it's because of jerusalem that the european countries said they could live there...But in all honesty, it's never really about religion, it's all about money and power.  Not even the crusades were really about religion!

It already is a full blown war....not on a worldly scale, but there, yes.

It's not something you can easily fix.  Yes, Europe made a mistake by assuming that the Jews would move in quietly and just co exist with the Palestinians, but that doesn't necessarily mean that Europe has to fix it.  Ultimately it's the Israeli's that really did wrong./  They could have just shared the land, but in stead they started to bannish them to the least favourite parts of the country.

When somehting like this is going on, it's always better if the people themselves fix it, and not someone from the outside world.  Because if Europe "fixes" it, it's basically a rule that they'd enforce, and then people are going to revolt to that rule...Whatever solution there comes, it must be with the consent of both parties envolved

Fraija posted an interesting question:

There you go. feminism is very overrated.it's not fair. same thing goes with babies. a woman always has the advantage in a custody fight over their children.

with the whole maternity leave thing, and women having an advantage in ustody battles, i think that's because of the emphasis put on the bond between mother and child. as to whether this is right or not, i'm not gping to comment.

i feel that where you are in the world makes a difference. Baks said that where she is (Aus, if i remember correctly) things seem to be equal. that is true in many more cosmopolitan and modern societies. in fact, she's also right when she says the balance is tippin too much. but in other places, it's really nmot the case at all.

i was reading an article in a newspaper in SA about an african country where it is very commomn to have things like child brides, who are forced to get married, leave their homes (even places of birth)  and live a life of near misery. it was also stated that more and more women are being infected by HIV/Aids from their husbands. African tradition allows polygamy, meaning one man can infect multiple women. and the women don't really have a choice.then there are places like China, where because of the limit imposed on how many children a couple may have, many would-be parents abort female foetuses as they would rather have a son than a daugter.

there is no way that can be considered as equal rights.

as far as what Fraiija said about rape preventing women from going out after dark-well that is something i know only to well. forget after dark-it's scary to walk home alone after school sometimes.

as far as what baka mentioned about abuse, i fully agree that women have taken it wayyy to far. it is totally wrong and uncondonable.

but i think that althoug women have made great strides in getting equal rights, it needs to be enforced more. nit to dominate, but to achieve practical equality.

and i think that feminism is needed. women need to feel proud to be women, and know that they are just as good as men, no matter who says what.





 

In some countries its becuase of religion that women are not counted as equals. correct me if im wrong but Islam is male dominated and some of the laws or beliefs are that;
women only speak when spoken too
women dont pray at.... (religious places. i cant remember what thtey call them)
Women are no longer have to wear a haija/ veil by law but its the society that forces them too. 
women are expected to teach their children about the religion at home.

and then in buddishm its basically only males that can become a buddihist.. Im not quiet sure...

I hate to say it to MC but men are a stronger build. They grow quicker and its easier for them to build muscle

Sorry Bingo, Is it like that in another country? Becaise we done it in AAP (australia and asia in the pacific) and I wrote about it in the exam and got full marks. Not about feminism specifically, just about religions and the influence they have in the AAP region.

992?! thats just ridiculus.
and about Human rights... isnt america sort of going against the human rights by having the 'war on terror'

I dont think space travel is all that important at the moment, they should be investing the money for fixing the problems on our own planet instead of looking at others.

About feminism:  

It was all well and good when women had no rights, but now it's overrated.  It has come to a point where if a woman chooses to stay home for her children, she's regarded by some people to be re-enforcing the old values.  It should be about giving the women the choice whether they're happy with older customs or not.

The maternity leave thing...Fathers here do get Paternity leave, but it's only for a week or two.  The main reason for maternity leave is feeding the baby though.  At first a baby needs to feed like every 3 hours, and if women didn't have maternity leave, they wouldn't be able to breastfeed them every 3 hours, unless they brought their babies in to work, and then where would it all end?  That is why women get more maternity leave than men get paternity leave.  Because it's in the baby's best interest to be breast fed as long as possible.  

The custody thing comes from the fact that feminist movement or not, it is still usually the mother that raises the children, so the children usually have a better bond with their mother, and breaking that bond, together with them seeing the bond between their parents broken would be traumatic.  Just count up the hours that your mother spends in raising you (and this includes cleaning, cooking, reading bed time stories, bathing you as a kid) and all of that and compare it.  It is changing though, as more and more men start to help out in the household and in raising the children.  But that's why women usually win, because they're usually in the right to win, not just because they're women.  In a family where the father spends most time at home raising the children, he would win the custody rights.

As for the earning more money....Unfortunately, even in western societies men still make more money than women.  Not because it's a fault in the law or something, but it just happens.  In jobs where the government decides your pay, it's not the case, but for other jobs a lot of people have to negotiate about their salary, and men simply drive a harder bargain.  A woman wouldn't risk not getting the job as much as a man would, because women prefer security.

A lot of religions (and christianity is the big exception in this, cause the bible starts with Eva being seduced by the snake and eating the apple) actually started out protecting and revering women, because women bring life.  If you don't see any female buddhist monks it's not because they're not allowed, but it's ebcause they're not accepted because it's wrong for them to have to go through the hardships that the monks have to go through.  In the Islam religion, women were to be treated as queens at all times, just as in the original hindu.  However, somewhere along the way, things went wrong, and the scales tipped in the favor of men.  Which is actually understandable too, because women bring life, but men preserve and protect it.  

About the rape protecting me from going out....hell no.  If they wanna try it I'll kick them where it really hurts, and that's that.

I'm all for equal rights, but I'm no longer a 'feminist', in the sense that I no longer believe that women can do everything the same as men.  It's simply not true, and in all honesty, I don't mind, I even think it good that it's not true.  Men are better in some things, and women are better in other things.  There are of course the exceptions to the rules(like female firefighters and male nurses), but the fact remains that there is a balance, and that should be maintained.

I believe the feminist movement has very little to do in Western society, but should concentrate on those area's where women really still are discriminated against, but the best way of doing it is by educating the people, not by simply screaming out what's wrong, but by teaching them how it could be better.  Teaching them, not simply telling them.