“Women In Islam: Oppression or Empowerment?”

This evening, I went to hear “Women In Islam: Oppression or Empowerment?” – a presentation given by the Muslim Students Association. It was part of an “Islam Awareness Week” that was highly promoted by the University. (Coming up next is “Coming Out Week,” organized by the “Gender Issues Education Services.”)
I was interested in hearing what kind of deception and evasion I would hear, and I was not disappointed. I’ll give an overview, and leave it up to you to judge the views presented.

The basic argument went like this: There is a media conspiracy to discredit Islam and secularize American Muslims by portraying Muslim women as oppressed and Islam as promoting violence. Any oppression that may go on in any country is due solely to that country’s culture, and not anything about Islam itself. The sole purpose of a woman covering herself is to prevent men from being overwhelmed by their “animal instincts” and either viewing the woman solely as a sexual object or harassing or raping her. An uncovered woman that is raped or assaulted by a man is to blame for enticing the man’s animal instincts, which he cannot control.

I asked three questions following the talk:
Q: Do women also have animal instincts, or just men?
A: Only men have animal instincts, or only men have urges that they cannot control. Hence, only women have to wear the full body covering.
Q: What is the Muslim view on freedom, and on religion's role in government?
A: “True” freedom is not freedom to act (“run around naked” was the example used) but freedom to think. The only way to be free to think is to worship Allah. Politics cannot exist without a religious basis, and a system of law called Sharia law is prescribed by the Koran.
[Food for thought: Can you think of any countries that enforce(d) Sharia law? Does “freedom to think” have any meaning if one can’t act on one’s thoughts?]
Q: What is the purpose of your life, and how does it relate to your happiness?
A: The sole purpose of my life is to serve Allah. I derive happiness from knowing that I serve Allah well.

The talk was accompanied by a slideshow of Muslim women from various countries, some of them participating in various vocations, some showing off various uh, fashions, and many participating in political protests. One slide I remember showed a woman holding an image of two hands shaking. One hand had the flag of Israel on the sleeve, and the other had the "Muslim world". Copious amounts of blood were coming from the Arab side, and the text said something about “America’s peace offering.” Another slide showed Bush and Blair with a “Wanted: Terrorist Masterminds” title. I made a recording of the talk, and will share it if you want to hear it for yourself, though the quality probably isn’t very good.

In other news, China now allows people to get married without permission from their employer. I suppose the next step would be to give liberty to all -- liberty to think about how much they love to serve China, as opposed to the liberty to publicly call the president a "terrorist mastermind."