Muslim clerics declared victory last week in Niger after the government agreed to withdraw a course on sexual and reproductive health from the school syllabus. Islamic organizations and leaders denounced the classes as against Muslim values. Niger has the world’s highest fertility rate and 30 percent of girls are married by the age of 15. The country reports that average of around eight children per woman.
By age 18, 77 percent of girls are married in Niger which is predominantly Muslim.
The course, “Training on sexual and reproductive health of adolescents and young people for responsible behaviour,” was introduced in September in conjunction with the United Nations. It taught that people could decide if and when they had romantic relations or marriage. That outraged many clerics.
World health officials denounced the decision and noted that 73 percent of adolescent girls are still illiterate in Niger because they are forced into marriages. The spokesman for Islamic groups, Sambo Ousman, rejected such arguments as teaching “wrong” lessons and said that the decision to end the program affirmed that “the good running of education must involve Muslims.” He added that “Islamic associations do not in any way accept . . . the total lack of morality by undermining our values without exception, the confusion between freedom and licentiousness and the legalization of fornication and homosexuality.”
Pogo, do you think western educated western women are having enough babies?
on 1, November 3, 2014 at 2:22 pmKaren S
Pogo:
True – educating women in places like Niger is key to improving their circumstances, freedom, and equality. It really is the first step.
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on 1, November 3, 2014 at 8:52 amPogo
“Worldwide, nothing has been as effective in reducing fertility as the education of females.”
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But educated women aren’t fertile, Pogo said so. Are you so sure Pogo thinks educating women is a good idea?
The successful are pouring out of Socialist France in droves, voting with their feet. If they were so happy, why are they leaving? Whoopsie!
Pogo:
True – educating women in places like Niger is key to improving their circumstances, freedom, and equality. It really is the first step.
“they call it “Sunday Assembly”
The Pentecostals also call themselves ‘an Assembly.’
“they were founded by comedians.”
Our Minnesota Senator was a comedian.
He’s not funny anymore.
So be careful!
Well take heart Pogo, I’m sure there are plenty of agnostics and atheists that will never join an agnostic “church”. Even if its meant as a spoof, which it is.
It’s all ironic, until it ain’t.
Pogo, it’s funny that you don’t see the SPOOF there. I think they’re funny, I think they think they’re being funny too.
And yet that’s what happened.
Curious, innit?
Pogo,
Go they call it “Sunday Assembly” and they were founded by comedians. You don’t see an element of spoofing religion here? At any rate it’s silly too. I seriously don’t think the vast majority of atheists and agnostics want to emulate religion.
Read the TIME article.
They called it a service, held in megachurches.
Really Pogo? Is every group that holds meetings churches?
Paul, you are just indoctrinated.
Heck, Atheists have their own church services.
Paul claims he’s agnostic, yet he jumps to push the Religious Right’s agenda every time it comes up in discussion. Doesn’t he realize they won’t be doing him any favors, as an agnostic? Again what level of cognitive dissonance is needed by some folks to believe the RR propaganda, when they themselves are agnostics and/ or even atheists?
Bill, you give Paul a lot of credit.
Bill,
Once again we see the propaganda machine busy at work, the meme that Cilmate Change/ Global Warming and even Democracy/ liberalism is a religion is just plain silly. To say atheism is a religion is beyond silly.
Annie – I know it is going to break your heart but democracy and liberalism are not the same thing.
Paul – you were a fact checker? and yet you went with the climate change is a religion false equivalence? You seem way to intelligent for that trap.
I have no doubt there is a bias one way or another in most anything – such is the privilege of the author, creator, etc……
Bill W – I went with Climate Change is a religion when the declared the science is settled.
Climate change is not a religion – I can understand why one who bases their whole life on something without any supporting scientific evidence would need to try to create a false equivalent. But as science is science and religion is not repeating a lie often enough does not create truth – going with the Goebbels marketing plan?
Bill W – Climate change is a religion. Just watch how they act. Scientology could take lessons from them. Annie, you are just in denial.
Paul – The news media is run by large corporations that are concerned most with supporting policies that benefit large corporations. are you trying to say every person or corp. is either a fundie or an atheist?
revisionist history is on religion’s top 5 now attempting to rewrite textbooks (Texas, Colorado, Arizona, etc……) – then of course there is the David Barton revisionist version based on the ridiculous
Bill W – you know who writes those textbooks don’t you? The world’s largest publisher, Pearson. I used to be a fact checker for them. It was an experience. I went through an entire high school textbook with 60 editorial cartoons. Not one was anti-Democratic.