Women's Crusade

[Odysseus]

This is kind of a long read that was sent to me by one of those "manly" men who you would not think could lift his knuckles from the floor long enough to hit send on his computer. I was surprised. I guess his overseas wife is training him well.

This is a male dominated board that seems equally divided between "I don't know", "I don't care", and "no" to everything. Women's issues are seldom brought up so if this thread dies or gets off track that will be no surprise.

What if the secret to destroying the Taliban is teaching their citizens to read? What if these women allow their children to be educated? What if we were able to educate their boys and girls about who they are and where they come from. Most Taliban fighters know nothing about Afghanistan, their history, their culture, or anything. If you see the movie Kite Runner that tells a smaller and kinder version of that story.

What if our press reported schools we've built and roads we've paved instead of the many men we've killed who not only died in ignorance but left broken families behind who are uneducated and failing. What if our most effective message and mission is the one we refuse to discuss.



http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/magazine/23Women-t.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

[Beantown Bronco]

Only one thing to say to this: End Women's Suffrage!

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[orinjkrush]

hmmm, how do you explain that many really hard core terrorists are well educated and upper class? saudi's come to mind (bin laden etc)

sometimes i think faith trumps reason. (like the republican and democratic faiths.)

[ghwk]

hmmm, how do you explain that many really hard core terrorists are well educated and upper class? saudi's come to mind (bin laden etc)

sometimes i think faith trumps reason. (like the republican and democratic faiths.)

Money and power trump faith and reason. Every time.

[footstepsfrom#27]

Not only in Afghanistan, but all over the 3rd world, the most powerful thing we could do to end poverty and advance other cultures beyond hate, is to educate, train and empower women. Even here in the US, one of the primary keys to our future economic survival is to build economic stability and growth in the women's business market, with a primary focus on under developed and underserved economic communities that are steeped in poverty. It's so strategic that the best business schools in America have been steadily focusing on increasing the number of women in MBA programs. The future of our entire economy rides on our ability to tap into and energize the cognitive differences women utilize in innovation and right brain thinking.

[Odysseus]

hmmm, how do you explain that many really hard core terrorists are well educated and upper class? saudi's come to mind (bin laden etc)

sometimes i think faith trumps reason. (like the republican and democratic faiths.)

Exactly!

The really hard core terrorists have come to the west for education and returned embittered at our lack of respect for them. There anger towards us is a rejection of Western values not a celebration of education.

If you want to bring up the case against liberal universities you can but the bastion of free thinking started in Iraq and in the middle east. We have taken an Eastern idea and Westernized it. How is having more people able to read, write and think helping their economy? Who is going to hire a man who can literally do nothing? They have no basis for an economy in the Western world without an education.

Taliban fighters have no interest in anything modern because they are ignorant. They don't know anything other than fighting. They don't know their countries history, where they come from or who they are as a people. How are they going to have a choice in life if they cannot read or think? What good is a Democratic country of ignorant people?

The Taliban want to keep things they way they were. They are a radical conservative movement. They are not educated but that does not mean they are not clever. B***$*** is a language spoken round the world.

[orinjkrush]

Money and power trump faith and reason. Every time.

unfortunately, i think you're right. money and power (manifestations of control?) oftentimes trump sanity.

[orinjkrush]

Exactly!

The really hard core terrorists have come to the west for education and returned embittered at our lack of respect for them. There anger towards us is a rejection of Western values not a celebration of education.

If you want to bring up the case against liberal universities you can but the bastion of free thinking started in Iraq and in the middle east. We have taken an Eastern idea and Westernized it. How is having more people able to read, write and think helping their economy? Who is going to hire a man who can literally do nothing? They have no basis for an economy in the Western world without an education.

Taliban fighters have no interest in anything modern because they are ignorant. They don't know anything other than fighting. They don't know their countries history, where they come from or who they are as a people. How are they going to have a choice in life if they cannot read or think? What good is a Democratic country of ignorant people?

The Taliban want to keep things they way they were. They are a radical conservative movement. They are not educated but that does not mean they are not clever. B***$*** is a language spoken round the world.

I wonder if we we (as a species) would be further ahead by ONLY allowing women the right to education? Lots of research shows that women rely on cooperative behaviors more so than the competitive style that men prefer. It might be enough to balance the male violence against women thing.

But then again, you might end up with turning Sara Palins into a Coulter verbose zombies.

[Odysseus]

I wonder if we we (as a species) would be further ahead by ONLY allowing women the right to education? Lots of research shows that women rely on cooperative behaviors more so than the competitive style that men prefer. It might be enough to balance the male violence against women thing.

But then again, you might end up with turning Sara Palins into a Coulter verbose zombies.

I would love to see some of these ignorant women taking a Coulter like stance against the Mullahs but it won't happen in 20 years. We are talking about generations of violence.

If I was going to invade Iraq again I would send in 50 smoking hot American man hating blondes with serious sugar daddy aspirations and badly reversed prenuptial agreements. When the divorces kicked in we would own the place. Of course they would get greedy and take out Iran but maybe that would be for the best.

[Odysseus]

unfortunately, i think you're right. money and power (manifestations of control?) oftentimes trump sanity.

Thus the thread ends as it began.

[cutthemdown]

countries that don't let women enter school, workplace, etc etc will never compete with the ones who use women as a resource and not just a **** doll. Women are smart, have a different way of looking at a problem, and are valuable to the workplace.

[Odysseus]

The real strength of America is our diversity. We often forget that.

The huddled masses have fought every war we have ever been in and brought us both unity, division and creative solutions that no other country could create and in some cases copy.

If we create diversity in Afghanistan that is when Democracy has soil which it can take root in. I don't think we have a chance if we don't include the women or more importantly education which is the cornerstone.

[Odysseus]

Charlie Wilson's war...the end of the movie....the part that counted.