What are they so afraid of?

Angela

You get my vote for secretary of state!

If half of our foreign policy makers were half as smart as you and did only half the things you suggested we would be better off than we are today.

God knows we Muslims have our faults and have done terrible things to ourselves. Subjugation of Afghan women and stripping them of their human rights is one of them. However, not all Muslim men participated in this atrocity. Nor did all Afghan men support the Taliban. I feel there is a concerted effort to drive a wedge between Muslim men and women everywhere. The plight of Afghan women is sometimes used as a propaganda tool to this end. WASP men are portrayed as nights in shining armor rushing to the rescue of Muslim women and Muslim men are lumped together as �evil doers�, �dead enders� �savages� and �barbarians� who must be eliminated.

I hope and pray Muslims are smarter than that. I hope and pray we take it upon ourselves to face our deficiencies and correct them without tearing ourselves apart.

The Declaration consists of a preamble and 30 articles, setting forth the human rights and fundamental freedoms to which all men and women, everywhere in the world, are entitled, without any discrimination.

Article 1, which lays down the philosophy on which the Declaration is based, reads:

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

The article thus defines the basic assumptions of the Declaration: that the right to liberty and equality is man's birthright and cannot be alienated: and that, because man is a rational and moral being, he is different from other creatures on earth and therefore entitled to certain rights and freedoms which other creatures do not enjoy.

Article 2, which sets out the basic principle of equality and non discrimination as regards the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms, forbids "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 3, the first cornerstone of the Declaration, proclaims the right to life, liberty and security of person -a right essential to the enjoyment of all other rights. This article introduces articles 4 to 21, in which other civil and political rights are set out, including: freedom from slavery and servitude; freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law; the right to an effective judicial remedy; freedom from arbitrary arrest, detention or exile; the right to a fair trial and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal; the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty; freedom from arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home or correspondence; freedom of movement and residence; the right of asylum; the right to a nationality; the right to marry and to found a family; the right to own property; freedom of thought, conscience and religion; freedom of opinion and expression; the right to peaceful assembly and association; and the right to take part in the government of one's country and to equal access to public service in one's country.

Article 22, the second cornerstone of the Declaration, introduces articles 23 to 27, in which economic, social and cultural rights -the rights to which everyone is entitled "as a member of society" -are set out. The article characterizes these rights as indispensable for human dignity and the free development of personality, and indicates that they are to be realized "through national effort and international cooperation". At the same time, it points out the limitations of realization, the extent of which depends on the resources of each State.

The economic, social and cultural rights recognized in articles 22 to 27 include the right to social security; the right to work; the right to equal pay for equal work; the right to rest and leisure; the right to a standard of living adequate for health and well-being; the right to education; and the right to participate in the cultural life of the community.

The concluding articles, articles 28 to 30, recognize that everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the human rights and fundamental freedoms set forth in the Declaration may be fully realized, and stress the duties and responsibilities which each individual owes to his community. Article 29 states that "in the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society". It adds that in no case may human rights and fundamental freedoms be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations. Article 30 emphasizes that no State, group or person may claim any right, under the Declaration, "to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth" in the Declaration.

No of course we don't need these human rights, of course these rights break up families and express immorality.  Why would anyone want protected from being persecuted, tortured and oppressed?  The foundations of all the Human Rights can be found in the Quran and the Sunnah.  These are not foreign concepts. 

What was done to the Afghan women by the men in power was cruel and inhuman.  It was totally unIslamic. 

Not every man beat his wife under the Taliban, many of them were drug off to fight for the Taliban and if they refused they were killed.  They had to keep their wives at home for their own safety.  Men were victims of the Taliban too.  However, their misery was nothing compared to what was suffered by the women of the country.

A friend of mine told me that she remembers sermons from the local leaders at the Mosques denouncing the Taliban in the 1990s.  Long before 9/11 there atrocities were gaining attention around the world.  I remember an article by a women's group that was discussing the inability of many of these women to get even healthcare because there were few women doctors and they couldn't go to male doctors. 

Which is more morally bankrupt?  To give both men and women the same basic protections and rights.  Or to force one sex into a position where they are denied the most basic of rights.