Areas of debate (Equality)

Question 1

Why do some people disagree with feminism as a campaign for equality?

Answer 1

Because it is a broad movement, different feminists can often hold conflating viewpoints. For instance, some feminists consider men and women to be different but still equal, some consider women to be equal and no different to men, and others consider gender to be a social construct and reject it altogether

Question 2

Why some people disagree with the Nation of Islam as a campaign for equality?

Answer 2

It is considered a hate group by social justice campaigners because it is anti-semitic and advocates for the inherent supremacy of black people over white people

Question 3

What is the downside of combative feminist activism?

Answer 3

It has alienated people who are otherwise sympathetic, due to the perception that the movement is too over-zealous

Question 4

Why is it wrong to think of religious concepts of gender roles as always negative?

Answer 4

Because they may consider men and women to have different, but equally valuable, societal roles

Question 5

Why is it wrong to tar all religious people with the same brush in terms of equality?

Answer 5

There are Christian feminists and many religious organisations endorse the social model of disability. Just as secularists can have nuanced views about disability, so too can believers

Question 6

Why are many feminist movements explicitly opposed to religion?

Answer 6

• They see it as inherently patriarchal
• Conservative Christian groups like Quiverfull promote social ideas which many advocates of gender equality would find deeply offensive

Question 7

Why is it somewhat unfair that many feminist movements dislike religion by default?

Answer 7

• Ideas about gender in religious scriptures must be viewed in the context of the societies that created them and so much of what was written may no longer be relevant to the modern world
• Religious figures like Jesus can be seen as good examples to follow when it comes to religious equality

Question 8

List the problem’s with Tada’s religious message on equality?

Answer 8

• Disabled people may be insulted to hear their misfortune is part of a divine plan
• Tada’s claim that disabled people should serve as audio visual cues for the rest of the faith could suggest that they are being used as a means to an end rather than respected as autonomous beings. This contradicts secular disability campaigners, who actively work to secure autonomy and equal rights
• Disabled people may feel that they have achieve success despite God’s will

Question 9

What is the main benefit of Tada’s message?

Answer 9

It may provide comfort for believers who have suffered a disability and help them to understand

Question 10

Why can it be seen as a valid view to see faith as important in securing equal rights?

Answer 10

• Malcolm X and MLK were both religious men
• Religious figures like Jesus can be seen as good examples to follow when it comes to racial equality

Question 11

Dispute the idea that religion is always useful in the pursuit of equal rights?

Answer 11

Advocates of slavery in the US sometimes employed the OT as justification