Malaysians Must Know the TRUTH: It’s a man’s world

Monday, November 11, 2013

It’s a man’s world

It is time we gave real political power to women. The ‘official religion’ of Malaysia is Islam. In Islam, women are not permitted to lead (in Saudi Arabia, they are not even permitted to drive or to leave their homes unescorted -- which means they cannot work either). That would mean Malaysia would probably never see a female prime minister or menteri besar (chief minister) and for sure never a female Agong or Queen like in England.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

O you who have believed, when you contract a debt for a specified term, write it down. And let a scribe write [it] between you in justice. Let no scribe refuse to write as Allah has taught him. So let him write and let the one who has the obligation dictate. And let him fear Allah , his Lord, and not leave anything out of it. But if the one who has the obligation is of limited understanding or weak or unable to dictate himself, then let his guardian dictate in justice. And bring to witness two witnesses from among your men. And if there are not two men [available], then a man and two women from those whom you accept as witnesses - so that if one of the women errs, then the other can remind her.

Surat Al-Baqarah, 2:282

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A man and a woman, after a bit too much to drink, were arguing in a pub about who is more superior, man or woman. Quite fed up with the entire debate, the man dropped his pants, showed the woman his pecker, and said, “A man has this. A woman does not.” Whereby the woman raised her skirt, dropped her panties, and said, “Ah, but with one of these a woman can get ten of those.”

For more than 3,000 years, Judeo-Christianity -- followed, later on, by Islam -- has always believed in the superiority of men over women. Michelangelo implanted this image of a male God in his painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel about 500 years ago. From thereon visuals of God have always been of a male God.

In fact, the foundation of the Abrahamic faiths is based on the belief that Eve corrupted Adam. (In the first place, woman is supposed to have been created from the rib of man). Basically, men are strong and can resist the temptation of the devil while women are weak and succumb to temptation. Furthermore, women are evil and conniving and plot to lead men astray.

This image of a weak and evil woman is what the Abrahamic faiths teach us. If not for woman, man would still be living in paradise until today. But because of woman, humankind has been banished to earth and this punishment includes death. Humankind has to eventually die because we all live on earth and not in paradise. Hence the fate that awaits us, death, is due to the evil, conniving woman.

In the middle ages, smart women were viewed as witches. Women are not supposed to be smart and if they are then it can only be because they are worshippers of the devil. Hence, as what the Bible says, it is mandatory that the only punishment for witchcraft is death.

“You shall not permit a sorceress to live.” -- Exodus 22:18

“A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; their blood shall be upon them.” -- Leviticus 20:27

Up to 200 years ago, women were still being burned as witches in the western world. If a woman was seen walking and an animal, say a cat, follows behind her then she is a witch. If a woman accurately predicts the weather then she is a witch. If someone’s cow dies, then the neighbour must surely be a witch and she will be arrested and put to death. And so much more!

Women were also not allowed to learn to read and write. Those who did were punished and sometimes even killed. Basically, women were not allowed an education and even up to the 1800s women were still not allowed to go to university.

Women were not allowed to vote until the late 1800s. And it was not until about 100 years ago that women were elected into public office. In the more ‘progressive’ UK and the US, it was less than 100 years ago.

All this changed only about 50 years or so ago. As at April 2013, the top 10 countries out of 189 with the greatest representation of women in national parliaments are:

The major English-speaking democracies are placed mostly in the top 40% of the ranked countries.

New Zealand ranks at position 27 out of 189 countries with women comprising 32.2% of its parliament. Australia (24.7% in the lower house, 38.2% in the upper house) and Canada (24.7% lower house, 37.9% upper house) rank at position 46. The United Kingdom is ranked at 58 (22.5% lower house, 22.6% upper house), while the United States ranks 78 (17.8% in the lower house, 20.0% in the upper house).

It should be noted that not all of these lower and/or upper houses in national parliaments are democratically elected. For example, in Canada, members of the upper house (the Senate) are appointed. The Liberal Party of Sweden, however, makes it mandatory that at least 40% of their representatives must be women.

In a talk I gave to Wanita Keadilan Selangor back in 1999, I said that PKR (then called PKN) should make it mandatory that at least 30% of the candidates in the general election be women (like the Liberal Party of Sweden). Considering that 51% of registered voters and 53% of those who turn out to vote are women, this would make sense. In fact, 30% is still far below the average.

It is time this changed. Say what you like, as what Joshua Ledet said in the song below, it is still a man’s world. More than 3,000 years later and women are still second-class citizens. God is still a man and woman caused the downfall of man 6,000 years ago.

Maybe religion is not teaching us the right things after all when we call God ‘He’ and not ‘She’ or ‘It’.

By the way, if God were a woman, would the Lord’s Prayer for the Christians be ‘Our Father, which art in heaven’ or ‘Our Mother, which art in heaven’?