Category: women’s rights

Pope Francis gives priests power to forgive abortions

November 21, 2016 • 7:00 am

Well, this is clearly a case of making a virtue of necessity. Given the widespread abandonment of the Church by Catholics in many countries, and the archaic stand of the Vatican on many issues that puts that the Church far behind secular moral progress, it’s no surprise that today Pope Francis gave priests the power to forgive abortions. This was the permanent extension of a temporary decree issued by the Pope during Jubilee Year.

That said, it’s still a move to be applauded, even though the Church itself is an outmoded institution that should be scrapped.

As CNN just reported:

Pope Francis will allow Catholic priests the power to forgive abortion, he announced in a letter released Monday.

The letter states: “I wish to restate as firmly as I can that abortion is a grave sin, since it puts an end to an innocent life. In the same way, however, I can and must state that there is no sin that God’s mercy cannot reach and wipe away when it finds a repentant heart seeking to be reconciled with the Father.”
“May every priest, therefore, be a guide, support and comfort to penitents on this journey of special reconciliation,” the letter continues. “I henceforth grant to all priests, in virtue of their ministry, the faculty to absolve those who have committed the sin of procured abortion.”
Developing story – more to come

How does this represent a change? Well, in the past, abortions were considered such a grave sin that anybody who had one was automatically excommunicated. And, as The Independent notes:

In the past, only a bishop or a designated chief confessor of a diocese could grant absolution for an abortion.

What I don’t get about all this is how the Pope even has the power to decree what actions (e.g., unforgiven grave sins or excommunication) can put a person in danger of hell, and which can be forgiven by God. Did God tell Pope Francis? Is the Pontiff speaking ex cathedra (or “inflammably,” as Archie Bunker used to say)? If not—and perhaps some Catholics or ex-Catholics can enlighten us on this—then he’s simply making up Catholic doctrine, which represents a decree about what God wants and does not want.  And if that’s the case, I want to know where Francis got a pipeline to God’s wishes.

 

Female chess players forced to wear hijabs at next World Championships in Iran; some pull out

September 30, 2016 • 12:38 pm

For a reason that defies understanding, the Commission for Women’s Chess of FIDE, the World Chess Federation, has chosen to have the next women’s world championship in—yes—Iran.  And you know what that means: push your pawns wearing a hijab, or get arrested. Or don’t come at all.

That last option seems to be what many women grandmasters are choosing, at least according to an article in yesterday’s Torygraph, called to my attention by angry chess player Will G. In fact, given his familiarity with the game and the federations involved, I’ll just let Will comment on the Torygraph article. I’ll indent text from the article, and put Will’s comments in quotation marks, flush left.  My own remarks will be flush left without quotations.

First, an opening quote from Will: “I’m an avid chess player, and am livid about this. FIDE often hosts major events in places with serious human rights problems (Russia, of course, but also China and the Gulf States of Qatar and UAE), but this is an explicit endorsement of misogyny.”

From the Torygraph:

The world’s top female chess players have reacted with horror after being told they must compete at next year’s world championship wearing a hijab.

Within hours of Iran being revealed as its host country, the prestigious event was plunged into crisis as it emerged players taking part face arrest if they don’t cover up.

In response, Grandmasters lined up to say they would boycott the 64-player knock-out and accused the game’s scandal-hit governing body Fide of failing to stand up for women’s rights.

Fide’s Commission for Women’s Chess, meanwhile, called on participants to respect “cultural differences” and accept the regulations.

From Will: “‘Respect cultural differences’: the last refuge of a regressive scoundrel. You don’t need morality police roaming the streets to enforce your culture, and if you thought those differences were respectable, you’d never tire of telling us why.”

And famous women players are revolting. As Will notes:

“From the article, I’m pleased to see the women of chess are not putting up with this. American champion Nazi Paikidze has joined others in refusing to go. She had a brief Tw**tfight with Susan Polgar, who has had a checkered history as a renowned chess educator and administrator of the USCF. Paikidze deals amicably, while Polgar takes any public disagreement as an insult.”

I looked up Polgar on Wikipedia, and found that she does indeed have a checkered (or should I say “chessed”) history with the U.S. Chess Federation. Will adds this:

“In the article, Polgar is quoted as saying:

“I believe the organisers provided beautiful choices [of headscarf] for past participants… I cannot speak on behalf of others but from my personal conversations with various players in the past year, they had no real issues with it.”

“Imagine a man saying this. Speaking for you while pretending not to, and making an appeal to vanity. ‘Ladies, you’ll just swoon over the exotic fabrics our hosts are waiting to wrap you in!'”

At any rate, here’s some revolt against the hijab rule by Nazí Paikidze, 2016 American champion, International Master, and Woman Grandmaster.

Nazi Paikidze, the US women’s champion, also raised concerns about players’ safety in the Islamic republic.

She said: “It is absolutely unacceptable to host one of the most important women’s tournaments in a venue where, to this day, women are forced to cover up with a hijab.

“I understand and respect cultural differences. But, failing to comply can lead to imprisonment and women’s rights are being severely restricted in general.

“It does not feel safe for women from around the world to play here.” Paikidze added: “I am honoured and proud to have qualified to represent the United States in the Women’s World Championship. But, if the situation remains unchanged, I will most certainly not participate in this event.”

The U.S. Department of State has issued a warning about travelling to Iran saying citizens risk being unjustly imprisoned or kidnapped because of their nationality.

Her statement on Instagram:

screen-shot-2016-09-30-at-12-14-47-pm

And the Torygraph reports this:

Nigel Short, the British former world title contender, said: “There are people from all sorts of backgrounds going to this, there will be atheists, Christians, all sorts of people.

“If you are deeply Christian why would you want to wear a symbol of Islamic oppression of women?”

This from Carla Heredia, battling with Polger.

Former Pan American champion Carla Heredia, from Ecuador, added: “No institution, no government, nor a Women’s World Chess Championship should force women to wear or to take out a hijab.

“This violates all what sports means. Sport should be free of discrimination by sex, religion and sexual orientation.

I’m really glad that women are fighting back against this. I can see donning a hijab or removing shoes as a sign of respect when entering a mosque (I’ve done the shoe thing many times, as well as made sure I wasn’t dressed immodestly), BUT NOT IN A WHOLE COUNTRY! It’s simply theocratic oppression of non-Muslim women to make them cover their heads while playing chess in your country, pure and simple. After all, in Saudi Arabia you must cover yourself, but not in the special compounds where foreigners live. Why can’t the chess venue be considered such a compound?

It would serve FIDE right if there were a mass boycott of the Championship. It’s time to stop celebrating the hijab and see it for what it is: a shackle worn on the head.

Lagniappe: reader Pliny the in Between has a relevant cartoon:

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h/t: Larry

Burka Avenger!

June 19, 2016 • 1:00 pm

This is a pretty cool cartoon with an admirable goal: to advance the education of women in Pakistan, a country where there’s considerable opposition to that goal. Reader Geoffrey sent me this link and a note (indented below), and I watched one episode of the cartoon. That video is below, and I like it. (You can find other episodes on YouTube.)

I just found out about this recently, and with the site’s repeated use of that Pew poll (a very useful and powerful instrument in my opinion) I felt it might be nice to have some good news about the countries represented in that poll.

The show Burka Avenger is apparently very popular in Pakistan, with its message to give girls an education—what Captain Planet is to caring for the environment. It’s not all that good [JAC: I disagree], but hey, if one of the most popular shows in Pakistan is preaching girls’ right to an education, then that is a good sign. Further, while the superheroine does wear a burka, it’s mostly as a disguise, going for a sort of half-ninja / half-superhero look. When outside of her disguise, she doesn’t even wear a hijab.

This show started airing around the time of that poll (2013), which incidentally shows that 88% of Pakistani Muslims believe women should always or mostly submit to their husbands. So, it’s got an uphill battle. But it is nice to see that there are good people winning that kind of battle in Pakistan. I hope it’s a sign of things to come.

Here’s the first episode of Burka Avenger:  “Girls’ school is shut”. The YouTube notes say this:
The first episode of the Burka Avenger, Season 01. In this episode, the crooked politician Vadero Pajero and evil Baba Bandook conspire to shut down the girls’ school. Burka Avenger must come to the rescue and help save the day. The series was made using a combination of 3D animation and 2D art. The characters are 3D but all the backgrounds are painstakingly painted in 2D by our talented artists.

I wonder if the hurling of stones at beginning means is saying something about stoning of women. There’s really very little religion in the cartoon—only one Invocation of God, and I love that the hero uses a book and a pen as weapons.

The show has not been without criticism, mostly involving the superhero’s attire.

The United Nations “Human Rights Council” is a joke

June 18, 2016 • 1:30 pm

Here’s a short but powerful speech (two minutes long) given yesterday before the Human Rights Council at the UN. I have no idea who the passionate young woman is (she appears to represent the UN Watch group), but I know of the three incidents of rape she recounts.

The countries she names are, of course, Muslim-majority countries, with an abysmal record of treating women fairly and equally. Saudi Arabia, among the worst offenders, has a seat on the Council as well as a leadership position on one of its panels. As the Washington Post writes, noting that the U.S. also bears the stain of human-rights violations:

Saudi Arabia had earlier this year sought the leadership slot of the entire Human Rights Council of the U.N., a move that drew criticism given the country’s human rights record. The kingdom routinely comes in at the bottom of Freedom House’s rankings of world freedom.

“Saudi Arabia has arguably the worst record in the world when it comes to religious freedom and women’s rights,” UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer said in a statement. “This UN appointment is like making a pyromaniac into the town fire chief, and underscores the credibility deficit of a human rights council that already counts Russia, Cuba, China, Qatar and Venezuela among its elected members.”

Some observers have questioned why Saudi Arabia has a seat at the 47-member Human Rights Council at all. But many countries on the council have enacted laws that are at odds with the U.N.’s official stances. To take one obvious example, the U.N.’s High Commissioner for Human Rights advocates against capital punishment, saying that “the death penalty has no place in the 21st century.”

But a number of countries on the council, including the U.S., actively sentence people to death and execute them each year. In 2014, council member countries executed at least 139 prisoners, contrary to the commissioner’s stated position. That doesn’t include executions by China, which also sits on the council and where experts agree that annual execution numbers run into the thousands. Exact numbers on capital punishment in China are hard to come by, as official sources are generally seen to be unreliable.

This tw**t was published by The Independent:

And of course it’s barbaric that the U.S. is the only First World country (unless you count Japan) that retains the death penalty. What kind of example is that?

h/t: netmyst