The Words of God Do Not Justify Cruelty to Women
July 17, 2009
By Jimmy Carter
The Observer

"Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status ..." (Article 2, Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

From Demonization to Objectification: Killing the Burqa
July 17, 2009
By Hussein Rashid
Religion Dispatches

Marwa el-Sherbini, an Egyptian woman living in Germany, is being described as the “headscarf martyr.” Even in her death, she is nothing more than a piece of cloth.

My Womb for His Purposes: The Perils of Unassisted Childbirth in the Quiverfull Movement
July 15, 2009
By Kathryn Joyce
Religion Dispatches

Already distrustful of outside experts, be they members of the education system or leaders of traditional denominations, Quiverfull followers are increasingly eschewing the medical establishment, opting to leave childbirth to God. The recent death of a newborn, however, exposes a growing rift between the most zealous opponents of intervention and those open to some assistance.

The Vatican is Going After the Nuns
July 15, 2009
By Regina Brett
Cleveland.com

Look out. The Vatican is going after the nuns. Catholic nuns have been called "America's first feminists." They ran hospitals and schools, educated and healed the masses, mothered orphans and salvaged prostitutes. Yes, nuns have always been a wild, crazy bunch of radicals. What else can you call women who gave up their entire lives for others, from the clothing they wore to the paychecks they earned?

Obama's surgeon general pick: a Catholic who backs abortion rights
July 15, 2009
By Margaret Talev and William Douglas
Politics AP

President Barack Obama's nominee for surgeon general is a Catholic best known for founding an Alabama clinic that treats the poor, but her lesser-known support for abortion rights puts her at odds with her church and some of the groups that have praised her work. Regina Benjamin's Bayou La Batre Rural Health Clinic doesn't perform abortions. A clinic employee who declined to be identified said by telephone that patients seeking information about abortions would be referred to providers in the state.

From Bikinis to Burqas, the Feminist Politics of Clothing
July 14, 2009
By Sarah Seltzer
Reality Check

How can so many American feminists have come out against a burqa ban in France (as they largely have this past month) when the burqa, along with other excessively modest religious garb, appears to be a classic tool of gender oppression?

What the Sisters Are Up To
July 14, 2009
By Francis X. Clines
New York Times

Across 30 years, the modern version of the Sisters of St. Joseph has been revolutionizing the treatment of imprisoned women in New York. Thanks to the nuns’ efforts, mothers are now allowed to care for their infants on the inside and remain close to their children in creative visitors’ programs. Once they are paroled, these women and their children can find a year’s shelter in one of nine Providence House sanctuaries the nuns created in defunct city rectories and convents.

Martyr of the Hijab: Marwa Sherbini, a Walking Veil?
July 8, 2009
By Shabana Mir
Religion Dispatches

Why did coverage of the murder of a pregnant Muslim woman merely record the outrage “in the Muslim world”? (This post has been revised and updated —ed.)

Egypt mourns 'headscarf martyr'
July 8, 2009
By
BBC News

The body of a Muslim woman, killed in a German courtroom by a man convicted of insulting her religion, has been taken back to her native Egypt for burial. Marwa Sherbini, 31, was stabbed 18 times by Axel W, who is now under arrest in Dresden for suspected murder. Husband Elwi Okaz is also in a critical condition in hospital, after being injured as he tried to save his wife.

Religious Conservatives Certain Palin Will Stay in National Politics
July 8, 2009
By Dan Gilgoff
God and Country - U.S. News and World Report

What do religious conservatives know about Sarah Palin that everyone else doesn't?