Contact: Don Otis, Veritas Communications, 719-275-7775
OPINION, Oct. 31, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- The following is submitted by Jacqueline Le Beau and Lana Tomlins:
Where President Obama's gender policies lack coherency and consistency
The gender gap is rapidly closing before next week's election. President Obama once enjoyed a double digit lead among women but that's quickly deteriorating. The President is scrambling to reenergize the female vote, sporting a pink cancer awareness bracelet and touting the same fear-mongering line about how Governor Romney will take women back to the 50s.
Obama needs the vote of American women. He won't remain in the White House without it. He won't serve four more inept years without it. As American women, we feel patronized and ignored by a President who touts the rights of American women while ignoring the rights of women suffering in Muslim countries under Sharia law. By promising to support policies of equal opportunity and pay, including free birth control, Obama is attempting to blur our vision and take away our rights.
One cannot separate Islam from Sharia -- an archaic system of rules that demeans and brutalizes women. How does bowing to and supporting the Muslim brotherhood who favor Islam and Sharia laws support women's rights? By minimizing terrorist events, the Obama administration continues to mislead voters. Not all women are fooled by the slick sounding rhetoric. South African journalist and CBS News reporter, Lara Logan, discovered what Sharia and Islam are really about. She was sexually assaulted while reporting last year in Cairo. She portrays the Benghazi attack as a harbinger of growing terrorist networks and attacks against westerners. And Logan vehemently opposes the Obama administration's assertion that the Taliban are weakened.
As women, we must not be drawn in by a president who has an inconsistent agenda for all women. This administration ignores acts of terror but continues to say we respect women's rights and freedom of religion in America. We do protect our freedom of expression. We do want to expose the values that deny freedom for all within our democratic society. We need to denounce Sharia laws that empower men to treat women as objects to be used as they desire. Where is President Obama's voice when it comes to supporting and protecting women's rights elsewhere? What about protecting the brave service men who served faithfully in Benghazi? This president and his administration's lack of strong voice makes America look weak. It paves the way for future terrorist acts, including brutality towards women. Let us stand up for our rights and not be swayed by a president with a questionable agenda by exercising our vote against him. Let's support the rights of all women, not just those who want free birth control.
When Muslim men and women come to America, they bring with them laws and customs that do not mesh with the freedoms we enjoy. Countless Americans fought and died for these freedoms. The strict seventh century Islamic beliefs are not compatible with our society. We honor free thinking, personal dignity, and respect between men and women. Islam does not. Women have limited privileges and rights within a Muslim marriage. This can mean she cannot associate with or even speak to a man who is not her husband or a close family member. They are often forced into arranged marriages, face rape, repeated reproduction, isolation, and dangerous practices like circumcision. They can easily be denied divorce and child custody because the husband's rights come first. Muslim women are not allowed to marry a non Muslim man so breaking free of the restraints is nearly impossible. In Muslim countries, women can be stoned to death or hung for dishonoring their families. They can be killed if they leave Islam. In many Islamic countries women are denied education or threatened if they do study like 15-year-old Pakistani Malala Yousufzai who was shot in the head by Taliban at point blank range.
We believe all American women are at risk by a second term Obama presidency. We fear the Arab Spring will only reinforce Sharia law in America. We encourage the administration to stop catering to Islam and their antiquated laws. We admonish the government to recognize the differences and denounce the aspects of Sharia which are opposed to our own Constitution. And, we encourage Muslim Imams and moderate Muslims in America to denounce Sharia laws that undermine the freedoms we enjoy. Where are these voices of so-called peace-loving moderate Muslims we keep hearing about?
We expect our President to protect our ideals and values. Our goal as members of Concerned American Citizens is to reassure and educate women about their freedom under the protection of the United States Constitution. We remind Muslim women living in the United States that seventh century Islamic laws are not binding here. Women's rights and dignity are respected. As Concerned American Citizens we will expose American Judges who support Islamic rulings which lead to the submission of women.
About the authors
Jacqueline Le Beau is an artist, designer, entrepreneur and Co-Author of the book "From Terror to Freedom" and co-founder of www.ConcernedAmericanCitizens.org. Lana Tomlins is a freelance writer.
