The Question of Islam...

Last Sunday the Adult discussion group saw a documentary formed around a group of Muslim women as they spoke out against some of the misogynistic aspects of Islam.   These experiences include forced marriage, female genital mutilation, honor killings, etc.  These women also talked about how in some Islamic countries, restrictions on women exist that include anything from not allowing women to walk alone (they have to be accompanied by a male relative), not allowing women to drive, etc.  And many of these countries not only have restrictions, but mandates on behavior and dress – such as the wearing of the headscarf, and/or some form of body covering, even an almost full head-to-toe covering – exposing only the hands.  The documentary – Honor Diaries – not surprisingly, is stirring up a lot of controversy, including in the Islamic world.   YouTube offers it for $10.00 here –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o80mHALxfRA

I saw most of the film, not all of it though.   But the parts that I did see really struck me hard – it forced me to look at the broader question of “What is Islam?”, but more on this later.   These were women had either experienced some of these issues themselves or members of their families had.  The format was mostly either them talking among themselves (with the camera “listening in”), or them talking to an off-camera interviewer, with scenes (related video, sometimes very troubling and disturbing ones) playing over their words, giving visual expression to their stories.

Some of the stories they told were obviously very personal, bringing up some painful and/or destructive memories, experiences we here in the US usually have no awareness of; like one woman telling how her sister –in her mid-teen living in the UK with the family – was made to marry a man from the country they’d come from, who was more than twice her age.  He was abusive enough to where her sister wanted out – but she believed the only culturally acceptable way out was to kill herself.   For this culture, divorce evidently wasn’t an option.   So she set herself on fire.               

Again - Granted I didn’t see the whole documentary, but I don’t remember any of the women saying that in spite of their experiences and restrictions they were no longer Muslim.  In fact some seemed to be very observant in spite of these stories.   Some tried to separate out the “teachings of Islam” from the “culture” Islam finds itself in in these countries.   I remember not a few of the women made the point that the Islamic countries that have these (draconian at best or barbaric at worst) laws and customs is not the Islam that the Prophet Mohammed (or God I would assume) had in mind.     I suppose that might be the case, but that being said – in those countries and cultures – this may be a distinction without a difference.   For all practical purposes… for those women in those cultures and countries… that IS Islam!   

To the question of… is Islam a dangerous religion, as some have offered up since September 2001.   Is it the religion per se that’s dangerous?   Is it just particular interpretations and expressions that are dangerous?   Or is it just certain cultural practices and customs that are dangerous, while Islam itself is not.    

So, alternative # 1 – It’s something inherent to Islam that makes these countries and cultures so misogynistic… True or False?    Is it something inherent to Christianity that makes the KKK believe what they do?   Or something inherent to the Christian faith that compels the adherents of those in the Westboro Baptist church that compels them to believe what they do?   I assume not.   In the same way, you have a whole lot of Muslims all over the world that abhor these practices in question.  They don’t practice them themselves, and I would assume they don’t go to any Mosque that advocates these anti-women practices.        

Some of the women in the documentary made a distinction between Islam and the expressions if Islam in these countries in question, like the Islamic Republic of Iran.    Prior to the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Iran treated women as equals in every way to men.   But after the revolution, Iran took tremendous steps backwards with respect to women and the equalities they shared.   And this revolution was based – ostensibly – on returning to some more fundamental Islamic values.    This gave the impression the issue really was Islam – at least as practiced by the religious leaders there. 

Up to this point, after hearing of some terrible act of violence done out of what I believe to be a totally misguided sense of identity to Islam, my gut-level reaction is to instinctively separate the healthier version of Islam, the non-violent version, from the –what I consider – distorted version of Islam those perpetrating violence and hatred.    The way I’d seen it to this point was that there are people out there who use religion (any religion) to justify their already violent and evil tendencies.  I mean, we Christians have our own histories with violence in the name of God… and I still believe those acts did NOT come from “true” Christianity!   Similarly, the violent acts coming out of the Muslim world is not a reflection of what REAL – healthy – Islam teaches!          

But here’s where this documentary impacted me – it was the first time I questioned my initial response.   What these women said made me doubt whether the distinction I’d being making all along held true.   Whether we make a distinction between “healthy” Islam or “unhealthy” Islam, the thing is – in these countries and/or regions, maybe due to the people in charge (Taliban, ISIS, an theocratic government like Iran, or any combination), the generations of customs, traditions and mores – the Islam as practiced there… IS in fact Islam!    

A few months back on the show “Real Time With Bill Maher”, Bill – who’s in my opinion the Left’s equivalent of Rush Limbaugh (bombastic, with sweeping generalizations against the “other” political side… then again, they both have a show to maintain!) engaged in a pretty heated debate with one of his guests Ben Affleck – here’s a clip:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vln9D81eO60  (warning– cuss words present!)    Maher and another guest, Sam Harris, made the point that Islam itself is a problem for these and many other reasons.  Affleck’s point was that we must make a distinction between the Islamic people, and Islam per se.     

Does “Islam” – as a religion – have a role in making people how they become?    We can ask the question about Christianity too, I get that.    I mean we have our own “violent extremists” as well.   But Sam Harris referenced UK poll that showed 78% of Muslims polled agree that the Danish illustrator of the political cartoon mocking the Prophet should have been prosecuted (certainly something to consider would be the pollsters methodology).   If I understand his point, it is that there are more Muslim people in the world who agree with some of these draconian ideas about women and gays and laws, than there are Muslims who disagree with them.   And this as contrasted to the non-Muslim western world where these traditions and laws are not tolerated at all.   I think he’s making the point the Islamic version of “Westboro Baptist church” isn’t just a fringe group – as in the Christian US…  in the Islamic world, people like this actually make laws and rule countries!         

Alternative two – It’s not Islam per se, but just those particular expressions of Islam that are to blame for the anti-woman practices.   In our country, even up to a few generations ago, the White (predominantly Christian) South had legally codified institutional racism.   It took the tempest of the Civil Rights movement to make a dent in these overt practices.    This, while other American States, and many foreign countries, looked on the South in disapproval and/or horror.         

The South had a long history of slavery and racial subjugation for sure.  This institution was certainly an economic one, but how did the population support this idea?   Well, certainly it was cultural.   But I have to believe, in such an overtly religious environment, there had to have been some kind of religious justification.    Granted this isn’t a research paper, but at the time, there was plenty of biblical “evidence” pulled out form the bible to support this kind of institution.    Yes, there were some in the south who were opposed to this, but for many years their voice seemed to be the minority opinion.   Meanwhile, other parts of the country and world – using the same bible – came to the conclusion that slavery was an abominable institution.

So, do we chalk it up to just a difference of religious interpretation?   Same religion… different interpretation?   It’s not Christianity per se, just a difference of expression?    What about the homosexuality issue today?    Well, for sure, this is becoming less and less of an issue, but until recently, we saw two different expressions of the same faith.    “Homosexuality is wrong – The bible says so!” on one end, and “May not be for me, but they have a right to be who they are – you’re misinterpreting the texts!” on the other… and not a lot in between.    Same religion… different interpretation.   

Or, alternative #3 – It’s not the religion or the expression of this faith…  it’s the culture in which these Islamic peoples find themselves that is really to blame!    A few women made this point, saying that in certain regions of the world, certain customs and behaviors – such as female genital mutilation – is normative, even among non-Muslims.   Does this make it cultural?

Let’s look at the US again; here in Maryland again up to a few generations ago, certain customs and practices may not have been codified into law, and they may not have been religiously motivated, but they certainly did exist.   … like the “Sundown Towns”, where black people – in some places into the 60’s I understand – had to be out of town prior to sunset!   Culturally based institutional racism at its best.

And you have to bet that this behavior was so embedded into the culture that you couldn’t separate the two easily.    And where did religion fit into the minds of the people in these Sundown Towns?  Statistically they would have mostly been Christians… but I don’t believe that Christianity in general tolerated this either back then.  Remember the Civil Rights marches and the white Christian clergy involved in them?    It got to a point where it became so normative to protest for Civil Rights that it was even safe for Christian bishops to be out there.         

I still want to believe the violent actions done in the name of Islam doesn’t speak for all of Islam, the “healthier”, “good” Islam.    I still want to believe that.  But I have more trouble seeing a difference between religion and the culture in which it sits.  Truth is, I don’t think you can separate the culture from the religion.   So, in the question of whether Islam is dangerous, the answer may be… yes and no… it depends on which Islam you’re talking about.  

I may argue the finer points of whether one expression is more valid than another, but these arguments may be moot to the woman in Saudi Arabia, where you aren’t allowed to travel without a male family member with you.   Or in parts of Afghanistan where women aren’t allowed to travel uncovered at all.   Or parts of Nigeria where school aged girls are in fear of being kidnapped, raped, and/or killed for daring to get an education.   For these women… this is Islam.   

Contrast that to the Islam found often in the US, where these practices aren’t at all tolerated.    The reality might be that religion, whatever that might be, as expressed differently from region to region, is in fact different.   I know this sounds like a Yogi Berra-ism, but bear with me… It’s still Islam, but it’s not the same.