Maureen Dowd’s Insanity: Being Catholic Woman The Same As Living Under Sharia Law

Maureen Dowd, columnist for The New York Times, has finally lost that last tenuous grip she had on her sanity. I thought she was already taking a long walk off the short pier of her sanity when she started hearing non-existent words, such as “boy” after Joe Wilson’s “You Lie” comment. That was nothing compared to her latest idiocy.

In her April 10th Op-Ed piece for the New York Times, that great bastion of inane thought, she equates the suffering of women living under radical Islamic law in Saudi Arabia with being a Catholic woman. In America. No, really.

How could such spirited women, smart and successful on every other level, acquiesce in their own subordination?

I was puzzling over that one when it hit me: As a Catholic woman, I was doing the same thing.

I, too, belonged to an inbred and wealthy men’s club cloistered behind walls and disdaining modernity.

I, too, remained part of an autocratic society that repressed women and ignored their progress in the secular world.

I, too, rationalized as men in dresses allowed our religious kingdom to decay and to cling to outdated misogynistic rituals, blind to the benefits of welcoming women’s brains, talents and hearts into their ancient fraternity.

To circumscribe women, Saudi Arabia took Islam’s moral codes and orthodoxy to extremes not outlined by Muhammad; the Catholic Church took its moral codes and orthodoxy to extremes not outlined by Jesus. In the New Testament, Jesus is surrounded by strong women and never advocates that any woman – whether she’s his mother or a prostitute – be treated as a second-class citizen.

Well aren’t you just precious, honey. Bless your heart. Since you are a yankee, let me be clear — that isn’t sexist, Maureen. But it does mean that you are an imbecile.Cassy Fiano rightly informs Miss Dowd (I use Miss so as to infuriate her further) of the following:

Women are not repressed in the Catholic church. To the contrary, as The Anchoress points out, women are celebrated in the church. There number of women in leadership positions in the Catholic church is comparable to the number of women in leadership positions in the workforce on the whole. There is nothing to stop women from serving in the Catholic church if they feel called to it. Look at Mother Theresa, Catherine of Sienna, Teresa of Avila. When it goes against the liberal meme of “the Catholic church is sexist”, women like these – and the thousands and thousands of nuns around the world – are ignored.

Bingo. But, see, this doesn’t fit the “progressive” meme. Instead, they invent subjugation and misogyny out of whole cloth, all while ignoring the very real — and deadly — subjugation of women under Islamic law. This brings their hypocrisy up to epic levels.

Where women truly are oppressed is Saudi Arabia. Right Wing News has just a short list of things women there cannot do. Ever:

  • They cannot drive cars
  • They cannot get too many jobs
  • They cannot wear their own selection of fashions (forced to war body covering abayas)
  • They aren’t allowed to speak in public
  • They have no right to vote
  • They are not welcome in government
  • They have no freedom of movement
  • They have their genitals mutilated as young girls
  • They are beaten by husbands routinely and have no legal recourse to stop it
  • They are beaten on the streets by “religion police” if they seem to be violating Sharia “laws”
  • They have little recourse to prosecute attackers for raping them
  • They cannot travel abroad without permission
  • They cannot join the clergy

I’ll add some more. In Saudi Arabia, a woman’s testimony in court is worth only half of what a man’s testimony is worth. Here, women are often put on pedestals. Under Sharia law, they are also put on pedestals, only it’s to be stoned to death or to be used as human bombs. : Since you are a self-avowed Feminist, Maureen, (modern day feminists being anything but actually Feminist) I’m not surprised that you would find that totally comparable to Catholic women in America.

I’m certain that she is partially basing:  her arguments on the same tired old card they always play. The “reproductive rights” card. The Catholic church is perceived as not being a fan of birth control. Under Sharia law, that isn’t a problem, Maureen! Just lop it off and get a clitoridectomy! The Catholic church is against abortion.:  Well, in Saudi Arabia, if you get pregnant out of wedlock or by rape, you can simply be stoned to death. Problem solved!

Sigh. You know who you may want to ask about true oppression and subjugation, Maureen? Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Ms. Ali, the author of Infidel, came here to America after she had to flee the Netherlands under threats of death by radical Islamists. The reason? She spoke. She spoke about the atrocities committed against women under fanatical Islamic faith. She spoke out against the physical mutilation of women by radical Muslims. She renounced the faith. For that, she lived in constant fear for her life.

You, Maureen, are allowed to speak freely (sans burka, no less), always, even if what you spout is utter nonsense. As is every other woman in this country, Catholic or otherwise.

The same can’t be said for women under Sharia law. Ever.

(Originally posted at David Horowitz’s NewsReal, cross-posted at snark and boobs)

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