not mandatory but the society requires a sense of belonging which is effectively provided by religion (Schulenburg 112). However, the society regard of religion is diminishing. Lindsay points out that it is an obvious observation that the modern day society had less regard towards religions as compared to ancient societies (67). This is because of the growth of other fields such as Science. In addition, development of civilizations has ignored religious requirement whichare viewed as hindrances to development. For instance, having a society filled with women extremely submissive to men would be a disaster in the modern day society. The society is more focused on growth to a point that religion becomes insignificant. In an argument by Schulenburg religion has no space in the modern day society setting (89). The author attributes this trend to the increase of the levels of civilization as the society is focused on other vices such as embracing globalization (Schulenburg 89). The dire need to revive religious significance in the society has realty promoted the actions of fundamentalists thus the increase in women abuse cases. However, the society still requires religion. This need has become mandatory considering the direction of the society. The modern society in characterized by negative moral and ethics. For instance, medicine is on the quest of developing ways in which the woman sexuality can be enhanced (Leland 1). This can be viewed as an ethical aspect being introduced in the society. This trend can only be changed through religious fundamentalism (Leland 1). Normal religious leaders have been corrupted by the trends in the modern society. Schulenburg points out that religious leader have created a more versatile religious system (76). This new systems disregard the original teachings of the scriptures. Regardless of the assumption that original religious teachings do not promote growth, it would be more sacred to adhere to religious teachings. Religious Fundamentalists do not provide room for versatility. They disregard the society need for growth and embrace new vices. In an argument by Lindsay, religious fundamentalists cannot corrupt religion with take objective of fitting in the society (72). However, the society still embraces religious fundamentalists. This trend promotes the negative practices by religious fundamentalists. This can be proven by considering that the society does not embrace the fact that women should be equally treated as men. The number of female students in medicine schools does not match the number of women working in the field of medicine professionally (Rohn 1). This indicates the perception of the society towards women liberation. In addition, Rohn is of the assumption that the field of science favors men due to the psychological superiority (1). The male in the society hold the belief that they have a more superior brain and this promotes their prejudice against women. Lindsay argues that this trend is not much different from the beliefs by fundamentalists (56). In addition, the act is supportive of the beliefs and wants by fundamentalists. Generally, the society requires religious fundamentalists to correct the community. This support requires disregard of vices such as education for women. It is reported that most women in underdeveloped are denied education due to religious preferences. The trend is further increased by the society embracing religious fundamentalists. Different from the ancient world, the globe today has experienced significant crisis. All continents are faced with disasters occasionally. With years, the probability of disasters occurring is rising. In a society interpretation, this is a cause of global change and wars resulting from the quest for global supremacy. A religious interpretation embraces the explanation that people have turned away from religious ways thus punishment from deities (Sahgal & Yuval-Davis 2). In addition, the connection between people and God has diminished significantly. With people lacking explanation of this trend, they have turned to religion for solace. In an argument by Sahgal & Yuval-Davis people have realized how much religion is of importance to them and they seek redemption and forgiveness (2). In addition, the scripture description of end times can be described by the increasing global crisis. This justifies the increase of converts across the globe. In addition, the society has preferences on the Islamic religion since it is less corrupted. For this reason, religious fundamentalists have embraced stern religious practices to eliminate corruption of religious practices. This has influenced the growth of religious affiliations. More people have begun to turn back to find comfort and explanation from religion. For this reason, the growth of religious fundamentalists has been influenced. Furthermore, people are willing to adhere to the teachings of religious extremists. For instance, cases of religious wars have been on the increase. The number of Muslims submitting to Jihad war has also increased. The prosecution of women in Taliban for seeking education and disrespecting husband is on the increase (Lindsay 119). This has been promoted by the fact that the society has embraced religious extremism. From this argument, one may point that religious fundamentalists are opposed to provision of education to women sincethe society requires the trend. Additionally, the society has increased the support of religious fundamentalism. To change the world as required by the scriptures, corruption of religious teachings to fit the society trend should be allowed (Schulenburg 98). For this reason, one may be embrace the assumption the society has required religious fundamentalists to perceive women in low regard. However, one may disregard the assumption that religious requires the disregards of women. This can be proven by considering that education of women has made the world a better place (Kristof 2). In addition, numerous churches have endorsed the leadership of women in their midst. The empowerment of women has been promoted by churches with an argument that no human or soul should be victimized due to their sexuality (Kristof 2). However, this trend is only applicable in urban churches. In rural Africa, the plight of women is never considered. For instance, the great respect provided to the church in Uganda led to the calls to prosecute gay people (Kristof 2). From this argument, one may point out that religion is part of the problem not the solution. With people turning to religion and supporting religious fundamentalists, the global crisis would be on the increase with no hope for redemption. The perception on women on tradition churches proves that religious teachings promote disregard of women by fundamentalists. Disregarding the wants of the society, religious fundamentalists generate their power and influence from scriptures. Fiona points out that the scriptures create every single perception embraced by religious fundamentalists (134). In regards to provision of education women, the scriptures do no advocate for women empowerment. This may justify the direction of the issue as explained by fundamentalists. In an argument by Fiona, the blame of not providing women with education should not be solely directed to religious fundamentalists (134). Religion creates what fundamentalists implement. If religion had created a woman figure worth of more respect from men the situation would have been different. However, fundamentalists would alter the explanation provided by scriptures but then they would betray their religious beliefs and what is required of them. With the depletion of religious significance, the empowerment of women has also increased. This proves the point that religion teachings may be the problem and not the beliefs held by religious fundamentalists. Additionally, change is further experienced if women are at the helm of religious affiliations. From the paper, it is an obvious assumption that the society and religion promote the quest embraced by fundamentalists to deny women education. In addition, it is an obvious assumption that the society plays a major role in determining the direction of religious beliefs. For instance, it the society’s will to take part in holy wars. If the society declines calls by religious extremists, religious negativity would not bear much significance in society. The same could be said of education of women. It is a society choice to embrace the disregard of women but under the influence of religion. Religious fundamentalists also build their strength from support of the society to implement vices like denying women education. Works cited Fiona, Leach. "Resisting conformity: Anglican mission women and the schooling of girls in early nineteenth-century West Africa".History of Education, 41 (2012): 133-153. Guity, Nashat& Lois, Beck. Women in Iran from the Rise of Islam to 1800. Illinois: University of Illinois Press. 2003. Print. Jay, Stephen. Women’s Brain (152-159). New York: W. W Norton. 1980. Print. Kristof, Nicholas. Religion and women. The New York Times. 9th Jan, 2010. Leland, John. The Science of women and sex. Newsweek. 28th May, 2011. Lindsay, James. Daily Life in the Medieval Islamic World. New York: Greenwood Publishing Group. 2005. Print. Reina, Lewis & Sara, Mills.Feminist Postcolonial Theory: A Reader. New York: Taylor & Francis. 2003. Print. Rohn, Jenny. Women in science, you have nothing to fear but your own subconscious. The Guardian. 27th July, 2010. Sahgal, Gita & Yuval-Davis, Nira. Refusing holy orders.WAF Journal, 1(1990):1-11. Schulenburg, Jane. Forgetful of their Sex: Female Sanctity and Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1998. Print. The English Standard Version Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments with Apocrypha.  Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2009.  Print. Read More