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Both Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan have ratified an international treaty promising women "the exercise and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms on a basis of equality with men." While the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) sounds promising, reality flies in the face of its hollow precepts and vague language. For example, in Saudi Arabia, women still may not vote, drive a car or travel alone; and some women in Afghanistan continue to set themselves ablaze in order to escape forced marriages.
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Women in the Fray of Clashing Worldviews, Part 3 of 4
Unlike Queen Noor, Ali’s perspective is colored by her conversion from Islam to atheism. Her shift in worldview was influenced by 9/11 brutal attacks on America, after which Ali fingered Islam as "the new fascism." Violence is inherent in what she dubs this "destructive, nihilistic cult of death." The Islamic vision, she adds, is an universal caliphate society ruled by Sharia law under which women who have sex before marriage are stoned to death, homosexuals are beaten and apostates like herself are killed.
Apr 24th, 2008 8:16 AM
Women in the Fray of Clashing Worldviews, Part 2 of 4
When the late, former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto addressed Hillsdale College (September of 2002), she explained that America symbolizes modernity, diversity and democracy; and all three are "the fanatics’ worst fears." Religious and leftist organizations, most particularly the Mujahideen and Marxist Fedayin, supported hostage taking from the American embassy (a "nest of spies"). To kidnappers, composed of a ragtag group of Iranian students, America is the land of Lucifer and Paradise Lost.
Apr 24th, 2008 8:15 AM
Women in the Fray of Clashing Worldviews, Part 1 of 4
A young woman, fresh out of college, I set off in 1971 for the Arabian Gulf. For two years at the American School of Kuwait, I taught children of the royal family and embassy kids, among others representing some forty-four nationalities. While living abroad, I traveled extensively throughout the Middle East and explored numbers of countries steeped in the Islamic worldview. Among them were Kuwait, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Spain, Tunisia and Turkey. One summer I drove by VW "bug" from Kuwait to London; and years later, I traveled throughout Asia and visited Russia, India, Kenya, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. On several occasions, I’ve visited Israel. It’s fair to say that, over the course of several decades, I’ve had considerable exposure to Islamic culture and beliefs.
Apr 24th, 2008 8:13 AM
 Socialism and the Nanny State: Global Call to Cut the Apron Strings
Through the revolving door of evolving contemporary values, however, childlike moral immoderation typically trumps mature moral moderation. Accordingly, today’s Olympic-class consumers all too often indulge in what they cannot afford—even if they have to beg, whine, steal or borrow to get what they want. The perpetual child is "worth it" after all; and convenience, comfort and emotion drive the childlike masses. This being the case, syndicated columnist George F. Will detects "no trace of the ‘50s innocence at the mall" (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 26 November 2006). But then, who’s to say what’s right or wrong anyway? The prevailing secular worldview elevates no moral code as superior over another—certainly not that of Christianity over, say, Islam. This is true even though in the largely Sunni Muslim nation of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov ordered the massacre of hundreds in the city of Andijan. Countless more in Sudan and Nigeria have suffered displacement and torture at the hands of radicals hell-bent to impose Islamic law over all. While the morally relative liberal would be hard pressed to dismiss such travesties as neither right nor wrong, he readily castigates the traditional Christian for applying his "spurious moral compass" to fornication and adultery; lying and pot-smoking; profanity and pornography. This, of course, begs the question: "How can either the Muslim radical or the Christian moralist be ‘wrong’ if moral distinctions are bogus?"
Sep 13th, 2007 4:51 PM
Fear’s Furtive Bedfellow: Control
One version of the charming children’s story of Chicken Little features an adorable chick eating lunch in the forest. Because an acorn falls on her head, she believes the sky is falling. Straightaway, in her race to warn the King, our fluffy little friend incites and, then, enlists to her cause the likes of Henny Penny and Goosey Poosey
Sep 8th, 2007 10:43 AM
Generation “E” for “Entitled”
We’ve all heard of Generation “X.” Now there’s “Generation E,” usually in reference to a new breed of Europhiles. Decidedly secular and characteristically pessimistic, these are vigorous members of the European youth culture (ages 18-44).
Apr 4th, 2007 7:01 AM
Cosmic Yuppies in an Age of "Exuberant Religiosity"
As rightly observed by Peter L. Berger in The Chronicle of Higher Education, our purportedly rational age is distinguished, ironically so, by "exuberant religiosity." Susan Graham Mathis agrees. A Focus on the Family publication (October 2005) uncovers her first hand experience with nontraditional religious thought by means of college physical education classes, special library offerings, and adult exercise programs.
Mar 19th, 2007 9:43 AM
Religion Baiting: Seducing the Evangelical Right, Part I
Thereafter, front-runners of “hanging-chad” fame, Al Gore and George W. Bush both bound their political agendas to religious sentiment. The former, however, squeezed Christianity into a pan-religious mold. In Earth in the Balance, Gore acknowledged New Age awareness of a “constant and holy spiritual presence in all people, life, things.” No doubt the religious heritage of Gaia-Mother Earth inspired his academy award-winning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth.
Mar 5th, 2007 7:46 AM
Seminaries Crank Out New Breed Of Eco-Theologians
Canadian billionaire and 1992 Rio Earth Summit Secretary-general, Maurice Strong contends that global ecosystems will be preserved only when affluent nations lower their standards of living. Countering the culture of abundance with “a rite of atonement for the sin of excess” apparently resonates with Protestant underpinnings of colonial history. Increasingly, evangelical Christians align with this moral mandate.
Feb 13th, 2007 8:54 AM
2007: A Global Forecast
While the War on Christmas is behind us for another year, Americans continue to face the War on Terror and what has popularly become known as today’s Culture War. Fewer grapple with what Phyllis Schlafly dubs “the Quiet War against American Independence.” We can be assured, however, that this World War of sorts, being fought in the name of “harmonization,” is not going away anytime soon.
Feb 11th, 2007 5:36 PM
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Debra Rae, RNN Columnist
