Woman's Sufferage

[yogi]

Saturday, the day I write this, there will be a local election in Saudi Arabia. The big news of this election is that women will be allowed to vote and hold office for the first time, ever. They won't have the same freedoms that us Westerners have, but it's progress that is welcomed by many. There is only one place left on this planet where women are still not allowed to vote. I was surprised to learn where that that place is.

http://fortune.com/2015/12/11/one-count ... er_FORTUNE

[Icey]

Good grief! That surprised me as well.

[brandtrn]

Doesn't surprise me, not at all. The Catholic church is perhaps the ONLY major world religion (apart from the Muslims) which doesn't allow women into the priesthood (pastorship, rabbinate, etc.). No big surprise that they don't think we're "smart" enough to vote...not that the votes of the general population even matter all that much in this world, anymore.

[Icey]

That last bit's true, but although I thought of other people who might not allow women to vote, I was still surprised about Saudi Arabia being the only place left - which means that Muslims in other countries CAN do??

It's not true about female ordained priests though. There are about 100 Roman Catholic Womenpriests, and 11 female bishops. Perhaps they don't have the sway that male priests do, but although they're an independent recognised organisation from the rest, they're still connected to the Catholic church and were ordained as priests in 2002 by Rómulo Antonio Braschi, an independent bishop.

[pilvikki]

i'm not a bit surprised either, but even though we were talking about city (in the context of being one of the smallest countries), I don't quite think of it as country...

i'm actually more surprised the arabs allow this. at least in theory.

[Icey]

That's the bit that surprised me as well, since most of them're Muslim. Good for the women anyway - despite thinking it's probably a waste of time.