Changing Needs

Buddhism
Now she who's called: a mistress, slayer, thief, who's harsh, immoral, lacking in respect, when death comes will wander in the miseries of hell. But mother, sister or companion, slave, in precept long established and restrained, when death comes will wander in the happy heaven world. These, Sujata, are the seven kinds of wives a man may have; and which of them are you? "Lord," said Sujata, "let the Exalted One think of me as a handmaid from this day forth." (Anguttara Nikaya iv.91, Sujata Sutta)

If fearless of the lash and stick, unmoved, all things enduring, calm, and pure in heart, she bear obedience to her husband's word, from anger free - call that wife a handmaid! (Anguttara Nikaya iv.91, Sujata Sutta)

Confucianism
The moral man finds the moral law beginning in the relation between man and woman, but ending in the vast reaches of the universe. (Doctrine of the Mean 12)

In the family women's appropriate place is within; men's without. When men and women keep their proper places they act in accord with Heaven's great norm. Among the members of the family are the dignified master and mistress whom we term father and mother. When father, mother, sons elder and younger brothers all act in a manner suited to their various positions within the family, when husbands play their proper role and wives are truly wifely, the way of that family runs straight. It is by the proper regulation of each family that the whole world is stabilized. (I Ching 37: The Family)

Christianity
He who loves his wife loves himself. For no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes it and cherishes it, as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This mystery is a profound one, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church; however, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. (Ephesians 5:27-33)

It is well for a man not to touch a woman. But because of the temptation to immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. (1 Corinthians 7:1)

Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands. (Ephesians 5:21-23)

The husband who wedded her with sacred texts always gives happiness to his wife, both in season or out of season. Though he may be destitute of virtue, or seek his pleasure elsewhere, or devoid of good qualities, yet a husband must be constantly revered as a god by a faithful wife. Women need perform no sacrifice, no vow, no fast; if she obeys her husband, she will for that reason alone be exalted in heaven. A faithful wife, who desires to dwell after death with her husband, must never do anything that might displease him who took her hand, whether he be alive or dead….She who, controlling her thoughts, words, and deeds, never slights her lord, resides after death with her husband in heaven, and is called a virtuous wife. (Laws of Manu 5.153-65)

I am He, you are She; I am Song, you are Verse, I am Heaven, you are Earth. We two shall here together dwell, becoming parents of children. (Atharva Veda 14.2.71)

Islam
All of you are guardians and are responsible for your wards. The ruler is a guardian; the man is a guardian of his family; the lady is a guardian and is responsible for her husband's house and his offspring; and so all of you are guardians and are responsible for your wards. (Hadith of Bukhari)

Your wives are as a tilth to you; so approach your tilth when or how you will; but do some good act for your souls beforehand, and fear God. (Qur'an 2.223)

Among His signs is that He created spouses for you among yourselves that you may console yourselves with them. He has planted affection and mercy between you. (Qur'an 30.21)

He who loves his wife as himself; who honors her more than himself; who rears his children in the right path, and who marries them off at the proper time of their life, concerning him it is written: "And you will know that your home is at peace." (Talmud, Yebamot 62)

Sikhism
Not those are true husband and wife that with each other [merely] consort: Truly wedded are those that in two frames, are as one light. (Adi Granth, Var Suhi, M.3. 788)

Native American Religions
Do not abuse your wife. Women are sacred. If you make your wife suffer, you will die in a short time. Our grandmother, Earth, is a woman, and in abusing your wife you are abusing her. By thus abusing our grandmother, who takes care of us, by your action you will be practically killing yourself. (A Winnebago Father's Precepts)

African Traditional Religions
Whoever has many wives will have troubles in surfeit. He will be deceitful, he will lie, he will betray [some of them] to have them together; It is not certain that he can have peace to pray well. (Yoruba Poem. Nigeria)

In the current transition to global culture, a great deal of conflict is generated by the changing roles of women in the social order and its impact on societal institutions and individual marital relationships. One of the characteristics of the economically and technologically advanced environs of global community is the ascendancy of women in the social order. As the world's diverse cultures integrate into the modern world, the roles of women tend toward equity with men in the institutions of society including marriage. The cultural norms and expectations for marriage are a pivotal example of the difficulties likely to be encountered as globalization intrudes with accelerating frequency on local cultural mores. The change in customs involves religion because it appears to clash with the specific scriptural guidance from the major faith traditions.

Gender roles are intimately related to the particulars of scriptural advice within the various religious dispensations represented in the modern world. The encroachment of modern social advances like gender equity on cultural terrain once ruled by age-old religious orthodoxies is an example of the challenge that globalization presents to the institutions of religion and vice versa. As a step toward understanding the role of religion in the transition to global community, the following is an examination of the nature of the guidance received from the Messengers of the various faiths concerning men and women.

As has been addressed earlier, the various scriptures articulate two types of guidance - the eternal unchanging verities and the more practical directives appropriate to the needs of the times. They all provide practical laws particular to the circumstances of the people being addressed. For example, Judaic law provided guidance for how thieves were to be treated in the context of nomadic societies that could not build prisons - under certain circumstances a hand might be removed. It was not guidance intended for modern societies but guidance particular to the limitations of an earlier stage of social development.

From the vantage point of today's societal and political requirements, the specific advice of the Messengers addressing the needs of the past may appear to be defective. The modern sensibilities associated with gender equity, as another example, are offended by the harsh realities that were seemingly condoned by the Messengers of past religious dispensations. The particular laws appropriate to the past could be considered defective if articulated for these times. Messengers have provided guidance for the various stages of human social development. If human society were static, only one Messenger would have been required. Since it is progressive, Messengers appear periodically to address the exigencies of evolving cultures. The essential spiritual teachings remain the same. An examination of the guidance concerning marriage from the various dispensations provides an example of the difference between the practical and essential guidance and also points out the need for new guidance for the changing gender roles relevant to the current needs of a global community.

The fundamental teachings from which the particulars emerge are common to all the scriptures. The Messengers rearticulate the eternal spiritual laws. As discussed earlier, each dispensation has an iteration of the golden rule as the central tenet governing human behavior. The core directive for the relationship of marriage is an iteration of the golden rule. The participants should love each other as they love themselves. "Not those are true husband and wife that with each other [merely] consort: Truly wedded are those that in two frames, are as one light" (Sikhism. Adi Granth, Var Suhi, M.3.p.788). "The moral man finds the moral law beginning in the relation between man and woman, but ending in the vast reaches of the universe" (Confucianism. Doctrine of the Mean 12).

Although the central tenet of all of the faith traditions direct men and women to love in their personal relationships, the parameters of gender roles in society and the nature of the institution of marriage have been addressed by the various faith traditions with a variety of culturally specific injunctions. Different societal circumstances have dictated very different arrangements for marriages and the provisions for children. Monogamy is the preferred relationship articulated in the context of most of the faith traditions in the modern world, but other arrangements have been sanctioned. Though polygamy has been common, having multiple husbands has also been sanctioned in some societies. Even within traditions prescribing or preferring monogamy, views on the relationship have been very different. The following scriptural passages support monogamy but they do it from very different perspectives.

It is well for a man not to touch a woman. But because of the temptation to immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. (Christianity. 1 Corinthians 7:1)

Most of the religious institutions over recorded history have been dominated by male proclivities, values, and perspectives. Modern sensibilities concerning gender equity view the apparent sanction by religious institutions of male dominance as backward. For many in today's modern societies, this casts a shadow on the integrity of the Messengers of God through whom those institutions claim their legitimacy. The following passages are examples of the scriptural description of gender roles that support male superiority.

Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands. (Christianity. Ephesians 5:21)

All of you are guardians and are responsible for your wards. The ruler is a guardian; the man is a guardian of his family; the lady is a guardian and is responsible for her husband's house and his offspring; and so all of you are guardians and are responsible for your wards. (Islam. Hadith of Bukhari)

In the family women's appropriate place is within; men's without. When men and women keep their proper places they act in accord with Heaven's great norm. Among the members of the family are the dignified master and mistress whom we term father and mother. When father, mother, sons elder and younger brothers all act in a manner suited to their various positions within the family, when husbands play their proper role and wives are truly wifely, the way of that family runs straight. It is by the proper regulation of each family that the whole world is stabilized. (Confucianism. I Ching 37: The Family)

I am He, you are She; I am Song, you are Verse, I am Heaven, you are Earth. We two shall here together dwell, becoming parents of children. (Hinduism. Atharva Veda 14.2.71)

The nature of the developmental stages of social order and its relationship to the obvious dominance of men in the institutions of society is a very complex phenomenon and will likely be a subject of interest and of scholarly exploration for a long time to come. The nature of the guidance of the Messengers in this regard is even more abstruse. It is, nevertheless, reasonable to attempt a tentative understanding by viewing the guidance from the Messengers of God as particular to the capacities of the times.

The relationship of male and female has a long complex evolutionary history. They have separate evolutionary paths because their biological roles are different. Yet the developmental paths are integrally related. Their separate evolutions are dependent on each other and the physical differences between male and female are integral to the development of social roles. For example, men generally have stronger upper body strength and have therefore been physically dominant. It could be argued that this physical dominance is the primary cause of male dominance in most of the institutions of society. Regardless of the particulars of the origins of dominance in the structures of society, the world's spiritual Messengers have prescribed social behaviors that were appropriate for the various stages of cultural maturation.

It is further helpful to realize that the guidance does not cause or excuse the apparent injustice and abuse associated with gender differences. The Messengers do not sanction injustice. Their lives and primary teachings are a template for justice. However, their guidance is not always followed. Guidance from God is limited by the hearer not the speaker. We are given a degree of freedom in this world to accept or reject the guidance of the Messengers.

The primary guidance from the Messengers has never condoned abusive relationships. The core teachings of all of the Messengers concern love and respect. The advice given has always optimized the benevolent outcomes prescribed for the limitations of the times. Some of the world's scriptures specifically address the abuse that is likely in the male dominated stages of societal evolution. They acknowledge the plight of women in the social order and recognize the possibilities of oppression integral to their situations.

The Sujata Sutta is an example from Buddhist scripture. It tells the story of a young woman recently married who is not happy in her new role in her husband's household. She rebels against the situation. She has a conversation with the Blessed One, the Buddha, who instructs her in the seven types of wives: mistress, slayer, thief, mother, sister, companion, and slave. After describing their characteristics He assigns the seven types to two groups - those who would be happy in the next life and those that would be miserable and asks her which of the seven types of wives she would choose to be.

Now she who's called: a mistress, slayer, thief, who's harsh, immoral, lacking in respect, when death comes will wander in the miseries of hell. But mother, sister or companion, slave, in precept long established and restrained, when death comes will wander in the happy heaven world.

These, Sujata, are the seven kinds of wives a man may have; and which of them are you? "Lord," said Sujata, "let the Exalted One think of me as a handmaid from this day forth." (Buddhism, Anguttara Nikaya iv.91, Sujata Sutta)

Sujata responded by acknowledging that she was a slave and would be contented. This description of the handmaid or slave is that of a martyr. The Buddha describes her as "fearless of the lash and stick, unmoved, all things enduring, calm, and pure in heart, she bears obedience to her husband's word, from anger free - call that wife a handmaid!" (Buddhism, Anguttara Nikaya iv.91, Sujata Sutta). The Buddha was acknowledging the limits of her situation and instructing her in the outcomes of the choice that was before her. The type of husband a woman ended up with was dependent on her family situation. If she were married to an abusive man whose family contributed to her pain and suffering, she was a slave. Her choice was what she would do about it - rebel or submit. The situation was not just, particularly from the vantage point of modern social sensibilities. It was brutal. If she wanted to be independent, her options were that of a prostitute, a thief, or a murderer. This path was prone to anger and hate and would be carried with her into the next life. The Buddha presented her with her options. She decided to make the best of a bad situation.

Some might interpret these passages of the scriptures as permission for men to abuse their wives because the Buddha had acknowledged the situation and put the onus on the woman to "correct" her behavior. Comparing this particular advice from the Buddha to His primary advice as articulated in the golden rule argues for a different interpretation. The husband should treat his wife with the love and respect which he would want to have. He chose to be abusive. The Buddha provided the woman with the optimal path for her own happiness given the limits of her situation. In the context of modern societies, social activism would seem to be better advice. In the context of Sujata's times, social activism was not a realistic option. This passage of scripture was instructing women in the optimal path for their own happiness under the circumstances.

Jesus offers similar advice to His followers concerning how to respond to people who are their enemies and treat them unjustly. His directive to love our enemies does not condone injustice. It is advice on how to effectively address it.

Passages from Hindu scripture provide another example of the harsh reality for women within the institutions of male dominated societies. No matter what kind of husband a woman has, she must treat him as her lord. The situation again is described in the terms of martyrdom. Obedience on the part of a wife to her husband is reason alone for admission to heaven. This is no small accomplishment. It is again similar to the injunction of Christ to "love your enemies" and "turn the other cheek."
The husband who wedded her with sacred texts always gives happiness to his wife, both in season or out of season. Though he may be destitute of virtue, or seek his pleasure elsewhere, or devoid of good qualities, yet a husband must be constantly revered as a god by a faithful wife. Women need perform no sacrifice, no vow, no fast; if she obeys her husband, she will for that reason alone be exalted in heaven. A faithful wife, who desires to dwell after death with her husband, must never do anything that might displease him who took her hand, whether he be alive or dead….She who, controlling her thoughts, words, and deeds, never slights her lord, resides after death with her husband in heaven, and is called a virtuous wife. (Hinduism. Laws of Manu 5.153-65)

The relationship of the husband and wife is at the base of the social order and is of central concern to religion. For example, in the Christian dispensation, the marital relationship is used as a metaphor for the relationship of Christ to His church. Paul calls the relationship between a man and a woman similar to that of the Messenger to His followers. The religion of a particular culture is its source of order and well being. Christ referred to Himself as the "Bread of Life." He gives sustenance to the individual personally through prayer and meditation and by creating social institutions optimal for the development of human capacity.

He who loves his wife loves himself. For no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes it and cherishes it, as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This mystery is a profound one, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church; however, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see 33)

The focus of the mystery is selfless love. Love is the central requirement for the relationship to be just in this temporal world. The spiritual relationship is the union of equals at their essence, but they are not the same in the context of the temporal world. Paul admonishes them to different roles as provider and supporter. The one gives sustenance; the other is submissive.

The acceptance of subservient social and marital roles for women in the former dispensations is one of the many signs that humankind is in need of new guidance. The changes evident in every aspect of human life as the world's separate cultures converge into a global culture beg for guidance from God. Among the myriad changes in today's world that cause the souls of humankind to seek understanding from God, the changing role of women is one of the most significant and urgent. The greater physical strength associated with male dominance in the earlier stages of social development loses its primacy in the new environs of global cultural. Technology has obviated any advantage that bodily strength once provided for the security of society. Intellectual, organizational, and communication skills become far more significant to the security of society in the complex economic and political provinces of global community. In these arenas, women compete favorably with men as is evidenced in modern society by the greater number of women taking advantage of higher education and succeeding in business ventures as well as their increasing ascendancy in the political realms. The independence gained by these advances results in the restructuring of the marital relationship and with it the structure and function of the family as the primary unit responsible for social continuity and order.

Part II of this work directs attention to the Baha'i dispensation as the fulfillment of the needs of these times for spiritual guidance. The Baha'i Faith reaffirms the spiritual verities articulated in all of the world's religions and provides guidance specific to these times. The guidance includes specific directives addressing the equality of men and women in the institutions of society and in the marital relationship.

In the Baha'i dispensation, marriage is described as a "fortress for well being." The two individuals are equal partners who independently and willingly initiate and sustain the relationship through frank, open, and loving consultation in submission to the will of God. Equality in the relationship is integral to their equality and independence in the context of the greater institutions of society.

The Baha'i marriage vow, "we will all verily abide by the will of God," places the relationship on the foundation of trust in God. Willing submission to the will of God is the underlying prerequisite to human well being. The bounty and beauty of God are available to us to the degree that we accept His terms for its provision. This is true for the individual and for human society at large and particularly the basic societal unit, the family.

Before discussing some of the other teachings of the Baha'i Faith, the next chapter examines passages of the world's scriptures that address the cataclysmic changes occurring in modern times.