Religion and Theology

Overview
Some may assume that religion can be oppressive when it comes to gender standing and roles.  This is because religion represents that traditionalist views, and in this modern world, these views may be seen as backward and oppressive.  Evidences can be seen across many sources such as the case of human rights violations caused by religious and cultural practices.  For example, after 911, many documentaries have highlighted the oppression of women in the Islamic faith which can be seen in their conservative practices of covering the women from head to toe, and women being subject to abuse and punishment for any behavior that can bring shame to the family.  Outside the incidents covered by the media, day-to-day cultural practices in other religious denominations normally carry on a more patriarchal tradition which normally put women in secondary roles.

However, although these incidents do show the position of gender when it comes to these different religions, it cannot be easily assumed that these religious practices do not promote gender equality.  Mostly, it can be observed that the emergence of these ideas has been due to misconceptions and lack of inquiry as to how gender equality can actually work in these contexts.  In addition, the rise of these oppressions is not normally based on faith but the politics in which religion has immersed itself in.

As mentioned in the previous chapter, gender issues mostly represent the relational aspect between man and woman this relationships are then subject to a number of forces such as community and cultural dynamics.  Religion, evidently, influences this relationship especially as religion is instrumental to cultural and social practices (Pohlong, 2004).  With such interdependence, gender dynamics are affected by religion, although there is a greater influence by the cultural and social platform.

Despite the typical representations of gender issues through the cultural lens, isolating gender equality and religion, and then examining it through the humantiarian perspective shows how different denominations were founded on this theme compassion is therefore a shared and common theme among religions.  However, how does gender equality factor into humanitarianism  Humanitarian work, according to Sweetman (2002), always takes into consideration the gender-sensitive responses across all dilemmas, from aid to conflict.  This is because humanitarian work creates impact towards gender relations, especially as to how these dynamics were functioning before the event or crisis.  Moreover, one of the important contemporary issues in humanitarian work is how saving and protecting women can further empower them, thus, creating venues of opportunities during and after an event or crisis (Clifton  Gell, 2002).

Based on these, it is religion taught compasssion, and modern-day compassion is institutionalized through humanitarian work.  These relationships demonstrate how religion, despite the notion that some of its practices are oppressive, essentially promotes gender equality.  As can be seen in the following discussions of different religious denominations, religion began by establishing that man and woman are equal albeit different.  Hence, compassion began with the understanding of equality, and it remains to be fundamental in resolving inequalities between the gender.

Gender and Religion in the Humanitarian Framework
Gender and Christianity
Women in the Bible may be considered to have lesser roles than the men mostly because the latter had more pronounced positions.  This is to say that during the time of Jesus, he was mostly being accompanied by men.  He chose his twelve male apostles, and mostly left the church in the hands of his male followers.  However, the women in the Bible also have very critical roles in the life and times of Jesus, especially as to how Jesus taught his followers the importance of the womens freedom and education.

One of the common tales in the Bible are punishments, and usually, women who committ sins such as adultery were banished or persecuted by the people.  One of the more popular tales that demonstrate this is Jesus and the taken adulterous woman (John 753-811).  Posed before the scribes and the Pharisees, Jesus was asked for his opinion about a woman who was caught in an adulterous affair the court suggested that the woman should be stoned, a form of persecution that was common at that time.  Jesus responded to this situation by saying He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

This passage is a very important teaching in Christianity.  The essence of this passage is about judgment and forgiveness judgment may be easy in this case because the guilty one was a woman, but Jesus showed that if a woman can be guilty and should be punish, so should a man.  Generally, this passage shows how compassion is an essential theme in this story.  Jesus saved the womans life not merely by defending her but also raising the issue of judgment, guilt and equality. 

In the contemporary Christian world, gender equality has been rated the highest among other religions (Inglehart  Norris, 2003) however, it should be noted that this is because Christianity has been prevalent in the Western world, a place that is also dominated by non-denominational groups and even the non-religious.  Hence, compassion is one of the fundamental values that is taught in Christianity, and several Christian teachings in the Bible emphasize how compassion resolves conflicts, especially in instances of inequality and discrimination.

Gender and Islam
The truth is that Islam has been noted to have the highest rate of gender inequalities among religions (Inglehart  Norris, 2003).  This has become a subject of debate because of the growing misconceptions about the religion and the culture.  It is important to understand that although Islam has strict practices when it comes to the separation and differences among males and females, the religion in itself is far from these perceptions.

The Quran indicated that man and woman are essentially equal because they share the same spiritual nature and they come from the single source.  The teachings of the Quran, in close inspection, endorses tolerance.  In fact, the Quran stated, For you, your religion.  For me, my religion which reflects tolerance (The Globalist, 2010).  Hence, tolerance in itself is a virtue of compassion and among the fundamentals of humanitarian practices.
 
According to an article by The Globalist (2010), Islam has had two faces the Wahhabi and non-Wahhabi Islam the former is more fundamentalist and traditionalist in view, hence, the interpretations of the sacred scriptures tend to be more driven by political ideologies.  On one hand, the non-Wahhabi Islam emphasizes more the humanitarian nature of the religion.  As the degree of tolerance is higher in this kind of Islam, women are held with greater regard especially as they seen to be a significant part of humanity.

From this, it can be gathered that Islam, in essence, is not an extremist religion that wants to declare war when posed with threats rather, the religion promoted tolerance and compassion.  A substantial portion of the Muslim world strongly supports humanitarian work, and in more progressive Islamic societies women have as much rights as the men.  In this case, Islam promotes gender equality because it is founded on the teachings of tolerance, and in the humanitarian dimension, the religion and its teachings endorse the importance of providing support to those who can help in spreading peace and tolerance.

From this, how is gender equality endorsed in a religion that is usually perceived to oppress women  Again, these oppressions come from the man-made interprations of the sacred texts, especially as these roles had been politicized and designed according to the prevailing male values.  Islam promotes gender equality, but equality is defined in a different way the religion strongly believes in the difference between man and woman, but this does not necessariy establish a superiority of one over the other.  Equality is mostly seen in conditions in which both man and woman become the same beings, and that is usually in times of trial and hardships on the other hand, man and woman also become equal in times of compassion and support in which case spirituality and belief does not need to choose who should be helped and who should help.

Gender and Hinduism
As one of the biggest democracy in the world and as a former British colony, India can be regarded as one of the more progressive societies in terms of ideology.  Its traditional systems woud be eventually dismantled, but the essence of its Hindu identity continues to remain strong.

Hinduism as a religion can be observe to have a high regard for the females goddesses and female deities have been influential in the daily Hindu life.  Hinduism is about living life in spirituality, and an important part  of its teaching is love and the promotion of a common spiritual cause.  An important philosophy of Hinduism is causality as can be seen in the concept of karma.  The principle is that a persons actions will eventually determine certain returns hence, should a person do good, goodness will be returned, and should a person do bad, misfortunes can take place (Flood, 1996).  Because of this belief, compassion, love and generosity are very important virtues in Hinduism, particularly as to how it teaches its followers the value of humanitarian action. 

This also explains as to why gender equality in Hinduism was easily implemented even though the Hindu society did practice the caste system.  Equality became a derivative of the Hindu societys adaptation to the modern times, and as Hinduism represents a philosophy of righteousness, followers also do not discriminate especially when they share their compassion and blessings.  In this case, Hinduism is a religion that is essentially humanitarian in nature but this promotes the practice as a means for its followers, as individuals, live to fulfill a positive karmic destiny.

Gender and Buddhism
Because Buddhism is a way of life in which it aims to promote worldly detachments, the issue of gender is not necessarily a prime concern of the religion.  This is to say that Buddhism does not stress on life earth, thus, the religion does not stress on sex.  The main philosophy of Buddhism is provide guidance towards a persons path towards enlightenment, and in order to achieve this, it is important that a person goes through different states of spirituality which needs to be achieved.  Hence, the first step in this path is to detach ones self from the temptations of the material world.

Because of this, gender equality is already a given in Buddhism in terms of its teachings, anyone can achieve enlightenment. The religion does not discriminate based on the persons sex, and its sacred texts man and woman are seen as equal beings forging their respective purposes though heading towards the journey of spirituality. 

Despite this, inequality in Buddhism has been mostly noted on the dominance of male Buddhist leaders, especially when it comes to monkhood.  Buddhist monks initially live in isolation, and in order for them to go through the process of material and carnal detachment, they are usually isolated from the females.  Although this is not to say that Buddhist monks are not allowed to be exposed to women, the opposite sex is mostly seen as a potential distraction because it plays into the human nature and the basic instincts.  It should be noted that such isolation is not just exclusive towards the opposite sex this isolation and detachment also includes material things.  Buddhist monks live on the compassion of others, and access to personal wealth is something they have to let go of. 

Because there is also the karmic nature that exists in Buddhism, Buddhists are also known to be active when it comes to sharing their blessings.  They live on compassion and giving, hence, the religion endorses the importance of giving to anyone who is in need.  Such is not done in vain as a means to receive similar fortunes rather, giving is done out of virtue, a part of the willingness to suffer for the sake of others which, in return, can give further pave the way for ones spiritual path (Powell, 1989).

Summary
On Perceptions and Misconceptions
Inglehart and Norris (2003) presented a very interesting discussion as to the differences in gender equality perceptions across these religions.  According to an evaluation of gender equality across different religions, the authors found that gender equality tends to be more present in the ChristianCatholic religions and the non-denominational which are prevalent in Western and developed countries.  Among the religions surveyed, Islam has shown the most significant amount of inequality.  However, the authors also noted that the prevalence of inequality has been mostly present in rural and less developed societies which are general in Asia and in Africa where Islam is most prevalent.

As Inglehart and Norris pointed out (2003, 68-69),
... there is a persistent gap in support for gender equality and sexual liberalization between the West (which is most liberal), Islamic societies (which are most traditional), and all other societies which fall between these extremes).  Another finding has very important implications the gap between the West and Islam is usually narrowest among the oldest generation, but this gap has steadily widened across all the indicators as the young generations in Western societies have become progressively more liberal and egalitarian, while the younger generations in Islamic societies remains as traditional as their parents and grandparents.

The result from this study presents a very interesting insight that the younger generation cannot be easily assumed to be more liberated than their parents or grandparents rather, the maintenance of tradition may seem to be more pressing now especially as Westernization and globalization takes place.  The need to maintain the sense of identity becomes an important aspect in the preservation of the tradition.

In this case, does that mean that Islam, as practiced by certain sectors, will continue certain oppressive actions such as the punishment of women  It should be noted, and as previously discussed, that the spiritual books such as the Quran, and even the Bible, is interpreted based on certain contexts.  As can be seen in the previous discussions on how the Quran initially places the females on equal footing with the males, inequality does not mean a contradiction of gender roles.  This mostly emphasizes that males and females are different, and they have their respective roles to their families and the society these roles, therefore, should not be translated as inequality.