I’m a little late in discovering this piece, but Chris Raymond blogged a great article on “Honor the Woman You are,” addressing the hot issue of violence against women.

She wrote in part

There is one more article I want to share because this one, to me, identifies a particular source (by no means the only one) for violence against women and how it is played out on the global scene. This is from the Washington Post: Clothes Aren’t the Issue. The author is Asra Q. Nomani and while she is writing specifically about Islam, the message is for all societies. She says, “As long as the beating of women is acceptable in Islam, the problem of suicide bombers, jihadists and others who espouse violence will not go away; to me, they form part of a continuum.”

Chris concludes

The characteristics of disrespect, intimidation, cruelty, humiliation are not qualities of Spirit. Therefore I will not ignore or succumb to them wherever I see them. I will mentally counter them with the true and good qualities of woman+man. In my world — and one by one, woman by woman in all the world — the ugly, dis-Spirited characteristics will cease to have power over humanity.

Will you stand with me and honor the woman in you…and everywhere?

Hooray Chris! Yes, we all must stand up for the “woman” in each of us.