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I caught a bit of Wafa Sultan on The Brian Lehrer Show yesterday morning. Sultan has capitalized on her 2006 YouTube rant against Islam and it’s treatment of women by writing a new book, called “A God Who Hates.”
I’m not saying Islam is always great for women, but I’m really skeptical of railing against any religion and its treatment of women. Firstly, women get a raw deal in just about every cultural institution, and it’s deeply rooted in our shared cultural perceptions of the role of women that probably extend back further than religion itself. Secondly, it just makes religious practitioners skeptical and defensive.
Take Dawn from Bed-Stuy, who called in at the end of the show to try to convince Sultan that Islam was about love and was a good guide for how to live one’s life. That’s great, but as Sultan pointed out, Dawn spoke from the perspective of someone raised under the Constitution that technically, if not practically, made her equal.
Which is why I’m not sure of the point of Sultan’s book. I feel her pain, I really do. I was raised in the land of the Promise Keepers, though I recognize that’s not nearly the same as the land of honor killings. But it’s all part of the same problem, and it’s not religion-specific.
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