Julia Ward Howe Quotes
Any religion which will sacrifice a certain set of human beings for the enjoyment or aggrandizement or advantage of another is no religion. It is a thing which may be allowed, but it is against true religion. Any religion which sacrifices women to the brutality of men is no religion.
Howe, Julia Ward. "What Is Religion?" The World's Parliament of Religions, edited by John Henry Barrows, vol. 2, The Parliament Publishing Company, 1893, p. 1251.
This statement is not only remarkable for its time, but also violated Hindu religious tradition and scripture. See Padmapurana.
Dr. Saadawi was fired from her government post for revealing the status of women in the country. She was also actually arrested and jailed as well for impairing national “values.” See .{586709}.
Women were not, in the decisions of Canadian courts “Persons.” As such they were not allowed to serve as public officials and legislators. In 1929 the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council reversed previous interpretations and declared women eligible for all public offices. It became known as “The Persons Case.”
Some modern versions of the Koran annotate the “beating” injunction and argue that this should only be used as a last resort. This is an example of socially unacceptable anachronisms that are found in the scripture of most older religions. All but the radical fundamentalists do not take these passages literally.
He was a major critic of French Quebec Separatism and some elements of French Canadian culture including his perception of sexism. His French Quebec Separatist enemies translated passages of this work into French and (some say deliberately) mistranslated this line to read: Quebec women are sows. The quotation was bandied about Canada in the original version as well as the mistranslation.
Many leaders of nations are in denial about this problem which exists almost everywhere. In Israel, the problem is compounded because the very orthodox Jews and Muslims both come from a tradition where women are allocated a place subservient to men in many ways and to some (like some Christians) there is a perceived duty to discipline wives and daughters. So reform involves religious tradition and theology.
Julia Ward Howe was an American poet and author, known for writing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and the original 1870 pacifist Mother's Day Proclamation. She was also an advocate for abolitionism and a social activist, particularly for women's suffrage.
