There was once a woman, in her grandeur of presence, in the wealth of extravagant living, through experiences and teachings of the elderly came her education, came her understanding of life’s phenomenons, those of which that philosophers died at the stake to question, those that were branded heresy by those that protect the teachings of the old.
The woman was of a popular faith, claimed to be the world’s fastest growing faith in the age of technology, the aquatic age, the age where the divide between man and woman has become gray, where the very fundamentals of society were being taken down, re analyzed, and put forth repeatedly. The woman was of a faith that embraced polygamy, a faith that preached among many other holy pillars, that men have the upper hand in creating judgments, that men were the logical voice of society, while women were the motherly emotional voice. A side step question to the subject would be to ask, if men are the logical voices of society, then who made man, if not a woman?
Be it what it may, the woman believed whole heartedly in the faith, preaching every aspect to countless people, reminiscing the so called days of glory of the faith, when the rule under the flagship of the religion would cross halfway through the globe, spreading what can be considered as either holy or genocide, depending on the eye of the beholder. It’s a funny thing, creating a viewpoint, it is as if there would be no consistent view on any topic, they say, one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter; the question however, is larger than that of which that can be explained by a simple paradox, the question remains, are human rights being violated on the pretense of conflicting beliefs?
The woman would later marry, and live a life embraced by the fixation of spiritual fulfillment, but it would be that same fulfillment that would destroy the very foundation of the household that she had built, the very pillars that she had once stood for were the reason for the downfall of the people she loved most, the partner she had chosen, and the offspring that had resulted from their companionship. For she lived by a faith that preaches polygamy, a value that does not stand to fight the basic human instinct that revolts against the breach of territory, the deep intrinsic feeling that longs for monogamy, for single companionship, for the one true love, as love would be perceived. And although the value of multiple spouses might be permitted by the faith that she has embraced as far back as she can remember, there is an undeniable gut feeling of unfairness, of unjust treatment, of betrayal. Sadly, through the large number of experiences the woman has had, and the people of faith she is surrounded by, there is not a single mention of the illegitimacy of the faith-created value; for it would be a blasphemy to speak anything against that which was brought down generation after generation, carried down either by sword or word; funnily enough, only an ‘S’ separates the two.
It is as if all matters of life are to be questioned, unless they are those that create the basic fundamentals of society, and no matter how much pain the woman goes through, that deep instilled reluctance to revolt against an obvious faulty rule still prevails. But the question I would like to ask is not why the woman, or any person in that figurative sense, would not ask those questions, why she would not stand against the set of rules that she had inherited and embraced; but rather the question would revolve around whether religions build the core structure of beliefs and intrinsic feelings, or rather they were basic human traits.. I guess the question is, do religions create values, or do values create religions?

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June 18, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Sahia
We live in a world where laws were created by God and written by man. Like a benevolent mother who knows what is best for her child, He set the rules for us, based on our instinct, our nature and a code of Righteousness. Knowing that would lead us to our true best salvation. What every mother would want for her child.
But the rules were not interpreted by the mother. They were interpreted by the others, not so intuitive, not so insightful and not so benevolent.
What we have to look back to, are the reasons for the rules and the reasons why they were made.
We all have choices, to love, to live and to leave. We have the choice to take the easy way out, conform to the comfortable security of the unhappy status quo or break out to the frightening yet free world of true happiness.
Choices. Difficult ones. It is that privilege of choice that makes us human – man or woman.
We also have the choice to love unconditionally. (Like a mothers love). To believe that the love for someone can be so true that you give them the freedom to choose. And give them the freedom to choose another in addition to you: polygamy. It is a test of a woman’s unconditional love for a man. It is a life some of us choose to live by.
On one side: a woman’s choice to love selflessly, putting her love first, before her own territorial, insecurities to give him the freedom to find his path on his journey, and on the other, a choice to break away, if she cannot bear sharing him. Bantering of complaint without choosing deliverance (whether that deliverance be to love in peace or to break away to freedom) is worthless if you cannot back it up with actions.
For most of us women, yes the tide is against us, the rules are written by men but we are the ones that make our choices. And we are the ones that decide whether to accept what is given to us, or fight for something better.
We are not the weaker sex unless we choose to be.
June 26, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Anas
Salaaam guys,
Moadh, as always you’re interesting =) . Also, i remembered some videos that i came upon recently, which were interesting i must say and so i wanted to share them.
Khaltee Sahia, very well said mashala. I found it very intriguing how you look at life and how you see things from a much higher level, a different perspective and how you decide to live your life with these priorities that you have placed for yourself. Choices, the way you described it, i completely agree with you. Life is all about choices, only a few decide to own up to them, that’s the difference =) .
Links:
July 22, 2008 at 11:36 am
Beyond Laws « The Mind’s Eye
[...] before i go into a debate on this, I refer you to my piece Origin of Values where i touch on this subject (if you can’t see what i mean, read on, it all culminates in [...]