For those who feel that Muslims constitute the only risk to women's rights....
I had an interesting discussion with a friend who feels that Muslims are attempting to "take over" the United States and my disagreement with that sentiment meant that I'd only be happy if I was forced to wear a veil. This person, unfortunately, was not swayed by the fact that many Christian sects also limit women's rights, and also "wish to take over the United States." Now a bit more evidence that the Muslims aren't the only ones out there with serious difficulties regarding women's equality.
globeandmail.com: Women taking a stand to sit up front:
JERUSALEM -- It began as a peaceful morning, with a religious woman boarding a bus just after daybreak to take her to the Old City to pray.
But Miriam Shear's day quickly turned ugly when she was ordered by a religious man to move to the back of the bus, a common practice on many routes serving the religious population.
Ms. Shear, a 50-year-old Toronto-area resident who was in Israel that November day for religious study, refused politely when he demanded her seat, pointing to several others nearby. He yelled and spat on her. Incensed, she spat back. In the 20-minute scuffle that followed, which was joined by four other men, she was slapped, pushed out of her seat and onto the floor, beaten and kicked; her hair covering fell off, a great shame for a married religious woman, and she suffered bruising to her cheek.
Now, Ms. Shear's case, which has gained notoriety here as a kind of religious Rosa Parks incident, is cited in a petition to the Supreme Court to review the segregated bus policy, in what is seen as a test case in balancing the rights of a minority's freedom of religion against the basic human rights of all.