http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/15/world/middleeast/israel-faces-crisis-over-role-of-ultra-orthodox-in-society.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Can religious groups be a threat to a community? To a country? Maybe.

I really do have difficulty deciding who's in the right here, especially with the above article discussing the extreme measures some ultra-Orthodox Jews are taking to assert female subjugation. Blacking out billboards with women on them? Spitting on young girls dressed too immodestly for Jewish men's ideals? Yeah that's a bit crazy.  We've seen violence inspired by extreme interpretations of religion, and here we're seeing unfair treatment of women based on the same thing. Segregating women from men within their community is harsh enough--but in the modern world, ultra-Orthodox Jews can't expect everyone to conform to their ideals too! Sheesh. People get so worked up by religion.

So basically, women OBVIOUSLY deserve equal rights as men. Religions like Orthodox Judaism just complicates that. And different women probably feel differently about the issue, too--like in Islam, Jewish women dress to different degrees of modesty, following different "codes" of behavior. And no one can tell them what's right or wrong in religion. What can we do? Nothing really, except expect them to figure it out.

Is Islam a "religion of peace"? To be honest I think that's a stupid question.

You look at any media source--a newspaper, the tv, the internet--and radicals from almost any religion pop up here and there, blowing up this or shooting that or protesting something. To question Islam as a peaceful religion doesn't make sense unless you question other ancient religions. In the Acts of the Apostles, God condones violence by smiting people left and right! Violence everywhere.

Surely Islam has some violent roots, but don't many religions? Christianity stems from violence, as does Judaism because they share the Old Testament/Torah. But a book doesn't make a religion. A group of people do. Belief systems cannot be held responsible for violent acts committed by religious people because it is merely an extreme interpretation of their sacred book that creates reason for violence. It's not the religion, or the book--it's the interpretation. 

Islam is not any more "violent" or "peaceful" than any other religion. Radical Islamists who interpret their religion as motive for violence do not represent the majority or the religion.

Despite the contrasting ideas found in the Qur'an, I find that the stereotype of Islam woman strongly overwhelms the actual facts. When we first had the discussion of the hijab with Ms. Malik earlier in the year, I raised the notion that many women probably wear the veil out of choice, not obligation (despite the strong cultural influence to do so!). Some of the Islam "fashions" that we looked at were pretty startling, the burka in particular. So maybe we're justified for feeling "offended" that these women are wearing something we view as suppressive.

And yet, Islam women like Khadija and Tamanna brought to light my question--what about women who choose to wear traditional Islam garb, not as a symbol of suppression, but of reform?

Walking through these halls, I admit, I shake my head a little to myself when I see what some of the girls my age are wearing (or aren't wearing, for that matter!). So maybe it would make sense if we took a tip or two from Islam women and cared more about comfort over style, more about expression than conformity.

Do religious people handle suffering more effectively than non-religious?

You know this conversation really struck me as one with two very different sides to it. Firstly, that suffering acts as a reminder to people that they're human, acting as a penance dealt by whatever god they believe in. This kind of suffering helps "build character" and helps religious people find hope for deliverance from pain.

And then there's the other side, that suffering is, in essence, bad, and that all the suffering in the world doesn't make you a better person.

Religious people who handle suffering find a silver lining amongst all the bad, and I feel like a religious community is more intimate and supportive than a secular one, their common bond being faith. And it's this faith they hold on to when they suffer. And even if they are misguided in viewing their pain as a punishment, at least it gives a reason for it. When something bad happens, don't we always ask why? Maybe religious poeple can handle and thus overcome suffering more effectively because they have an explanation supported by a group of like-minded people.