Through the Eyes of a Woman

  I only realized that this is a quote from Mao Zedong when Pastor Rebekah Liu from China was the speaker at an Adventist Today Sabbath seminar on October 9, 2021. The young, sympathetic, and enthusiastic ordained pastor spoke about the history and current status of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in China. In China, when all the churches that worship on Sunday were merged by the state into the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, the Adventists remained independent because of the Sabbath, but the ties with the world church (General Conference) were cut. Thus, they also remained independent as far as church governance was concerned. This contributed to their ordaining men and women to the pastorate without distinction. In China, the church was the first to liberate women. Women were subject to the father, their feet were bound, limiting their mobility, and they were also subjected to their husbands in marriage. The three focal points of women's emancipation in China consisted of

Today is the International Day of the Girl 2021. I see encouraging posts online like the one by UNWOMEN saying, “Girls can study and take on any career. Girls are smart and innovative. On #DayOfTheGirl let's speak up against systematic barriers & long-standing stereotypes that continue to keep girls from #STEM careers.“ STEM is an acronym that stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Yes, girls are smart, but many girls have to face multiple challenges even in today’s world that make it difficult for girls in many parts of the world to get the necessary education to reach their goals and fulfill their dreams. We keep on saying, „Girls can do anything and be anything they want to be.“ There should be nothing that keeps them from achieving distinction. And yet, we still live in a world with a lot of disadvantages for girls that discourage them. I am reading Fiona Hill’s book There is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century.

I have been following the news about women in Afghanistan. Some organizations that have been working for women’s empowerment in the country during the last 20 years are appealing for their Afghan employees to be brought to safety. Politicians have been mentioning the plight of women in particular. However, after the end of the evacuation operation, we do not hear much about efforts to help these threatened people. It is as if we were just moving on. But moving on will not help Afghanistan’s women. They are pleading not to be forgotten. Six days ago Claire Press of the BBC World Service wrote about female Afghan judges hunted by the murderers they convicted. I could not express it better and so I am copying the BBC News to show why we cannot just sit and watch as educated women in Afghanistan and their families fear for their lives: They were the trailblazers of women's rights in Afghanistan. They were the staunch defenders of the law, seeking justice for their country's mos