Religion v feminism: which has done more for humanity?

[rug]

Tuesday, 2 July 2013
by Jane Caro

If I were to compare the effect of religion on the health, wealth and happiness of humankind with the effect of, say, feminism, I suspect feminism would win easily. Feminism has never airbrushed men out of the picture?—?either literally or metaphorically. It has never raised an army, never armed itself and never passed laws restricting the equal rights or opportunities of others. There may have been terrorists who were also feminists?—?in the IRA or the Baader-Meinhof gang, for example?—?just as there have been terrorists who were also atheists, but there have been no feminist acts of terror.

Feminism has never killed an opponent. Feminists have died, of course, usually at the hands of the religious. The suffragettes certainly smashed a lot of windows and even set a few fires (always in buildings they knew to be empty), but they never actually hurt anyone other than themselves. Suffragette Emily Davison was killed throwing herself under the hooves of the King’s racehorse at the Epsom Derby, crying “Votes for Women!”, and many of her colleagues went on hunger strikes when jailed for their beliefs, and then suffered the indignity and torture of force-feeding.

The evidence for feminism as a force for good is equally unequivocal. We know, for example, that the best protection for women against violence is the presence and activity of independent feminist community organisations (the presence of churches and houses of worship makes no difference at all). Not just that, either?—?we also know that in countries with the greatest equality between the s-xes, the life expectancy of men also goes up, because violence in general falls. We also now know, entirely thanks to feminism, that when you educate a girl and give her opportunities to earn money she would not normally have?—?often due to religious strictures?—?the benefits accrue to the whole family and community in a way they do not when you educate only boys. The phenomenon is called “The Girl Effect”.

The lives that feminism has directly saved through agitating for women’s reproductive health and rights probably number in the many millions.

http://www.crikey.com.au/2013/07/02/religion-v-feminism-which-has-done-more-for-humanity/?wpmp_switcher=mobile

[el_bryanto]

1. Feminism vs the Internal Combustion Engine: which has done more for humanity?

Hmmmm. I guess the Internal Combustion Engine has also brought about a lot of pollution - Feminism probably still has the edge.

Bryant

[okasha]

2. I'm a feminist,

but this essay is comparing a five-pound kitten to a Rottweiler. The United States, for instance, has yet to elect a woman president. Hell, the allegedly progressive major US party couldn't even bring itself to nominate a woman to run for president. Meanwhile, heavily religious countries such as Israel, Pakistan, Ireland and India--all patriarchal--have elected women as heads of state.

Let me make it clear that I see no downside to feminism and am proud of every victory won. But we have a long way to go before there's anything like parity between feminism, which lacks even remotely comparable political clout, and religion.

[dimbear]

3. Bit Eurocentric.

There have definitely been armies consisting entirely of women in Africa within well recorded historical time. Shaka Zulu had an army of 10,000 women. If you look way back, the Amazons come to mind.