What’s the harm of a little religious belief exercised in the public domain?

Rep. Paul Broun (R-Georgia) is member of the Science Committee of the House of Representatives and chairs the House Science Committee’s panel on investigations and oversight. He claims to be a scientist because he’s a medical doctor, which reminds me to remember that half of all medical doctors graduated from the bottom portion of their class.

What beliefs do the Taliban and the Southern American Baptists hold in common?

Grotesque misogyny is the answer: both the Taliban and the Southern Baptists employ the “lessons” of biology and scripture to “prove” women’s inferiority.

Shame on both.

So what’s an ex-president of a secular democracy to do when his church endorses misogyny? Jimmy Carter did the right thing: he quit – an act of bravery that other people of faith with moral courage should do.

Sensible, decent Jimmy Carter got it right again. “This view that women are somehow inferior to men is not restricted to one religion or belief. It is widespread. Women are prevented from playing a full and equal role in many faiths. Nor, tragically, does its influence stop at the walls of the church, mosque, synagogue, or temple. This discrimination, unjustifiably attributed to a higher authority, has provided a reason or excuse for the deprivation of women’s equal rights across the world for centuries. The male interpretations of religious texts and the way they interact with and reinforce traditional practices justify some of the most pervasive, persistent, flagrant, and damaging examples of human-rights abuses.”

To read more of  Francine Prose’s articulate piece from Laphram’s Quarterly, go here.