Nelson Mandela and the Elders Say God Doesn't Hate Women

by Alex DiBranco · 2010-01-10 18:09:00 UTC
Topics:

When the world's a mess, what do you do? Nelson Mandela says: look to your Elders.

The Elders was formed as a small, independent group of committed -- well, changemakers -- who would take advantage of the fact that the world is shrinking to work together "to resolve global problems and ease human suffering." Founded by Mandela, other members of the Who's Who include former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Desmond Tutu, Ela Bhatt, and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

I probably don't have to point out that many of the Elders' progressive big-shots are religious leaders (they start each meeting with a silent prayer). Coming from within the system, they see much to be desired in the way religion addresses women's human rights.

As Nicholas Kristof indicates in a New York Times column on "Religion and Women" yesterday, the Elders have a message for the world's religions: "the justification of discrimination against women and girls on grounds of religion or tradition, as if it were prescribed by a higher authority, is unacceptable." Translation: God(s) doesn't hate women, so stop justifying sexism and misogyny on those grounds. Human rights aren't contingent on your genitalia.

A statement on their website challenges religions to root out the prejudice against women that has "infected" societies around the globe, acting as a part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Religion is a powerful force in our world, so it's nice to see a group of the older-and-wiser pointing it in the right direction. It's a big win for gender justice when major religious leaders like the Dalai Lama call themselves feminist. He says: "Isn't that what you call someone who fights for women's rights?"

Photo: K. Kendall

Alex DiBranco is a Change.org Editor who has worked for the Nation, Political Research Associates, and the Center for American Progress. She is now based in New York City.
PREVIOUS STORY:
Does Sharing Your Bra Color Pass as Promoting Breast Cancer Awareness?
NEXT STORY:
LEGO Agrees to Meeting After 50,000 Denounce Selling Out Girls

COMMENTS (20)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.