Third-World Muslims Are Smarter Than Ric Santorum

[crabby_lioness]

Ric Santorum doesn't believe birth control should be used under any circumstances, even to prevent the death of the mother (except when it's his wife).  Contrast his attitude with that of conservative Muslim clerics in one of the world's poorest and least educated countries, Senegal.

Guardian UK:

On the poor outskirts of Dakar, Senegal, we sat before six imams in an airy mosque. They are holy men, respected community leaders, and, lately, birth control champions. "Family spacing," they called it, as they cheerfully explained why Islam supports it. "What's good for a woman is good for her family, and for her society. We want healthy societies."

Voice of America:

...more and more, families are seeking contraception to space or limit births despite the associated taboos in the country, which is more than 90 percent Muslim.

"Some people say Islam is against family planning, but life is getting more and more difficult," said Mamy Diop.

Historically, the only acceptable application of family planning has been birth spacing for the health of the mother and the child.  But religious leaders increasingly are invoking the Quran's message of financial responsibility.

"Islam has discussed this," said Imam Niasse. "If resources are limited and the family size is too large, there will be problems for the family.  We are already living a situation of scarcity and we should talk openly.  We have many children here, but what kind of children do we have?"

'nuff said.

Comments

Thanks for this

[boojumste.livejournal.com]

I've read the Guardian piece and posted it on Facebook. Will read the second article later and probably pass that one on as well.

[qara-isuke.livejournal.com]

Nothing amuses me more than pointing out to idiots that historically-speaking, Islam has always been more woman-friendly than other large faiths. During the golden age, women had rights at a time where in other parts of the world women were treated like chattel. When Spain was taken by the Christians, women were stripped of all their rights, and all their property seized since...you know...those silly women aren't allowed to do things like own property or divorce their husbands.

[eumenidis.livejournal.com]

Well, as far as I'm aware, Islam is the only major religion that concerns itself with the economic realities of its followers' lives, including women. I believe Muslims are specifically instructed *not* to make so much donations to charity that they inflict hardship on themselves & their families, & Muslim fathers are supposed to provide an inheritance & education for their daughters at least 1/3rd as much they provide for their sons; an awfully far cry from Christianity, which actually seems to take pride in *not* concerning itself with how, or even whether, its followers manage to survive.

[qara-isuke.livejournal.com]

Yeah, kind of funny how often the reality of followers doesn't match up with the tenants of the faith they proclaim to follow.

Judaism, from what I understand, has an overall rule of thumb that safety and survival come before any religious teachings or rules.

But yeah, funny how it all works. The prophet spoke out against having numerous wives, with the idea that even the richest man shouldn't have more than three or four. Beyond being able to financially provide for all spouses and children, the importance was on having room in his heart for all of them. It really is kind of interesting to see how the actual teachings do not, AT ALL, reflect the stereotype. Which, to be fair, is based around fundamentalists.

[eumenidis.livejournal.com]

& don't they hate having the discrepancy between their professed values & beliefs & their actions pointed out to them? Though they're also masters of spurious reasoning, so it does not good...