Religiously-motivated politics gains European stronghold

[Djamila]

When one thinks of European politics, often the last thing to come to mind is religion. But in two European countries, pressures from the European Union as well as numerous legal and human rights organizations have failed to sway national governments from striking down religiously-motived laws.

The first, Portugal:

In Portugal it is a crime for a woman to have an abortion, a crime so serious it carries significant consequences including jail terms. It is one of the only European countries where abortion is, effectively, illegal.

Illegal abortion operations are common in Portugal and many of these unofficial clinics have been directly responsible for the deaths of pregnant women who sought an abortion. There is absolutely no regulation of such facilities and no legal means for the families of these women to seek compensation for medical malpractice.

Hundreds of Portuguese women travel illegally to Spain to receive an abortion, which is also a crime according to Portuguese law.

The second, Latvia:

In Latvia, it is illegal for same-sex couples to marry or unite in a civil union. The law has been upheld by the Latvian government despite condemnation from across Europe.

The most recent debate saw politicians in the Latvian government refer to homosexual men and women as degenerates, vermin, and a scourge of Latvian values, morals, and decency. Attacks against known homosexuals are common place at at the country's first-ever gay pride parade, thousands of protestors assaulted hundreds of marchers.

Both of these laws are religiously motivated and are supported by the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Christian Church, and local minority organizations representing Muslims, Jews, and other religious groups.

It is unclear, right now, how these stand-offs will come to pass but both countries are facing significant backlash for their legal policies as the European Union tries to universalize European law as it relates to human rights.

 

[Random]

Djamila, I support seperation of Religion/Church and government and civil union for same-sex couples and I like to think I am a liberal within the context of what I believe to be natural. I also agree that the situations regarding abortion in Portugal and the gay community in Latvia are backward and stifle societal progression. This is a new world we live in, so we are told anyway, and such infringements of peoples rights are unaccetpable.

However, what strikes me about this post and others you have instigated is the contemporary, highly westernized liberal sentiment that flows through your own politics and beliefs, by contrast I think, to the stringent conservativism of your personally held faith, Islam.

For example, in Islam homosexuality is a serious sin. I am loathe to say if I read it on the net then it must be true, not so, but here is an Islamic scholar's opinion regarding gayness and the Quran, and other issues.

What I would ask you is, how easy is it for you to call yourself a Muslim yet not conform to the belief system of Islam? Do you see a degree of seperation between your religion and what your are entitled to represent yourself in the "real world", so to speak? Is it because you are an emancipated woman of the 21st century that you feel you have the perrogative to overrule your faith and believe whatever you want to believe yourself? Is it feminism that you blend with Islam, as some progressives do?

I only ask because you Djamila are a curiosity in more ways than one, as far as the usually held preconception of an "Islamic woman" goes in Western Europe, generally speaking. I've never read anything by anyone pointing this out, so I guess I thought I'd be the first with the deepest respect to you.

 

[Djamila]

Interesting question, Godlike. I'm actually fairly conservative personally. I would never have an abortion, never. I believe it is equivalent to murder. I'd never attend a same-sex wedding at a house of worship, though I'm sure I would a civil ceremony at City Hall. I just don't feel it is government's responsibility to force such views on everyone.

Religion is a personal choice and when you force people to do something, it means nothing. It means absolutely nothing. A woman in Saudi Arabia would have to bury herself under a mountain of fabric to be the equivalent of a Bosnian woman, in a free society, who wears a veil in my opinion.

When anyone in a society is denied rights and freedoms, the basis of which is free will to choose for themselves how to live their lives, then it is in a dangerous situation. The more that what you do is your own choice, the more it means - the more life means.

I might be visibly more Muslims if I lived in Jeddah or Riyadh, but it wouldn't mean as much to me. It wouldn't come from the same place as having the freedom to learn for yourself and make your own decisions.

You make some sacrifices, you deal with some disadvantages, but in the end I believe the benefits are worth it.

 

[Random]

Good answer.

 

[GloriaPatri]

I'm kind of glad to see that the EU hasn't wiped away the sovereignty of all member nations, yet.