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Former
president Jimmy Carter and The Elders group of global
leaders are calling for a change to “the harmful and
discriminatory practices against women and girls and
give their full support to the equality of all”.
“Religion and tradition are a great force for peace and
progress around the world,” said The Elders, a group of
global leaders brought together by Nelson Mandela, in
statement to mark the launch of their latest initiative.
“However, as Elders, we believe that 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,” added the 12-person
organisation brought together by former South African
president Nelson Mandela.
In an effort to bring change to and end religious and
traditional practices that discriminate against women
and girls, The Elders are using their latest initiative
to reveal how the “deep-rooted belief that women are
worth less than men has infected every aspect of our
societies”.
They say such beliefs have led to brutal violence and
mistreatment against women and have denied girls and
women fair access to education, health, employment,
property and influence within their own communities.
“It is not just women who are paying an enormous price
for this cultural and religious prejudice. We all suffer
when women and girls are abused and their needs are
neglected. By denying them security and opportunity, we
embed unfairness in our societies and fail to make the
most of the talents of half the population,” The Elders
state.
Last week, former President Carter attempted to draw
greater attention to The Elders’ gender equality
initiative by submitting an op-ed to newspapers
including The Observer.
In his piece, Carter recalled his “painful and
difficult” decision to sever ties with the Southern
Baptist Convention in 2000 after having been a part of
the denomination for six decades.
The decision, he said, was “unavoidable ... when the
convention’s leaders, quoting a few carefully selected
Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to
Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that
women must be ‘subservient’ to their husbands and
prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains
in the military service”.
“It is simply self-defeating for any community to
discriminate against half its population,” Carter
charged. “We need to challenge these self-serving and
outdated attitudes and practices - as we are seeing in
Iran where women are at the forefront of the battle for
democracy and freedom.”
While Carter unsurprisingly drew praise from a number of
women and advocates for women’s rights, he also drew
criticism from others for using “weasel words”.
“By using words and phrases like ‘abuses’,
‘discrimination’, and ‘equal right’, Jimmy Carter is
essentially combining the complementarians with
chauvinists and even criminals,” noted Ben Mordecai, an
engineering student at University of Georgia and an
active contributor to the Rebelution forum for young
Christians.
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