BOOK SHELF

"A God who Hates" by Wafa Sultan. Available for $35.95 in Borders,
or from fishpond.com.au for $30.
Reviewed by Rev. Mark Durie.

Wafa Sultan was a psychiatrist in Syria before moving with her family to southern California in 1989. She describes herself as an atheist. Her autobiographical "A God who Hates" is a witness statement concerning Islam's God, of whom she writes "I did see the influence he wielded, and in order to dispel his influence, I have to deal with him as if he exists" (p.46).

At the heart of Wafa Sultan's courageous book is a testimony concerning the treatment of women in Muslim societies. This, as she experienced it, was horrific. She tells of how her grandmother was forced to welcome her grandfather's second wife by dancing at their wedding; of harrowing insights into family sexual abuse - many instances of incest rape came to her attention when pregnancy brought the female victims into her surgery; of the murder of women who had the misfortune to fall pregnant, often at the hands of the very same male relative who had raped them; of abuse by the medical profession and employers; of sexual harassment of single women in public places - the movements of female students on a bus 'resembled those mice attempting to flee from a malicious cat' (p.29); of the oppressive system of guardianship which men exercise over women in Islam; and, perhaps most movingly of all, of the self-rejecting words she heard coming from the mouths of abused female patients.

A question that cries out from this litany of suffering is 'Why?' After many years of observation and study, Wafa Sultan came to what seemed to her to be the inescapable conclusion that all the abuses she was observing around her were due to Islam and its God.

Dr. Sultan offers this warning to the world: 'The status of women in Muslim countries is a human catastrophe that the world has ignored for centuries, and for which it is now paying a high price for ignoring.' The price, she suggests, is that oppressed and subjugated women cannot raise emotionally
well and mentally healthy men. The 'invisible Muslim woman' ... is ... 'the hen who incubates the eggs of terrorism.' (p.135) Dr.Sultan's answer to the post 9/11 question 'Why do they hate us?' is 'Because Muslims hate their women, and any group who hates their women can't love anyone else.' Why do they hate their women? 'Because their God does.' (p.7)

Dr. Sultan believes that the retrograde features of the God of Islam were originally due to the harsh desert environment in which he was created by the minds of the Arabs, so many centuries ago. She contends that the harsh and fearoriented desert mind-set is merely a primitive backwardness, which must be replaced by a more enlightened world view. The desert God of fear and hate, she says, must be displaced. This is for her an inevitable and necessary product of human progress.

She holds America up as her dream land of freedom and human dignity, a vision of the progress which she hopes the Muslim world will enjoy. However the evil of abuse of women is not limited to Islamic societies and there is something naive about Dr. Sultan's trust in progress.

She provides many references to the Koran and traditions of Muhammad, in order to make clear how Islamic teachings condition Muslim men to ill-treat Muslim women. However this book is not a reference work on Islamic law. Rather it is an intensely personal document, the diary of a soul walking a long, difficult and dangerous journey out of darkness into hard-won freedom. The author is a compassionate and brave woman, who writes with terrible frankness about her experiences, but dares to dream and hope for a better world, shaped by a loving God.

Rev. Mark Durie, author of "The Third Choice: Islam, Dhimmitude
and Freedom" is the vicar of St. Mary's Anglican Church, Caulfield,
Victoria.

 

“Save the Males – It's About Time” by Richard F.
Doyle. 2010 revision. Published by Poor Richard's Press,
Forest Lake, Minnesota, USA. Rec. Price: approx $A20.
Reviewed by Alan Barron, convenor, Institute of Men's
Studies.

This is an expanded version of Richard’s 2007 tome of the same name. This revamp contains updated material and the author has virtually expanded every chapter in the book. Richard has for over five decades now, been an advocate for a fair deal for men – especially divorced fathers. A former
US serviceman in the Korean War, the author's awareness of gender issues came into sharp focus with his divorce from his first wife in 1957. He was shocked at the “anti-male prejudice” he encountered at the hands of the American court system.

The blurb on the back cover encourages men to “be mad as hell! Don’t take it anymore” and sums up the polemical style taken by the author. He recounts the woeful tale of the over zealous pursuit of so called sexual equality in the United States over the past half century. There is much to commend the book, such as being easy to read, but the reader needs to have a strong interest in American domestic affairs to plough through the reams of American data and case histories cited.

What has happened in America has unfortunately been mirrored in this country and just about every other western nation. Doyle tries to understand the male mindset that has allowed the erosion of male rights and privileges on a massive scale unprecedented in the annals of western civilisation.

Doyle contends marriage has become somewhat of a trap for men in modern times. When the marriage goes sour, men are, in many instances, denied access to their children on very flimsy grounds and yet still expected to pay child support. And if they default on paying family support, they
face swift punitive action from the authorities (depending on local state laws).

The solutions Richard offers are for the most part sensible and workable – but they won't please everyone. All in all, a very useful book, but a more universal approach would have enhanced the value of the book for readers in other countries. [end]

 

The End of Men?
Beverley Smith of Canada who publishes the email Newsletter"Anchors and Sails" about caregiving issues around the world, reports that Hanna Rosin writing in The Atlantic, Summer 2010 edition, describes recent trends in the US that suggest women are not only becoming equal to men but in some cases are dominating. The article"The End of Men" has generated much controversy. Hanna Rosin
writes:
*of every five college grads now, three are women
*the universal world preference to have a male child is shifting. Earlier generations may have aborted a female child or considered not having a male heir to the throne as a failure but where sex selection is possible, doctors [in western countries] are finding couples often now choose a daughter.
*in the Global Financial Crisis (2009) of the 8 million jobs lost in the US were lost by men
*women in India are learning English faster than men do and getting global call center jobs
*Pierre Bourdieu of France noted that in his country the idea that men inherit land and become wealthy has eroded since farm income there diminished and the successful young adults now are often the daughters who went to the city
*Heather Boushey of the Center for American Progress found that women are getting a wider range of jobs now, including being paid for childcare, home health assistance, nursing and food preparation which they used to do at home free, while men's range of jobs has not expanded
*the US Bureau of Labour Statistics found that women now hold 51.4% of managerial and professional jobs up from 26.1% in 1980. 54% of accountants and about 50% of banking and insurance workers are women. 45% of legal associates in law firms are women and about 33% of doctors in the US are women
*the only area that women are not starting to dominate is in the higher echelons, and CEO positions. Only 3% of Fortune 500 CEOs are women
*men earn more straight out of high school than do women- $35,474 compared to $32,469 but women are now more likely to go on to post secondary studies
*Among people aged 30-44, there are more college educated women than college educated men
*In 1970 women contributed 2-6% of the family income but now they contribute about 42.4%.
*the decline of marriage among the lower classes has been noticed as a new trend, possibly linked to the career and financial empowerment of women. In 1970 among women aged 30-44, 84% were married. Now only 60% are.

In response to the idea we don't need men much any more, comic Stephen Colbert suggested that maybe men could get new jobs in childcare. The idea that women did not just want equality but wanted to take over concerned three outspoken women's advocates however. Gloria Steinem, Katie Couric of CBS and Jehmu Greene of the Women's Media Centre produced a 40 minute clip responding to the Atlantic article saying the goal of feminism is not to take over, but simply equality. [We don't believe them, cf Julia Gillard v Kevin Rudd - editor]