The status of women in society

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, March 09 — In many societies, women have traditionally been considered as inferior beings and denied independent thinking and status. Until recently, higher education was not considered suitable for them.

In Western societies, women have been able to improve their position a great deal, but they have not met with the same success in the area of religion. In the East, the situation is much the same.

The Sikh religion, however, gives women an equal position with men in both secular and religious areas of life. In the teachings of the Sikh gurus, men and women are equal in the eyes of God. They share equally the grace of God and are individually accountable for their actions to God.

Stephen Kendrick - co-writer and producer of the movie Fireproof, which was recently released on DVD - said he wanted to spread the message that "marriage is worth fighting for and that it is a covenant, as scripture says, and not just a contract." The film incidentally tells the story of a married couple whose marriage is headed for divorce.

The husband learns that in order to capture his wife's heart and save their marriage, love should be unconditional and that it is a decision rather than a feeling. He finds that he can open his heart to God and recognise that Jesus must be the foundation of a successful Christian marriage.

Traditionally, men were the breadwinners and it was left to them to devise ways and means to provide the necessities of life. Women generally did not interfere with their work, but felt that it was their duty as nurturers to run the homes and bring up the children. Women still take great pride in this work, which is equally important to the welfare of home and community.

Guru Nanak highlighted the social importance of women by appreciating their role in the preservation of society, in the proper development of the family, as wives and mothers and in cementing social ties and relationships.

"Man builds the house; it is woman who turns it into a home" is an old Punjabi saying. Guru Nanak asked why women should be regarded as insignificant and unimportant when "it is from women that we are conceived and born. Woman is our lifelong friend and keeps the race going. Why should we despise her who gives birth to great men?" (Adi Granth 473). Interestingly, Guru Nanak exalted the status of women by idealising the love of a wife for her husband and held it as an example of a devotee of God.

Drawing the Bible in context, St. Paul wrote that "Wives should be subordinates to their husbands as to the Lord" (Ephesians). This may seem like a universal principle, but he also added, "Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ."

The most important challenge for all women and men is to imitate God in the way we live and love. What is meant by this narrows to more specific examples. It leads to St. Paul's use of marriage as an important image of how Christ loves the Church.

Overall, we learn that marriage in the Bible is structured largely according to cultural norms that existed in different time periods. In Genesis, the patriarchs had multiple wives and sometimes strange customs associated with marriage. By and large, what is exalted and held in high esteem is the love of man and woman as modeling God's love for his children, that He created out of his own likeness and image.

Our pain may be great and our anguish heartfelt, when the night is dark and loneliness stark, which can be unbearable. When jobs are lost, when illness and tragedy strike men and women alike, or when we lose loved ones through broken relationships or death, the stress is insurmountable. What can we do? And yet, what is faith, even when all else is lost, but the surrendering of our destiny in the hands of God, whom we cannot see and often cannot hear?

But, if we listen carefully, we can indeed hear a soft voice, whispering in the quiet stillness of the night telling us to begin anew, to let go and to live again, to start from scratch, to fashion a new world around us, a kingdom where his love, justice and compassion can flourish. This is the promise of the Head of the created order.