The Role of Women in establishing Peace

[oldbadger]

Women can be just as ruthless and wicked as men, and equally men can be just as humanitarian as women. It just just depends upon the person.

But if Baha'is believe that women hold the key to world peace, why is it that they are banned from holding seats in any Baha'i world government?
Strange.... ?

 

[Revoltingest]

No. Not WE, but YOU. Can't you USians discuss anything without dragging you own parochial concerns into it?

I voted against her because of my concern not just for us,
but also for the foreign countries she might've attacked.
I saw the election as primarily being about world peace.
(Although our ultimate choices were quite flawed.)
I'm protecting you.

 

[savagewind]

I think the problem isn't that woman have not been made equal to men.
I am certain that the problem is that men won't come down to the woman's level.

It isn't about women not going up. It is certainly about men not coming down.

 

[loverofhumanity]

No one here is saying that men are better than women. They're saying that women are not always better than men. Do you see the difference?

No ones saying that one sex is any better than the other, only that with both sexes equally balanced we have a greater chance of peace.

 

[loverofhumanity]

Women can be just as ruthless and wicked as men, and equally men can be just as humanitarian as women. It just just depends upon the person.

But if Baha'is believe that women hold the key to world peace, why is it that they are banned from holding seats in any Baha'i world government?
Strange.... ?

Women can participate in all Baha'i administrative activities except be elected to the Universal House of Justice. We are told that the reason why will be very clear in the future and do not know now but there are good reasons I can think of.

The main reason I can think of is that only the Universal House of Justice could ever call for a just war not national or local houses and if women dominated or controlled the Universal House of Justice, by their very nature, they might find they are unable to make the tough decisions to order a just war and we would have a House of Justice no better than the current UN where dictators are free to cause havoc and destruction.

This passage below may have bearing in such a time but this is only speculation. I do not know exactly yet what the real reason is but I think it would have to do with a reluctance of women to go to war even against a ruthless dictator. Hope this helps.

"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." Abdul-Bahá'í

 

[crossfire]

I see. It's women's responsibility to keep men from fighting. Gotcha.

{Except, of course, when men really need to fight. Then women should be silent.}

 

[Tabu]

I would like to mention here that BrahmaKumaris is one of those rare organizations which is largely run by women , about 8500 centers in about 175 countries all headed by women , the name itself means daughters of Brahma ( the first man , Adidev or Adam).
This is what Brahmakumaris call as emerging and sustaining the feminine principle
"The feminine principle is a subtle energy, which has remained untapped within the psyche of both men and women. It is merged in the essence of our spiritual identity and is marked by qualities attributed to the more gentle side of the human being—care, respect, trust, patience, loyalty, love honesty, empathy, and mercy. When this principle is understood and realised, it is a force so powerful that it awakens us to new realities and realigns us to the true purpose and meaning of life .
Both men and women possess this feminine principle but throughout history it has often been equated with emotion, weakness, and vulnerability and, in the context of social, economic, and political issues, flushed from the mainstream of development to a backwater and then labelled as ‘women’s issues’. The feminine principle was thereby controlled and crushed by the iron hand of patriarchal power, which almost invariably demanded nothing less than the sacrifice of intuition at the altar of rigid logic, the suppression of gentleness for the sake of brute strength, and the compliance of women with the dominance of men.

If the problems which have arisen through the suppression and control of this principle are to be corrected in a way that will last, then this must be done through a change of consciousness rather than a reversal of positions, roles: a change of consciousness which takes its birth from a base of spirituality and not from a base of sexuality. The feminine principle, this untapped subtle potential that lies at the core of our being, must now be released to restore a balance between intellect and intuition, facts and feelings, reason and realism."

 

[arthra]

There's a few organizations that I know of where women have played a major role...

WILPF

http://www.tahirih.org/

Women's Rights

 

[loverofhumanity]

I see. It's women's responsibility to keep men from fighting. Gotcha.

{Except, of course, when men really need to fight. Then women should be silent.}

It's about men and women consulting and working together to shape our world with neither sex dominating.

 

[loverofhumanity]

I would like to mention here that BrahmaKumaris is one of those rare organizations which is largely run by women , about 8500 centers in about 175 countries all headed by women , the name itself means daughters of Brahma ( the first man , Adidev or Adam).
This is what Brahmakumaris call as emerging and sustaining the feminine principle
"The feminine principle is a subtle energy, which has remained untapped within the psyche of both men and women. It is merged in the essence of our spiritual identity and is marked by qualities attributed to the more gentle side of the human being—care, respect, trust, patience, loyalty, love honesty, empathy, and mercy. When this principle is understood and realised, it is a force so powerful that it awakens us to new realities and realigns us to the true purpose and meaning of life .
Both men and women possess this feminine principle but throughout history it has often been equated with emotion, weakness, and vulnerability and, in the context of social, economic, and political issues, flushed from the mainstream of development to a backwater and then labelled as ‘women’s issues’. The feminine principle was thereby controlled and crushed by the iron hand of patriarchal power, which almost invariably demanded nothing less than the sacrifice of intuition at the altar of rigid logic, the suppression of gentleness for the sake of brute strength, and the compliance of women with the dominance of men.

If the problems which have arisen through the suppression and control of this principle are to be corrected in a way that will last, then this must be done through a change of consciousness rather than a reversal of positions, roles: a change of consciousness which takes its birth from a base of spirituality and not from a base of sexuality. The feminine principle, this untapped subtle potential that lies at the core of our being, must now be released to restore a balance between intellect and intuition, facts and feelings, reason and realism."

Beautiful. Thank you!

 

[loverofhumanity]

There's a few organizations that I know of where women have played a major role...

WILPF

http://www.tahirih.org/

Women's Rights

Thanks Arthra.

 

[The Emperor of Mankind]

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.

"Assuredly woman will abolish warfare among mankind."

"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".

I think that while this OP is certainly positive and is meant to fill those who read it with hope; it's ultimately based on antiquated gender stereotypes with only a superficial basis in reality.

 

[Dawnofhope]

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

Now list all the male rules in history and I'm certain the number of females leaders would not come remotely close to even 1 % of the total

 

[loverofhumanity]

I think that while this OP is certainly positive and is meant to fill those who read it with hope; it's ultimately based on antiquated gender stereotypes with only a superficial basis in reality.

None of us living have ever seen women reach their true potential as they still don't have equal rights or proper education in many parts of the world.

When they do and as women begin to have more influence, society will move more and more away from force and aggression and more towards a human family.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

I think its the other way aground, it a question of not respecting the 'right' belonging to women they ought not to have been deprived of in the first place.

Umm...it amounts to the same thing though. Anyone arguing the equality of rights is important by definition is suggesting they should have been equal all along.

 

[oldbadger]

The main reason I can think of is that only the Universal House of Justice could ever call for a just war not national or local houses and if women dominated or controlled the Universal House of Justice, by their very nature, they might find they are unable to make the tough decisions to order a just war and we would have a House of Justice no better than the current UN where dictators are free to cause havoc and destruction.

Your paragraph, above, shows an extremely high level of prejudice towards women.

It suggests that women cannot make tough decisions.

No equality there, I'm afraid.

 

[The Emperor of Mankind]

Women can participate in all Baha'i administrative activities except be elected to the Universal House of Justice. We are told that the reason why will be very clear in the future and do not know now but there are good reasons I can think of.

The main reason I can think of is that only the Universal House of Justice could ever call for a just war not national or local houses and if women dominated or controlled the Universal House of Justice, by their very nature, they might find they are unable to make the tough decisions to order a just war and we would have a House of Justice no better than the current UN where dictators are free to cause havoc and destruction.

This passage below may have bearing in such a time but this is only speculation. I do not know exactly yet what the real reason is but I think it would have to do with a reluctance of women to go to war even against a ruthless dictator. Hope this helps.

"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." Abdul-Bahá'í

So basically you want to advance womens' rights & status in society so it's at least on par with men in the name of advancing peace... but you also want to deny women access to places where they can use that power i.e. the Bahai World Order.

 

[YmirGF]

So basically you want to advance womens' rights & status in society so it's at least on par with men in the name of advancing peace... but you also want to deny women access to places where they can use that power i.e. the Bahai World Order.

My guess is that this is a cheap smoke screen to take the attention off the fact that woman cannot have a place at the top of the Bahai hierarchy. Bring about world peace so us menfolks can dictate what you should do for the rest of eternity. Yep, that's fricken noble of them.

 

[Nietzsche]

The superiority of one or the other will never bring peace.

It's amazing how quickly you changed your tune when more than just me began pointing out how asinine your initial argument was. But that's fine, because now we agree. That's a great thing.

 

[loverofhumanity]

Your paragraph, above, shows an extremely high level of prejudice towards women.

It suggests that women cannot make tough decisions.

No equality there, I'm afraid.

And men can't have babies either. There are natures inherent in men and women that are different but complimentary however that does not infer inferiority.

According to your logic men would be inferior because they cannot give birth.

Equality of opportunity and rights is what we are speaking about not sameness. And women still are denied their rightful place and status in our world.