Religion

• Sunday School Teacher Dismissed For Being Female. [Click10.com] The pastor of a church that has stopped letting women teach Sunday school said that won't affect his decisions as a city councilman in upstate New York. Rev. Timothy LaBouf dismissed a female Sunday School teacher, saying a woman can perform any job -- outside the church. The First Baptist Church in Watertown dismissed Mary Lambert Aug. 9 after adopting what it called a literal interpretation of the Bible.

• Excommunication Looms Over Female Ordination. [Boston Globe] Joan Houk will be one of a dozen women participating in a ceremony in which 8 will proclaim themselves priests and 4 to be deacons. The ceremony won't be recognized by the Catholic church, which has a 2,000-year tradition of all-male priesthood. Similar ceremonies have been held in other countries, and most of the participants have been excommunicated.

• Nevada Female Bishop to Visit Carson Valley. [Nevada Appeal] Nevada's Episcopal bishop is making an appearance in Minden in two weeks, approximately two months before taking the highest post of the church as Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States. Come November, the nation's first female presiding bishop of the Episcopal church will put Nevada in the spotlight and herself in a familiar territory - on the fringe of a turbulent world.

• Letters | Coverage Was Misleading on Stories of Female Priests. [Philadelphia Inquirer] The Inquirer's coverage of women claiming to have been ordained priests is unfortunate and unbalanced. The headlines for the ceremonies ("Act of defiance," Aug. 1, and "Female Catholic priest has first Mass," Aug. 7) were inaccurate and misleading. An "organization" may have "ordained" the women, but the church did not. A "female Catholic priest" is not a validly ordained Catholic priest.

• Do Women Help Men's Spirituality? [Belleville News-Democrat] The woman's place in a man's life as his wife is to complement one another to perform their life's duties, help preserve the human species through procreation and pursue spiritual goals. The wife is called saha-dharmini, which means, a partner of the husband's spiritual life. With emphasis on spiritual life, man and his wife can travel a long way in the spiritual path of their choice.

• Female Rabbis in the Military. [Jewish War Veterans of the USA] I was the first Jewish woman to enter the school. Upon graduating from rabbinical school in 1981, I applied for a “branch transfer” from “chaplain candidate” to “chaplain.” This should have been a pro-forma shuffling of paperwork, but it became an issue as the JWB expressed reluctance to endorse a female Rabbi. A five-year struggle for the cause of female Rabbis in the military ensued.

• Govt Not Opposed to Allowing Women to Sabarimala: Minister. [Hindu] The Kerala Government is not opposed to allowing women into Sabarimala temple, where women in the 10-50 age group are barred by tradition. State Minister G Sudhakaran said the LDF was against discrimination on gender basis and stood for equality for all. He, however, said the Government was keen to keep off controversies concerning the Sabarimala temple.

• Clerics Want to Restrict Women Praying at Mecca. [Malaysia Star] Saudi clerics want to impose restrictions on women praying at Islam's holiest shrine in Mecca, one of the few places where male and female worshippers can intermingle. Women activists in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of the religion where a strict version of Islam is state orthodoxy, say the idea is discriminatory and have vowed to oppose it. At present, women can pray in the immediate vicinity of the Kaaba, a cube-shaped structure inside the mosque which pilgrims walk around seven times during the haj pilgrimage. Plans by the all-male committee overseeing the holy sites would place women in a distant section of the mosque while men would still be able to pray in the key space.

• Religion 'Not Limiting' Women in Iran. [The Japan Times] Born into an educated, politically active family in Iran, Fatemeh Hashemi defies the image of Muslim women often held in Japan. "Ninety-nine percent of Iranians are religious. This says nothing against modernity," Hashemi, the eldest daughter of Hashemi Rafsanjani, president of Iran from 1989 to 1997, said in an interview Sunday.

• 'Men, Women Are Equal in Islam'. [Sun2Surf, Malaysia] Islam accords women equal rights with men, and like other religions, promote women's empowerment and emancipation, Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Siti Norma Yaakob said. "Like many Muslims, I do not believe that Islam, which abhors injustices, treats women any less than it treats men. "Women, like men, are vice-regents on earth; equal in the eyes of Allah, and it is our collective responsibility to ensure that principles of justice and equality are reflected in our laws," she said when opening the International Conference on Legislations and Mechanisms to Promote Gender Equality.

• Islamic Society Names First Female President. [Inside Bay Area] Local Muslim leaders applauded the Islamic Society of North Americas election of its first female president. Ingrid Mattson, a Canadian-born philosophy scholar and convert to Islam, was elected to the post Thursday based on members nominations. The Quran says that there is a belief in man and woman as helpers in each others righteous-ness. Men and women have to work together; it is not a matter of gender. (Mattson) has all the qualifications as a professor, an academic and former vice president of the organization. 

• Female Vets Put Military Mettle in House Races. [AlterNet] When Maryland Democrat Mishonda Baldwin is on the campaign trail, parents often ask if they can introduce her to their daughters. That's because she is a decorated veteran of the first war in Iraq who has also served as an intelligence officer and as a U.S. delegate to Egypt and Jordan. Baldwin is one of only four women with military experience known to be running for Congress in this year's midterm elections.

• Women in Politics. [Harvard Political Review] HPR: Why do you think there aren’t more women running for political office today? JS: I think, as the research shows, that women often approach political life differently then men do. Women tend to be more concerned about the balance between family and political life, and so, to date, women have tended to run for office at a later age than men.

• Backroom Boys in State Are Female. [Wisconsin State Journal] In Wisconsin, for the first time in nearly 20 years, the chiefs of staff to the state Capitol's highest-ranking politicians are all women. November's elections will bring at least one change in this bipartisan trifecta of top aides, which ranges from the young Eileen Schoenfeldt, interim head of Senate Majority Leader Dale Schultz's office, and Ellen Nowak, of Assembly Speaker John Gard's office, to the veteran Susan Goodwin, the right hand of Gov. Jim Doyle.

• Aspiring Female Politicians Get Tips From Pros. [Kentucky.com] Women interested in running for public office or helping other women get elected picked up campaign tips, information on how to get appointed to boards and pointers on handling touchy subjects including religion and sex at yesterday's Political Skills Academy sponsored by the Bluegrass Women's Political Caucus.

• Female Congressional Candidate Arrested for Domestic Violence. [Men's News Daily] An Ohio candidate running for Congress suspended her campaign following the arrests of her and her husband on domestic violence charges.  Sheriff’s deputies responded to 911 calls about an altercation at the home of Stephanie Studebaker and her husband, Sam, on Sunday night. Both were charged with domestic violence and released on $25,000 bond.

• Navajo Woman Vies To Be First Female Tribal President. [KUTV] As a young girl, Jennie Nez remembers hearing Navajo medicine men say that once a woman is chosen to lead, the future of the tribe is in jeopardy.  As the tribe's first female presidential candidate, Lynda Lovejoy of Crownpoint has set out to bring the same kind of leadership women have exercised for generations behind the scenes to tribal government in an effort to put the Navajo Nation on the right track.

• Make Commons More Female-Friendly: MPs. [York Region Era Banner] Seeing equal numbers of male and female MPs in the House of Commons by 2020 is not good enough, a group of women Liberal MPs and senators were told. When it comes to electing women, Canada is raising the bar, Newmarket-Aurora MP Belinda Stronach stressed during a two-day retreat at the Magna Golf Club. A total of 27 MPs, former MPs and senators tackled a host of issues.

• Tories Look to Increase Number of Female MPs. [Reuters.uk] The Conservative party is to change the way it selects parliamentary candidates to increase the number of women on shortlists as part of leader David Cameron's drive to modernise the party. The push to get more women in parliament was part of Cameron's campaign when he became leader last year and follows Labour's decision in 1997 to introduce all-women shortlists in many of its seats.

• The Big Question: Are All-Women Shortlists the Best Way? [Independent, UK] David Cameron is determined to increase the number of women Tory MPs, and has introduced various measures to make it more likely that constituency associations in winnable Tory seats will select women candidates. But there are signs that the activists who dominate these associations do not want to be told to change their ways by their young leader.

• Women MPs Plan Slammed. [Scotsman, UK] Former Tory minister Ann Widdecombe spoke out against measures to boost the party's number of women candidates. David Cameron was today due to unveil plans, expected to include a requirement for at least one woman on every shortlist. Ms Widdecombe said preferential treatment for women, would create "two classes of women in Parliament".

• Analysis: France`s First Female President? [Monsters and Critics.com, UK] France is firmly in the grip of 'Segomania,' as former Socialist minister Segolene Royal surges ahead in the polls to become the favorite to succeed Jacques Chirac in next spring`s presidential elections. Over 4,000 people flocked to the tiny Burgundy village of Frangy-en-Bresse Sunday to hear the woman tipped to become the country`s first female president call for a 'democratic revolution.'

• Political Elephants Unite to Trample on Female Rival. [Unison.ie, Ireland] Segolene Royal, the darling of the French opinion polls, will face an unprecedented barrage of attacks from her socialist "comrades" today.

• 'RI Lacks Female Political Figures'. [Jakarta Post, Indonesia] In less than a year Jakarta will have its first-ever direct gubernatorial election. Parties are busily discussing potential candidates and are rapidly narrowing down the field. Most of the gubernatorial hopeful are from either a military or police background and all are men. The Jakarta Post asked people what they thought about having a female governor.

• West African Female Politicians Learn Leadership Skills. [Voice of America] Women ministers and members of parliament from Anglophone West Africa countries are meeting in Accra to sharpen their leadership and advocacy skills. The Accra meeting, being organized by the Network of African Women Ministers and Parliamentarians is also being used to press for the inclusion of more women in decision-making positions in the region.

• Women Lawmakers Upgrade Skills With U.S. Help. [AllAfrica.com] Part of the U.S. government's multimillion-dollar support for democratization in Ethiopia involves an innovative training program aimed at helping women lawmakers upgrade their legislative skills in Parliament.

• EC Official Bemoans Female Apathy in District Assembly Elections. [Accra Daily Mail, Ghana] Miss. Laurencia Kpatakpa (Volta Regional Director of the Electoral Commission -EC) has expressed concern about the public's disinterest in the impending district Assembly elections in the region. She has called on government to use its wide reach and public education agencies to raise awareness across the country.

• Sanitation is Top On the Agenda of Female Contestants. [AllAfrica.com] The Kaajaano electoral area of the Dadekotopon Constituency in the Greater Accra Region is noted to be gender sensitive. Two women have served the electoral area as assembly people. First, it was Lucy Banini formerly of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation who represented the people at the local government level followed by Bennie Brown, who won the election in 2002.

• African Women Gradually Climbing Up the Political Ladder. [Public Agenda, Ghana] After playing a crucial role in the struggle for independence for their countries, African women found themselves marginalized politically, socially and economically. However, the trend is beginning to change as African women are no longer spreading out their clothes on the floor for their male counterparts to walk on, but they are rubbing shoulders with their male counterparts on political platforms.

• She Was the First Female Envoy; Now She Wants To Become the First Female President. [Vanguard, Nigeria] Nigeria’s first female Ambassador, The Reverend (Mrs.) Elizabeth Ogbon-Day, wants to become the first female President of the country on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). What really qualifies her for such an ambition? She speaks to Sunday Vanguard on the reasons and her plan for the Niger-Delta if elected president in 2007.

• Female President: Restructuring Our Orientation. [The Tide, Nigeria] With this progress, especially having women emancipation in mind, one could be excused to conceive the possibility of a woman becoming the next president of Nigeria. The question that immediately comes to mind is, “can a woman stand the challenges and pressures as well as supply for the socio-political cum religious-cultural and economic demands of “the geographical confusion called Nigeria?”

• In Africa, Women Stride into Power. [Seattle Times] Sweden and Norway once claimed the world's highest percentage of female lawmakers. Now that distinction belongs to Rwanda. Women in the tiny, landlocked country, still recovering from a 1994 genocide, hold 48 percent of the country's legislative seats. A woman heads the Supreme Court and half of the country's judges are women, as are half of its college graduates. That, little by little, is bringing real change.

• Govt Committed to Women's Quota Bill. [Times of India] A strong demand was made in both Houses of Parliament for immediate introduction and passage of Women's Reservation Bill. The Government assured members that it would not go back on its commitment. The demand was raised in the Lok Sabha by CPI member Gurudas Dasgupta, who was supported by the entire Left as also by Mamata Banerjee of Trinamool Congress.