February 2010

by Lisa Miller

Gender Equality, Torturing, and Religion

What a strange surprise: our community conversations revealed a bonus nugget truism (see the title)!

For February we were talking about human rights, specifically torture, gender equality, and the ability to freely question religion. Here's what was on our minds:

Torture. A definite human rights issue with lots of emotion. Using any means possible to "save a US life or member of your family" has strong emotional pull. You would do anything to protect your family, right? But torture "violates the Geneva Convention, human dignity, past American values, and is not known to get good information from the tortured person." What happens to the people who become the torturers? What happens to us as a nation when living and governing by conscience gets a special circumstances pass? What happens to the innocents caught up indiscriminately in the torture machine? Can you really imagine standing by and supporting the torture of a human being? Imagine a world where we didn't torture each other. Is it worth trying to work towards that vision?

Gender Equality. Isn't it sobering to realize "that fully half of the people in some cultures have in fact little or no rights?" Thankfully our world has given much attention to equal rights for minority groups, but a sneaky "minority" isn't even a minority. Deep-rooted biases of women being inferior are very problematic all over the world. And though America is certainly not Saudi Arabia, we have plenty of ground to cover too. "To NOT be treated as property, as vessels for men to OVER procreate and for the most part be slaves to men. Denied education, equal treatment under the law, etc." We cry at the atrocities waged against women uniquely and our world is poorer for the untapped resources that could do so much if given equal opportunity and rights. Think about this: gender equality is widely acknowledged as key to erasing poverty and hunger.

Questioning Religion. The ability to freely question and debate an established idea is core to the promotion of any area of human rights. Religion and its effects on individuals and society is truly another important human rights issue. We must safeguard and promote "the right to freely question the tenets of religions". To do this "without being offensive and to offer positive alternatives is one of humanism's great missions."

Thanks for your thought provoking responses community.

We recently passed the 20th anniversary of Nelson Mandela's release after 27 years in prison. It got me thinking about historical events that impact your life. One that was huge for me was when the Berlin Wall came down. I still get chills when I hear that clip from Reagan, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."

What are the historical events that loom large in your own history? Send your thoughts to Lisa at HumanistsofUtah.org for next month's newsletter. The deadline is March 27.

--Lisa Miller