Just What We Need, Islam Day
Wednesday - May 20, 2009
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A few years ago, just before the Iraq war while Saddam Hussein was still neither denying nor confirming the presence of WMDs in his country, the Hawaii state Legislature - in the spirit of “make love, not war” - passed the infamous “Aloha to Saddam” resolution. The fact that he has since been tried and hanged by his own people for his heinous war crimes illustrates the absurdity and naiveté of that resolution.
Those of us who thought our Legislature couldn’t embarrass us any worse than that were wrong.
Now comes HCR100, a resolution declaring Sept. 24 as “Islam Day” introduced by state Rep. Lyla Berg and co-sponsored by Rep. Faye Hanohano. It passed, of course, and was voted for by every woman present that day in both legislative chambers (and all but three of the men). Never mind the obvious: There is no declared “Christian Day,” no “Judaism Day,” no “Buddhism Day,” no other “Day” generically honoring another religion. Yes, there are Christmas Day, Easter and Good Friday (the latter cleared by our courts “primarily to increase the frequency of legal holidays”), but Christmas and Easter commemorate specific events in our majority religion.
But the greater irony is this unanimous female celebration of Islam, a system as much political as religious, which is based upon a Quran embodying several specific and significant rules concerning women that have apparently gone unnoticed.
James Arlandson, Ph.D, college professor of religion and philosophy, author, expert on Christianity vis-àvis Islam, says, “Islam, in its purest form, honors and elevates women, we are told; but does it?” He then goes on to list the top 10 rules of the Quran that “oppress and insult women”:
10) “A husband has sex with his wife as a plow goes into a field.” - Sura 2:223
9) “Husbands are a degree above their wives.” - Sura 2:228
8) “A male gets double the inheritance over that of a female.” - Sura 4:11
7) “A woman’s testimony counts half of a man’s.” - Sura 2:282
6) “A wife may remarry her ex-husband if, and only if, she marries another man, they have sex, and then that second man divorces her.” - Sura 2:230
5) “Slave girls are sexual property of their male owners.” - Sura 4:24
4) “A man may be polygamous with up to four wives.” - Sura 4:3
3) “A husband may simply get rid of one of his undesirable wives.” - Sura 4:129
2) “Husbands may hit their wives even if the husband merely fears highhandedness in his wife.” - Sura 4:34
1) “Mature men are allowed to marry prepubes-cent girls.” - Sura 65:1,4
These “top 10” rules are directly from the Quran, but many others have become law in Islamic societies strictly through tradition and religion. All suppose a woman’s subservience to men. In Saudi Arabia, considered one of the more “modern” Islamic countries, without the permission of a man, women cannot travel, study, work, see a doctor, get healthcare or even call an ambulance. When leaving their home, they must be accompanied by husband or male relative, their bodies must remain covered and they are not allowed to drive a car. Oh! And marital rape is allowed, and non-domestic rape victims are punished.
So this is the system that has apparently so enamored our ladies of the Legislature that they are honoring with its own Islam Day. So much for that good ol’feminist solidarity!
As for our 3,000 or so Muslim neighbors here in our Hawaii community to whom this resolution is ostensibly dedicated, they may or may not live strictly by Islamic law. But the fact they have chosen to live in America is a pretty good clue.
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