What was the perception of slavery like 3000 years ago? Or 500 years ago... The same question applies to the relationship between men and women. As time changes, we perceive the things we experience differently, and today we criticize the things we once accepted without questioning, saying how ridiculous things we believed.
Today, when we look at the situation of a woman living in Norway and a woman living in Afghanistan, we think that the Afghan woman is not treated as a human being from the Norwegian perspective. So, what is normal, what is right, from the perspective of an Afghan woman who is disconnected from the world and does not know what is happening outside? Doesn't he perceive whatever he has been taught as the only truth?
Just as this was natural for a person who saw no harm in keeping a black man as a slave 500 years ago, it is the same for a woman born in Afghanistan today. Being born a woman in Afghanistan or another underdeveloped Islamic country puts her in a position no different from an animal, and this situation, which is ridiculous for us, is perceived as the best way of life for a group of people.
My aim here is not to criticize religion or patriarchy. We just need to see this: we are creatures that consider the conditions we were born into normal. If the society we were born into considers eating humans normal, we do not find it odd to eat another human being. If the society we were born into sees it normal to have sexual intercourse with 9-10 year old girls, this is normal for us. If the society we were born into tells us that after we die, 15-16 year old girls with new breasts will be given to us as a gift, this is normal for us. I'm especially thinking of the most extreme examples so we can see to what extremes we can go in terms of what we consider normal.
How normal does it seem to you to define yourself as a Muslim, Turkish or Sunni person today? However, we need to see that we are ready to kill even ourselves for completely fabricated concepts.
It seems ridiculous to me today to think that a woman is inferior to a man. The education I received and the culture I was born into helped me see this nonsense. If an Afghan had adopted me when I was only 1-2 years old, would I still be thinking the same thing as I am thinking today? I would probably marry a few women, use them as my own personal servants, and enjoy all the pleasures of being born a man, for free. I also ask women to cook for me, clean my house, etc. I was going to wait. “Of course” would be my most natural right. What could happen otherwise?
Then it is possible to ask, "But what is the truth?" What will we do if what is normal, what is right, changes according to time, geography and culture, if everyone has their own truth and people are even willing to kill each other to defend these truths?
We are creatures that have found the formula to live in groups in order to survive. We are physically weak. We are not strong, we are not fast, our teeth are small, we have no claws, our skin is thin, etc. We need to be together to survive. If we can stay as a herd, we hold on to life. Another point is that our physical features are weak, but we are smarter than all other creatures. In other words, we have surpassed other animal species with our ability to learn and convey what we know. We have created what we call culture. In other words, the brain we have has put us in a superior position than all other living things. We are at the top of the food pyramid.
The worst part is that we see ourselves as superior so much that we have separated ourselves from them by forgetting, or rather denying, that we are a kind of animal. We did this by inventing religions. (Nowadays, postmodern social science seems to have taken over this task.) But that is not the point right now. The question is: "If every society and every person has their own truth, how can I know which one is the "main truth"?"
I think Kant comes to our aid for this. What did Kant say about this: “Dare to use your mind”.
I liken the human situation to a mouse in a maze. We are like mice who see the labyrinth into which they were born as the only true life. But if we have the courage to use our minds and understand that we are in a labyrinth, then we may have a chance to see the real picture. Turning from metaphor to life, if we can understand that it is wrong to see the life imposed on us as the only truth, if we can see what the alternative truths are, we can choose the most humane one among these truths. Then we can see that there is no difference between men and women, and how disgusting slavery is.
What makes up our labyrinth? First of all, it is the culture we are born into, then the religions we are born into, then the nations we are born into… As long as we perceive all of these as if they were not things we invented, but as if they were the only truth that has existed since eternity, it is not possible for us to get out of the labyrinth.
We are all raised in fear. Scaring is the easiest way to discipline a child. Unfortunately, this is also the easiest way to discipline a group of people. We need to face our fears and understand whether these fears are real. In other words, we need to have the courage to use our minds and see the truth behind the things that are imposed on us. Otherwise, it will continue to be perceived as the only right thing to live in the world of men who do not regard women as human beings and continue to live with the idea that women are creatures born as servants to them. In order to rationalize this, it is possible to find thousands of evidence that the Quran says this, my sheikh says this, the sunnah says this, it is written like this in the hadiths.
I feel the pain of people seeing what the truth is. There is disappointment that comes with people seeing what the truth is but not being able to see this truth. It is not possible for people who see the life imposed on them as the only way to get out of this cage. Maybe those living hundreds of years from now will look back and say, "How cruel we were in the past, there were billions of people who did not think that women were human too." Just as we look back at the past and see how primitive we are, those living in the future will say the same about those living today.
I am extremely disappointed with what we have experienced in recent years. A mentality has settled over the country that wants to quickly take us off the path we took 100 years ago. All kinds of immorality began to be seen as normal. Unfortunately, this is normal for those born into this society today. You can say whatever you want that the things we are experiencing are wrong, you cannot explain anything to those who do not want to understand.
It is necessary to live in the same society with those who do not see women as human beings and those who ignore those who raped a 6-7 year old girl. There's nothing can be done. We have no choice but to hope. Maybe one day we can live with people who dare to use their minds.
Religion
Mind
Gender
Slavery
Woman
Sapere Aude
Afghanistan
Kant
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