Today's popular discourse, especially within the American media, is
rife with references to the downtrodden status of women in Islamic
countries. Indeed, one has but to turn on CNN or Fox news to be met with
images of suffering Muslim women. However, many mistakenly assume that the
cultural and political environments in which these women are forced to
endure are reflective of the religion itself. Not only is this assumption
patently untrue, but many Christians would be surprised to find that Islam
not only holds similar doctrinal points in common with their faith, but
that Christianity, itself holds a strong core of misogynistic tenets based
on Biblical texts of which many Christians are entirely unaware.
When comparing Christianity and Islam's view of the position of women
in faith, it is important to start at the beginning. In Christianity, this
means starting with Genesis. We see that in Genesis 3: 6-17, that Eve
tasted the fruit of the forbidden tree and gave it to Adam, "When the woman
[Eve] saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the
eyeâ€she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband [Adam]."
Further, we see that, when God called to Adam asking him of his action, he
replied, "The woman you put here with meâ€"she gave me some fruit from the
tree, and I ate it." From this, one can conclude (as is commonly believed)
that Eve tempted Adam with the forbidden fruit. Further, in the same
passage we read that, in punishment, Eve will "desire for her husband," he
will rule over her, and she will suffer in childbirth. In addition,
because Adam listened to Eve, he will be doomed to toil for all of his
Islam also shares a similar "genesis" story in the Qur'an, 7: 19-23.
Yet, in this version of the story, both Adam and Eve were both equally
tempted to taste of the forbidden fruit, after which God asked...