More appropriate here - this is a response to comments in another thread:
<!--QuoteBegin-ben_ami+Jul 21 2006, 12:06 PM-->QUOTE(ben_ami @ Jul 21 2006, 12:06 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->btw, the other semetic heresay of feminism has done no less damage to people tho - its ruined the family in the west.[right][snapback]54245[/snapback][/right]<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->You're possibly joking, but having come across and read some of your other posts, I'm not certain.
Don't know the specifics about feminism - isn't it about "equal pay for equal work"? Or maybe that was the suffragette movement. Unless feminism is the one where women and probably men merely want equal social rights and perception for the <i>entire</i> human population. Then it sounds fair to me.
Anyway, feminism appears to have been caused by the build up of natural compulsions against being oppressed by Christianity for over a millennium. It is similar to how the Enlightenment was precipitated by the dark ages of Christianity which lead to a collective move out of the ignorance. In as far as you mean to imply that Christianity caused a reactionary move now called feminism, I'd agree. But if you mean anything else, you are quite wrong.
Equality in all spheres, including the social sphere, for men and women has been a hallmark of many old societies/religions. Take the North American native Americans, for instance. They had a very egalitarian society and I might add, a very successful and advanced one (until Christianity came and destroyed everything, of course). Likewise, ancient Indian society. No talk of egalitarianism "ruining families" in either case.
That feminism (or any such movement) gave women more say in their personal and social lives in Christian countries is a step forward. If that resulted in the break-up of many restrictive Christian families, then so be it. Better that than men and women being miserably stuck together in marriage for the rest of their lives, trapped in a religious outlook that dumbs one side down and thus makes the other side not have an equal partner. Having said that, the feminism movement has been hijacked by Christians today (just like they take over all popular movements) with women who imagine the bible and its usual irreconcilable drivel compatible with equality. So their oppression merely continues.
<!--QuoteBegin-ben_ami+Jul 21 2006, 12:06 PM-->QUOTE(ben_ami @ Jul 21 2006, 12:06 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->and even feminsm (very contrary to nature - women simply arnt born to make good husbands).[right][snapback]54245[/snapback][/right]<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Neither are you apparently.
Anyway, Islam and Christianity share your opinion about the strictly prescribed natures of men/women (which are opposed to what's evidenced by sensible or scientific observation).
Hinduism, on the other hand, teaches that the soul is genderless and that one can be born in either gender. There is not much talk of egalitarianism in Hinduism, simply because it is assumed (gender differences are entirely immaterial in Hindu philosophical outlook). The body is considered merely the vessel in which the spirit is harboured in this life, possibly to impart some life lesson best learnt from a man's or woman's perspective (Bhishma in the Mahabharatam has an interesting discussion on this, I think.) Possibly, life as a woman is on the cards for you next.
An unrelated remark but I'll add it here - an undesirable side-effect of either feminism (or whatever post-Christian movement gave rise to it) is the notion that women are a mystery to men and men are a mystery to women. Or that either is fundamentally different. Nonsense. They're just humans. Even animals are not a mystery, so this is just plain nonsense.
<!--QuoteBegin-ben_ami+Jul 21 2006, 12:06 PM-->QUOTE(ben_ami @ Jul 21 2006, 12:06 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->btw, the other semetic heresay of feminism has done no less damage to people tho - its ruined the family in the west.[right][snapback]54245[/snapback][/right]<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->You're possibly joking, but having come across and read some of your other posts, I'm not certain.
Don't know the specifics about feminism - isn't it about "equal pay for equal work"? Or maybe that was the suffragette movement. Unless feminism is the one where women and probably men merely want equal social rights and perception for the <i>entire</i> human population. Then it sounds fair to me.
Anyway, feminism appears to have been caused by the build up of natural compulsions against being oppressed by Christianity for over a millennium. It is similar to how the Enlightenment was precipitated by the dark ages of Christianity which lead to a collective move out of the ignorance. In as far as you mean to imply that Christianity caused a reactionary move now called feminism, I'd agree. But if you mean anything else, you are quite wrong.
Equality in all spheres, including the social sphere, for men and women has been a hallmark of many old societies/religions. Take the North American native Americans, for instance. They had a very egalitarian society and I might add, a very successful and advanced one (until Christianity came and destroyed everything, of course). Likewise, ancient Indian society. No talk of egalitarianism "ruining families" in either case.
That feminism (or any such movement) gave women more say in their personal and social lives in Christian countries is a step forward. If that resulted in the break-up of many restrictive Christian families, then so be it. Better that than men and women being miserably stuck together in marriage for the rest of their lives, trapped in a religious outlook that dumbs one side down and thus makes the other side not have an equal partner. Having said that, the feminism movement has been hijacked by Christians today (just like they take over all popular movements) with women who imagine the bible and its usual irreconcilable drivel compatible with equality. So their oppression merely continues.
<!--QuoteBegin-ben_ami+Jul 21 2006, 12:06 PM-->QUOTE(ben_ami @ Jul 21 2006, 12:06 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->and even feminsm (very contrary to nature - women simply arnt born to make good husbands).[right][snapback]54245[/snapback][/right]<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Neither are you apparently.
Anyway, Islam and Christianity share your opinion about the strictly prescribed natures of men/women (which are opposed to what's evidenced by sensible or scientific observation).
Hinduism, on the other hand, teaches that the soul is genderless and that one can be born in either gender. There is not much talk of egalitarianism in Hinduism, simply because it is assumed (gender differences are entirely immaterial in Hindu philosophical outlook). The body is considered merely the vessel in which the spirit is harboured in this life, possibly to impart some life lesson best learnt from a man's or woman's perspective (Bhishma in the Mahabharatam has an interesting discussion on this, I think.) Possibly, life as a woman is on the cards for you next.
An unrelated remark but I'll add it here - an undesirable side-effect of either feminism (or whatever post-Christian movement gave rise to it) is the notion that women are a mystery to men and men are a mystery to women. Or that either is fundamentally different. Nonsense. They're just humans. Even animals are not a mystery, so this is just plain nonsense.