all who wonder are not lost

King Abdullah has decreed that in four years women may vote and may serve on an appointed advisory council. This raises questions of second-class citizenship, once removed, from that of men. Of course most men in Saudi Arabia are second class to those favored by the King. But in a kingdom the king rules. It is an off-shoot of the Golden Rule stating that “Those with the gold rule.”

While the women will be able to vote, current practices appear to require them still to have permission and be accompanied by a male family member on these voting forays. They cannot drive so a driver will be required. They require male family member accompaniment to move outside their homes as well. Not much in the way of increased freedom but the optimist in me says it’s at least a start.

Recall that it has only been a couple of months since the Saudi government decreed that women’s apparel stores could employ women. For years males were the employees in even the most intimate of apparel purchases. I’m trying to think of an equivalent in non-Islamic societies regarding men purchasing from a woman but I’m stymied. The change in Saudi Arabian stores will take effect slowly.

Islam, much like Christianity, portrayed women in far freer roles around the times of each founder’s life. In Jesus time, women were all around and participating. Mostly women accompanied Jesus to and during his crucifixion. The Prophet, Muhammad, was surrounded by women who functioned with great freedom during his lifetime.

So where did Christianity and Islam veer away from the apparent intent of their foundational principles? Were the two religions captured by more aggressive males during a time in history where women’s rights were fading? Or did that aggressive male role push women to the margins of each religion?

Christian women are essentially shut out of the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, notwithstanding token positions advisory in practice. Muslim women live in some Islamic societies in definitively subservient roles. Have you ever listened to a female imam?

It seems difficult to contemplate an almighty God (Christians, Muslims, Jews) who would sanction inequality as practiced in the Catholic and Islamic faiths. Perhaps that is why we have variants of each of these faiths in practice throughout the world. But inequality is inequality just the same.

These apparent inequalities render each faith in practice less than what it was when founded. So perhaps God is in favor of equality but simply trumped by the inequality-sanctioning males who have held the reins of power on Earth. But perhaps they have held on too long and need to revisit the words of Jesus and the words of Muhammad.

Will increased education bring about change in the practice of Islam as regards women? Many, many Christian women have achieved scholarly educations but the Catholic Church hierarchy remains a men-only club just the same.

Are you an Islamic or Catholic woman? How do you see this appraisal of the two faiths with respect to women? Would your faith find greater expression if its practice and hierarchy admitted women?