The Role of Women in establishing Peace

[YmirGF]

Where are women collectively being represented? One woman. One monarchy or one authoritarian leader does not speak for the majority of women.

Women are by nature against war. It is their more aggressive counterparts which have been fighting these wars for thousands of years not women,

The reason no one can quote a large body of women who want war is because they cannot find one because women are not warmongers.

I'm detecting just a tiny sniff of sexist stereotyping here.

 

[Shrew]

Firstly, Peace and Goodwill to all mankind during this Christmas and Holiday Season!

We Baha'is believe that it will be primarily women that will establish world peace. So we wish to emphases and promote the concept of the equality of the genders. All quotes are from the Baha'i Sacred Scriptures.

Which are the Baha'i scriptures?

"Assuredly woman will abolish warfare among mankind."

I wished that was true - but I remember Maggie Thatcher and her Falklands war.
It' not enough when the person on top is a woman, it needs to be the right woman.

"The woman has greater moral courage than the man; she has also special gifts which enable her to govern in moments of danger and crisis."

"The world of humanity is possessed of two wings — the male and the female. So long as these two wings are not equivalent in strength the bird will not fly. Until womankind reaches the same degree as man, until she enjoys the same arena of activity, extraordinary attainment for humanity will not be realized; humanity cannot wing its way to heights of real attainment."

"Daughters and sons must follow the same curriculum of study,thereby promoting unity of the sexes. When all mankind shall receive the same opportunity of education and the equality of men and women be realized, the foundations of war will be utterly destroyed. Without equality this will be impossible because all differences and distinction are conducive to discord and strife. Equality between men and women is conducive to the abolition of warfare for the reason that women will never be willing to sanction it. Mothers will not give their sons as sacrifices upon the battlefield after twenty years of anxiety and loving devotion in rearing them from infancy, no matter what cause they are called upon to defend. There is no doubt that when women obtain equality of rights, war will entirely cease among mankind".[/QUOTE]
Regrettably women (like men) can become so influenced by an ideology and misguided by propaganda that they are only too willing to give their sons as sacrifices upon the battlefield.
Nationalsocialism was supportet by a great number of women.
Islamism has many devote female followers, some even travel to Syria to support ISIS.

 

[Koldo]

Such polls are not representative of a cross section of humanity and we have only to look at Trumps polls to see how they can be wrong.

Also, if I was a woman in the USA or England or with the best army in the world, I might feel less apprehensive of my son being killed because of better equipment.

But women overall if given a vote will not support war.

Show me something better than those polls and you will have, at least, somewhere to start.
Otherwise, you only have wishful thinking to support your claim.

 

[Shrew]

The problem is when do women ever have a full say in the matter of going to war? Women have never been asked or consulted about it. Just orders given by governments.

Like most men.
World War I & II, Vietnam - the guys were drafted if they wanted or not.

But I would say that the core of the message, that granting women equal access and rights, and that this will have a positive impact on the world, and specifically on world peace (and in my view, third world economies) is something I am completely on board with.

There is no better method to promote peace than to give women control over their own bodies and access to contraceptives.
Root cause of many conflicts is overpopulation.

 

[Shrew]

Women are special.
They have a power of intuition men do not possess.

I don't feel special and that power of intuition I never noticed, can you explain what it should be?

They can bear children.

yep

They are mainly family oriented and less war inclined.

I disagree with the first part of the sentence but agree with the second.

But women have no say in whether they agree with sending their sons to war or not. They have never had a say. The generals decide with the President. The mothers are excluded.

The fathers are also excluded.
Basically everyone without political power is.

It has always been mostly men who decide to go to war with mainly men fighting them and the mothers who have to attend the funerals with wives receiving the news of their husbands death and the children who have had to remain fatherless.

Women do not have a say in this worlds affairs apart from the occasional leader. It is an aggressive, male dominated world with never ending wars.

Yep, the men on top start the wars and the commoners suffer.

We believe that if women had the same or equal power men now possess, war would have been abolished long ago.

I know you want proof but the fact is it's never been tried. We have never ever had women have equal status to men throughout the world so we cannot say it won't work until we've tried it.

I hope you are right, the future would be brighter.

 

[Shrew]

Women have always stayed at home mainly to care for the family and mostly haven't become involved in world affairs but now we need something different other than the male aggression that's dragged us from one world war to another, from one conflict to another.

Women are the key because they are not aggressive natured like man and mostly tender and do not hunger for war like man does. They are more concerned about family matters and would be ideal to be of much more influence upon the family of man.

There may have been a couple of centuries of relative peace but it never lasted. We need the aggressive male characteristics of our civilization to be balanced with the family caring attitude of the women. We need justice but also compassion and mercy.

I think the family caring atitude is more a social role than an absolute, unchangeable female nature.

 

[loverofhumanity]

Show me something better than those polls and you will have, at least, somewhere to start.
Otherwise, you only have wishful thinking to support your claim.

6,000 years of male aggression and wars if not sufficient proof then you are in denial.

 

[loverofhumanity]

I'm detecting just a tiny sniff of sexist stereotyping here.

Is it sexists that males can't have babies? The functions of a female and a male are intrinsically different as defined by nature.

I don't think its sexist stereo typing to recognize the value and worth of women to society and promote their equality.

It's those who only see them as sex objects and refuse them equal pay and status that are defining women as worthless servants to serve the whims and fancies of man and clean up after him. They are the ones who have kept women as a servant and in many cases slave, mistress, sex slave, cheap labor.

Over half the world's population are women who have no voice in the say of their in their destiny and no dignity.

Men, without the guiding hand of women have failed to create a peaceful world and 6,000 years of war proves they are incapable of peace without women.

 

[loverofhumanity]

I think the family caring atitude is more a social role than an absolute, unchangeable female nature.

Yes and we need those sentiments very much when caring for the family of humanity.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Yes, let's "promote the equality of the genders" by pointing out how men are war mongering barbarians and how women are understanding and compassionate. Sounds like the "equality" promulgated by 3rd wave, feminist bigots.

 

[loverofhumanity]

Its quite a powerful statement and unusual given it was spoken by a leader of a religion.

Contrast for example Paul in the NT:

1 Corinthians 14:34-35, “As in all the congregations of the saints, women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church” (vv. 33-35).

Obviously much as changed in nearly 2000 years!

Clearly there are exceptions where women have ruled throughout the ages but on the whole it has been men in charge by reason of their more forceful qualities physically and of mind. But the balance is shifting.....

I'm proud to be a New Zealander, a country that is a modern democracy that was the first in the world to allow women the vote. That was in 1893 so not that long ago.

Did the Baha'i Faith arise from a modern democracy or even the enlightenment in Europe? Actually this religion arose from 19th Century Persia, a most repressive and backward empire. The religious clergy and Shah - all men were not too keen. An estimated 20,000 of the early adherents to this new religion were put to death in vain efforts to extinguish its light.

Hi Adrian and welcome to the forum. That was a very nice quote from the Bible highlighting the status of women in past ages. I'll make a note of it.

I congratulate NZ for taking the initiative in these matters and leading the way but the Bledisloe Cup is another thing. One day we will take it back!!

 

[loverofhumanity]

Yes, let's "promote the equality of the genders" by pointing out how men are war mongering barbarians and how women are understanding and compassionate. Sounds like the "equality" promulgated by 3rd wave, feminist bigots.

Didn't you read about the two wings of a bird?

With only one wing a bird cannot attain great height and so it is with humanity. With only the male wing humanity has been overly aggressive and needs the tenderness and sense of family caring that women excel in to counterbalance the other wing so humanity can fly to great heights. With only women there would be lack of needed justice.

We need both sexes to be equally balanced in our world.

We need the strong hand of justice but also mercy and compassion and only men and women combined can bring this balance to humanity.

Sorry if my explanation sounded biased. It wasn't meant that way. Both men and women are treasured and valued but we need to strengthen the female wing a lot more so the bird can fly better and higher.

 

[Dawnofhope]

"Assuredly woman will abolish warfare among mankind."

The leader of religion that spoke these words was a man called Abdu'l-Baha. He had spent most of his adult life in prison or exile along with his father Baha'u'llah. The Persian and Ottoman Empires tried for 75 years to eradicate the Baha'i Faith by what ever means they could. Of course the religion and culture was Islam. There were Baha'is in Europe and America that desperately wanted Abdu'l-Baha to travel over to their part of their world. A few years just before world war I despite his health having been sorely afflicted by some of the terrible conditions endured in prison, he travelled to Europe including London and Paris and spent about 9 months in the USA. This was a time when war loomed and the signs of impending chaos and convulsions for humanity were apparent. Most Monarchs and leaders of that time were male.

I don't believe for one moment that Abdu'l-Baha was saying all women are peace loving but was speaking of a shift of consciousness from one that was male dominated to one more permeated by feminine qualities.

The image of the humanity being wings of a bird, one female and the other male, was radical too. He seems to be talking about equality and much more of a balance rather than one wing being dominant over the other. If one wing is strong and the other deficient then the bird flies in circles. If both wings are strong then humanity flies into the heavenly realm.

 

[Dawnofhope]

but the Bledisloe Cup is another thing. One day we will take it back!!

Now there's something that really matters. Rugby and the All Blacks! Enough of this fluffy world peace talk. Where are you from?

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Didn't you read about the two wings of a bird?

With only one wing a bird cannot attain great height and so it is with humanity. With only the male wing humanity has been overly aggressive and needs the tenderness and sense of family caring that women excel in to counterbalance the

Didn't you read about the two wings of a bird?

With only one wing a bird cannot attain great height and so it is with humanity. With only the male wing humanity has been overly aggressive and needs the tenderness and sense of family caring that women excel in to counterbalance the other wing so humanity can fly to great heights. With only women there would be lack of needed justice.

We need both sexes to be equally balanced in our world.

We need the strong hand of justice but also mercy and compassion and only men and women combined can bring this balance to humanity.

Sorry if my explanation sounded biased. It wasn't meant that way. Both men and women are treasured and valued but we need to strengthen the female wing a lot more so the bird can fly better and higher.

Thank you for the clarification. In essence, I share the same view. There are generalized differences between men and women that compliment and balance each other. I think part of equality is understanding and accepting this, without automatically applying it to all individuals.
I think there are inherent, evolved differences between the sexes that are synergistic when expressed naturally and when equally understood and respected.

It's hard to not automatically respond in the context of the trend of currently defining equality as the "same."

 

[loverofhumanity]

Now there's something that really matters. Rugby and the All Blacks! Enough of this fluffy world peace talk. Where are you from?

I'm in Australia are you actually in NZ?

 

[loverofhumanity]

Thank you for the clarification. In essence, I share the same view. There are generalized differences between men and women that compliment and balance each other. I think part of equality is understanding and accepting this, without automatically applying it to all individuals.
I think there are inherent, evolved differences between the sexes that are synergistic when expressed naturally and when equally understood and respected.

It's hard to not automatically respond in the context of the trend of currently defining equality as the "same."

Thank you very much for accepting my re wording as I felt terrible. I'm not good at posting and often trip over my own feet. But your reply made me feel like I had just received a 'get out of jail card' except this isn't a Monopoly Board. Lol

 

[Dawnofhope]

Yes, South Island. Getting a little late and working tomorrow. Its a nice topic you have started. A really important issue. Its interesting to see so many varied perspectives and insights on this forum. Although I joined 2 years ago only started participating this month.

 

[loverofhumanity]

Yes, South Island. Getting a little late and working tomorrow. Its a nice topic you have started. A really important issue. Its interesting to see so many varied perspectives and insights on this forum. Although I joined 2 years ago only started participating this month.

Yes I learn so much from the people here. Nice to meet you Adrian. I hope we meet again soon.

 

[MD]

Yes, keep going.

Indira Gandhi, Benazir Bhutto, Chandrika Amaratunga, the Empresses of the Persian Empires, I'm sure there are many more examples in Asia.