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Mobilizing Faith for Womennever have to deal with the consequences of theirpolicies, but women oftentimes do have to dealwith the consequences. The forum was credited asan unusually safe space that allowed deep and, attimes, controversial dialogue to occur. The desirefor this conversation to be sustained in some formwas palpable.Contesting Religious MeaningIn his opening remarks, President Carter pointed tomale circumscription of women’s religious leadershipand service to God within religious institutions. Hecited the position of some that women are inferiorin the eyes of God and suggested that such views areperpetuated through the misuse of sacred texts thathave been distorted to justify the dominance of men.Dr. Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza discussed thisaspect of religious debate in her remarks:Throughout the centuries, the Bible has been usedboth as a weapon against and as a resource forsubjugated women. The Bible has been invokedboth for and against women’s struggles for accessto citizenship, public speaking, reproductiverights, theological education, or ordained ministry.Consequently, no serious reform of society in theinterest of women’s emancipation will be successfulif it does not also seek to advance the reform ofreligion and of sacred scriptures.Men’s perception of women as inferior has beeninstitutionalized as if it were fact. In some cases, ithas been confused with divine law and used to excuseboth violence and discrimination against women andthe failure to protect. Participants reflected that inthe early histories of each religious tradition womenwere integral contributors and respected members ofthe religious community. President Carter cited thestatement of the Apostle Paul from Galatians 3:28:“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave norfree, nor is there male and female, for you are all onein Christ Jesus.” Carter referred to Romans 16, wherePaul describes half of the heroes of the early Christianchurch as women apostles and priests. Participantsreferenced similar stories from the early texts andtraditions of Islam and Judaism, rejecting the notionthat patriarchy is core to the faiths themselves.Participants from the Democratic Republic of theCongo, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan cited theco-opting and politicizing of religion as contributorsto conflict. In addition, as Rishmawi asserted,those responsible for implementing human rightsprotections often use religion as an excuse for theirfailure. She pointed to the conflation of religion withculture — or ideals with practices, as others framedit — arguing that while the principles of religion maybe divine, culture is very much a worldly, humancreation. Participants discussed several examples,including female genital cutting and “honor killings,”as cases in which religion has been manipulated toexcuse acts explicitly contrary to religious values.In Islamic law, any practice that is harmful to thehuman body is forbidden, and there are heavy (somewould say impossible) burdens of proof required forthe conviction of adultery. However, people havemisused certain texts, removing them from both theirhistorical context and the moral context of the principlesof the religion.“There is neither Jew norGentile, neither slave nor free,nor is there male and female, foryou are all one in Christ Jesus.”— Galatians 3:28Responding to the plenary panel on the liberatingpossibilities within theology, Jeremy Courtney ofPreemptive Love Coalition in Iraq astutely interrogatedthose gathered, asking how we can reformtheology while it is the framework through whichmany of us understand and live in the world.Mir-Hosseini asserted that we must separate idealsfrom practice in both religion and human rights. Wemust be willing to look at realities on the groundThe Carter Center 13