Muslim WakeUp! MWU!: Gender Issues

August 31, 2006

ISNA selects new sets of buttocks
Iman Magid gets appreciated by FBI officials By Jawad Ali ISNA is the big and conservative Muslim organization in America. They just elected Ingrid Mattson as their leader. This is good news. I am a big fan of women...

March 29, 2006

Muslim women raise voices worldwide
By Raheel Raza During the height of the Danish cartoon controversy, Canadian media interviewed male Muslim leaders exclusively, without bothering to seek out leaders among Muslim women. It�s a given that Muslim leaders are men, preferably with beards. Haideh Moghissi,...

February 19, 2006

Smoking, but not inhaling, non-consensual sex
By Jawad Ali Shaykh Rabbani has posted an immediate response to my fatwa challenge on his blog. I want to address his tone first. The good imam takes a very polite and respectful approach. I give him full marks...

February 15, 2006

French Islamic Scholar to Join Female-Led Prayer in Toronto
Former Marseilles Mufti to also Address Cartoon Controversy TORONTO - A leading Muslim scholar of France, the former Mufti of Marseilles, Soheib Bencheikh, will be in Toronto on Sunday, February 19, where he will address a press conference on the...

October 29, 2005

Amina Wadud Leads Mixed Gender Friday Prayer in Barcelona
One of the world�s leading experts on the Qur�an and its discourse on gender led a mixed-gender congregation in a Friday communal prayer in Barcelona, Spain yesterday.

October 22, 2005

The Path Towards Islamic Feminism
To anchor oneself in the past and consider that the way of life of women more than fourteen centuries ago is applicable in today�s world, would be like giving up not only the fundamentals of Islam, but also a complete historical legacy that converted Islam in a civilization in which its cultural, artistic and scientific splendour were a great school for the entire world during centuries.

July 30, 2005

Escaping Pakistan
By Nadia Mohammad �Wake up, it�s time,� my mom said, �Be very quiet.� My hands trembled as I dressed in the dark, putting on the one pair of jeans I owned. It felt odd after so many years of...

July 26, 2005

On a Wing and a Prayer: Toronto Helps Make Woman-Led Prayer a Reality
The little prayer that shook the world will truly succeed when similar prayers become just another expression of human love and worship for God, without all the spectacle, without the TV cameras, without the huge controversy. That is why the prayers that took place in Toronto were so important.

Equality As Reality, Not Clich�, in Toronto
Pamela Taylor reinforced the cherished Islamic ideals of equality, love for all, tolerance and universal brotherhood.

Prayer with a Purpose
I felt the heavens smiling on us and I took a deep breath of peace. The time for Friday prayers was near.

June 22, 2005

Gay Marriage: A Necessary Freedom
If we as Muslims strive for equal rights within this country, then are we not hypocritical to go against the equal rights of others?

June 19, 2005

�As You Are, You Will be Led�: Khaled Abou El Fadl Leads a Town Hall Meeting on Woman-Led Prayer in Los Angeles
PMU put on its first such town hall meeting in Los Angeles on June 5, and invited UCLA Law Professor Khaled Abou El Fadl to give the keynote speech.

June 18, 2005

Liberties of the Faithful: Nigerian Muslim Activists Look Beyond Hudud to Shariah�s Social Justice Mission
People are finally making it clear they want more than a law-and-order Islam imposed by the state; what they want, rather, is a society that makes viable social and gender justice.

May 19, 2005

India's new marriage contract
The author on her desi wedding day By Fatima J. Price-Khan Each religious group in India has the constitutional right to be governed by theocratic personal law in matters concerning family. This has been so since the British colonial...

May 13, 2005

Islamic Jurisprudence, �Civil� Disobedience, and Woman-led Prayer
Cast of Life of Brian mistakes human process for divine will By Laury Silvers Professor Hina Azam and Imam Zaid Shakir (pdf) have presented well-argued pieces upholding the prohibition against woman-led prayer. Although it may seem to some of...

May 10, 2005

Earth Toned Islam
By Nakia Jackson Those of us that espouse progressive views are sometimes in a rather tense relationship with those who are more conservative. The differences of perspectives can grow into seemingly insurmountable obstacles to establishing rapport. I�ve seen two views...

May 5, 2005

The Muslim Personal Law Debate: Need to Listen to Alternative Voices
By Yoginder Sikand The recent meeting of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board at Bhopal has once again made it amply evident that many �ulama associated with the Board are averse to any basic changes in Muslim Personal Law...

May 2, 2005

Shattering the idol of spiritual patriarchy: Towards a gender-fair notion of prayer in Islam
"Youthful Lovers" by Riza Abbasi. Safavid Iran By Omid Safi The imperative to undertake critical, independent reasoning within the framework of Islamic thought (ijtihad) has been one of the hallmarks of the creativity of Islamic thought through the centuries....

April 29, 2005

Not without my Maybelline- the advent of Imama Nakia
By Nakia Jackson After attending and speaking at an event at Brandeis University featuring Asra Nomani talking about her latest, Standing Alone in Mecca, the conversation turned to continuing the efforts that had begun on March 18th with Dr....

April 27, 2005

A Response to Yasmin Mogahed: Servant of God or Servant of Power?
Photograph by Leila Montour, T-shirt design by Hijabman By Ginan Rauf Yasmin Mogahed�s article A Woman�s Reflection on Leading Prayer is a thinly disguised assault on women�s equality and a blatant misrepresentation of Western Feminism. In her article Ms....

April 24, 2005

The Cunning of Con-sensus
By Hussein Ibish In a recent web article called "Islam's Encounter with American Culture: Making Sense of the Progressive Muslim Agenda" Louay M. Safi accuses the Progressive Muslim Union (PMU) of "progressive excesses and provocations" and of "lashing out,"...

March 30, 2005

Men of Real Honor: An Open Letter to Somia el-Alfy, Ahmed el-Fishawy�s Mother
By Ginan Rauf In a column that appeared in the Egyptian newspaper sawt al umma, you raise an important question about what you call a �new religious project� or mashru din jadid. Your comments seem to imply--and please correct me...

March 29, 2005

Explore
I want to explore the woman as a concept, not just a body.

A Plea for Truce in the Hijab Wars
As a feminist who cares about women�s freedom but who is dealing with women with whose ideology you totally disagree, you have to listen to what empowerment is to them.

March 25, 2005

Erudition as dead-end: Hina Azam and the perils of legal dogmatism
By Hussein Ibish Dr. Hina Azam�s A Critique Of The Argument For Woman-Led Friday Prayers, which challenges the legitimacy of the March 18 mixed-gender congregation prayer in New York City led by Dr. Amina Wadud, is a perfect example of...

March 21, 2005

First Fruit of the Prayer
I don�t care how conservative you are, how much you say you�ve never wanted to be imam: Every girl has been to that place. That place of bewildered pain at the misgiving that you might be rated less worthy by God.

'My daughter didn�t come into this world to be punished': An Interview with Hind el-Hinnawy
I felt the baby was like a little angel and I wanted to be a mother. Motherhood was very important to me and I was going to make sure that nobody punished my baby or deprived her of her rights. I had the right to choose and I felt that God was on my side right from the very beginning. My daughter didn�t come into this world to be punished.

March 19, 2005

This Luminous Path of Islam Cannot Be Dominated by One Gender
This luminous path of spiritual liberation that is called Islam cannot be dominated by one gender, or one class or one ethnicity. The prophet Muhammad, may Allah shower glorious peace upon him, is the Mercy to all the worlds.

March 18, 2005

The Waiting Room
Dedicated to the hesitators who care about the issue but won't declare their support for today's Jum'ah.

A Prayer Toward Equality
By standing behind Amina Wadud today, we will be clearing the deck of distractions and acknowledging the egalitarianism that permeates Islam.

March 16, 2005

Going Backwards: How the Venerable Al-Azhar Is Shutting Women Out
It�s truly a pity that such an uplifting place such as Al-Azhar is controlled by misogynists who fail to uphold Al-Azhar�s honorable reputation and the ideas of equality between genders as found in the Qur�an and sayings of the Prophet (PBUH).

March 13, 2005

Not Heroic Enough?
The abysmal situation of Muslim women in their societies is fundamentally linked to the decision to organize this woman-led prayer. In many parts of the Muslim world, women are treated as inferior on ideological and theological grounds.

March 12, 2005

No, We Don�t Have More Important Issues: In Support of Women-Led Prayer
I demand to know where the Muslim Women�s League stands on this issue. I demand to know where the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) stands on this issue. I demand to know where the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) stands on this issue. And KARAMAH, the American Sufi Muslim Association, Women in Islam, Azizah Magazine, and other groups who speak for Muslims and Muslim women. Please tell us clearly what you think.

March 10, 2005

What Would the Prophet Do? The Islamic Basis for Female-Led Prayer
The March 18 event is an excellent opportunity to outline the evidence in support of women�s position as spiritual equals and leaders, as well as responses to some of the most commonly used arguments against women leading congregational prayers.

March 8, 2005

Iddah
By Aisha Sharif It�s five in the morning and Uzair is beating down Asma�s front door. She�s still his wife. Where is your gun, Asma? No fooling around. Uzair�s wives welcomed Asma. They never felt burdened. This month has been...

I am Woman - Celebrate Me
I am Christian, Muslim and Jew I bleed the same as you

March 3, 2005

Will a Muslim woman ever be more than what she wears?
I felt like screaming with anger and frustration when I heard about Shabina�s case because once again a Muslim woman is in the headlines only because of what she wears. When will this madness end?

March 1, 2005

Not Your Mullah's Iran: An Interview with Azadeh Moaveni
It�s a window onto a debate and a world where Islam is being dealt with in an intellectually honest way, and onto a society where the Islamic experiment did not go very well.

February 2, 2005

Canadian Muslim Group Endorses Same-Sex Marriage Legislation
The Muslim Canadian Congress, a Toronto-based grassroots organization, has welcomed the legislation presented by Justice Minister Irvin Cotler that re-defines marriage to include same-sex partners, and has urged Muslims and other minority groups to stand in solidarity with gays and lesbians.

January 26, 2005

Let Them Be Scandalized: An Egyptian Woman Challenges Society's Ideas of Dishonor
The unabashed openness of her act makes of the mother a responsible adult and of the father a cowardly boy copulating in hiding.

January 24, 2005

Acting on a Frontier of Religious Ceremony: With Questions and Quiet Resolve, a Woman Officiates at a Muslim Wedding
I had just agreed to become the first woman, to my knowledge, to officiate at a Muslim marriage, giving the wedding sermon and administering the vows to the bride and groom in front of 350 assembled guests.

January 12, 2005

Hagar in the Valley
It is hard to understand the will of God Hard when the child is hoarse with thirst and makes noises like a hurt animal and what has he done to offend God?

December 6, 2004

Miss Overtly Charming Barza Muslim Sister
Was this an "arranged marriage?" Yes. This was an extra special arranged marriage. The bride and her network of American Muslim peers arranged it very carefully so that the groom and his family matched the exact socio-economic, religio-cultural arrangement of her first generation immigrant parents.

November 22, 2004

'Just Like Khadija': The Sisters Are Coming
I sat in the back of the room, looking around, trying to match faces with the names that have figured so prominently in my life over the past two years.

November 6, 2004

The Things They Do in the Name of Male Guardianship
How can a grown woman with her son be prevented from leaving the country because she doesn�t have permission from her other son who is her legal guardian?

October 18, 2004

Zaytuna's Smelly Kebabs
At the retreat, we were not allowed to refuse what was being fed to us. All I knew was that I was not going to eat the kebabs I did not want.

October 14, 2004

Bringing 'Civilization' to the Kingdom of Wasabia: A New Satire Takes On the World's 'No-Fun Zone'
Buckley is a moralist, and would no doubt openly avow the indictment he makes of fundamentalist Islam as well as the decadence of archaic Arab monarchies.

October 13, 2004

Enough!
women and dogs not allowed i wanna bruce lee their bullshit which is mine too

October 12, 2004

Husband and Hijab
"Oh, no, you don't have to do that! You will be living in America; we are free to practice our religions the way we want. You can still wear it."

September 14, 2004

Mixed Prayer
Walking toward the stairway something caught my eye in the men�s section. I didn�t think much about what I�d seen until about half way up the stairs when it hit me�there was a woman sitting in the men�s section!

September 13, 2004

Can You See My Voice? A 'Modest' Manifesto
Muslim women are being used, with or without their consent, to wage a resistance movement designed to use them as props in counteracting western colonialism.

September 8, 2004

"An Example to Live By": Asra Nomani at the ISNA Convention
As this petite, lovely woman spoke in a gentle and measured tone, I noticed how she kept her head held so high, so regal, as if she was aware of what was about to come.

Time for Muslim Organizations to Campaign for Women's Rights in Mosques
Islam is at a crossroads, much like the place where the Prophet Muhammad found himself when he was on the cusp of a new dawn with his migration to Medina from Mecca. Medina became �the City of Enlightenment� because of the wisdom with which the Prophet nurtured his community, or ummah. In much the same way, the Muslim world has the opportunity to rise to a place of deep and sincere enlightenment, inspired by the greatest teachings of Islam.

August 27, 2004

Clash of Fundamentalisms
When I was asked to review two movies, one about "Muslim fundamentalism" and one about the Gujarat massacre in India, I thought it would be great � two movies with lots of similarities. I was wrong.

August 26, 2004

Eyes
Eye contact is a strange phenomenon, handled differently in different cultures and potentially carrying all kinds of contradictory implications.

August 25, 2004

In Spite of Restrictions: The Women of Iran
Persheng Sadegh-Vaziri�s film "Women Like Us" provides an insight into the lives of ordinary Iranian women.

August 13, 2004

Bad Hair Days
For the past fifteen years, since I converted to Islam, the one question I have gotten most often is, �You mean you don�t cover your hair?�

August 11, 2004

Muslim Men Beating Women: Help Re-Open Baitul Salaam
As a result of the lack of support from the Muslim community, and even threats and harassment from a group of Muslim men, Baitul Salaam has temporarily shut down their shelter program.

August 7, 2004

Madonna and the Mullah vs. Madame Rose: On Art, Sex, and Love
Stringent laws and traditions evolved to remedy what the Madonnas and Mullahs of our time have done, albeit in profoundly different ways, in reinforcing what should have long become the archaic notion that the human body is divorced from its mind and soul, and that its physical impulses have a mind of their own independent of its soul that must be set on either a carnal or cardinal course.

July 31, 2004

Chador and Toothpaste with Imam Reza
Twelve hundred years ago, Ma�moon finally gave up trying to manipulate his way into legitimized authority and murdered Imam Reza by forcing him to eat poisoned grapes. Once Reza died, his corpse was brought from Marv to Mashhad and he was buried right here. His many followers attended his funeral. Oppressors and fascists take note: killing the leader of the opposition does not annihilate the opposition itself.

July 22, 2004

Muslims and Gay Marriage: Is a Loving Commitment Between Two People Such a Bad Thing?
It is too often easy to use Islam to justify personal and cultural prejudices rather than to challenge them as we should.

June 18, 2004

Afghan Women�s Struggle Continues: An Interview with RAWA's Sahar Saba
The most important thing is that Afghanistan shouldn�t be forgotten. It is still a tragedy.

June 17, 2004

Felt Up in Tehran: Sexual Harassment, Modesty and the Politics of Color
This is that nightmare I keep having where something horrible is happening and I need to scream to draw attention to myself but I�ve lost my voice. This is me, awake, being violated. And Gagging.

June 15, 2004

Another Woman Silenced: Vancouver Imam Attacks Muslim Candidate for Canadian Parliament
Instead of an opportunity to address the other Muslims there, Syed sat through a scorching sermon that charged her with �working against the community.�

June 8, 2004

Count Me with the Daughters
This is how you save the world; just meeting cool Muslims in a bar and learning that it�s not all hopeless does more for me than a conference of lecture-pushing academics.

May 7, 2004

I Missed and Hugged a Queer Muslim Instead
Whether you agree or disagree with the positions that al-Fatiha takes, understand that it provides a safe space for those Muslims who identify as queer, and that is a lot more than one can say about the mainstream Muslim community.

April 9, 2004

Sex and Sexuality: Dealing Effectively with Islamic Double Standards
Many contemporary Muslims are unwilling to acknowledge either the existence of the double standard or, even more troublesome, its roots in the key source texts of Islam.

March 14, 2004

Let's Be Consistent: Muslims Should Protest Iranian and Saudi Hijab Policies Too
If we consider the French law against the hijab offensive, then the Saudi and Iranian laws enforcing compulsory wearing of the hijab should also be condemned because they take away a woman's right to choose.

March 8, 2004

Unveil Your Mind: An Interview with Nawal El Saadawi
God is not a book. God is justice and freedom and love and honesty. That is what my father taught me�to be honest.

Fellatio, Feminism and Faith: Celebrating International Women's Day
So, as a man, I will be celebrating loud and proud this 8th of March � I will be celebrating International Women�s Day.

March 3, 2004

Islam, Feminism and Living as the �Muslim Other�: an Interview with Asma Barlas
Incidentally, drafting �moderate Islam� on its side does not mean empowering Muslims or rehabilitating Islam. Indeed, Washington�s embrace of �moderate Islam� comes at a high cost. Since friends can and do differ, the administration wants �moderate Islam� not so much to be an independently-minded ally as it obedient and unquestioning henchman

February 17, 2004

Women�s Space in the Mosque: Sikhs Might Have a Solution
My experience has shown me that Sikhs may hold the answer to the current controversy over women�s equal access to space in our mosques.

February 12, 2004

Yes or No to Hijab: Not for Men to Answer
The ban on the headscarf, or hijab, also ironically strengthens, rather than weakens fundamentalists. By problemitizing and forbidding hijab, a favorite fetish of Muslim fundamentalists and the Western press alike, the French government has forced a reaction from those forces that includes sworn proclamations that the headscarf is a mandatory religious duty for women, and that banning the scarf is tantamount to interfering with the fundamental practice of Islam itself.

February 11, 2004

Pure Predictability: Egypt and My Mother-in-Law
I know she will shout in English �hypocrite� to the young woman who walks by us wearing the hijab and a form-fitting shirt embossed with glittered English red letters LIPSTICK.

January 27, 2004

Looking For Fati
I sent the driver to a couple of notorious places and he came back and said that there are a few teenage girls there, but none whose name is Fati. Who knows, maybe she has changed her name, maybe they have taken her to another town. The prostitution rings I hear are very well organized. They send girls even across the Persian Gulf to Bahrain, Dubai and so on. The situation here for the young orphan girls is very very desperate.

December 18, 2003

The Magic Hijab
I have been ignorant of the truly miraculous ability of the 47-inch, square piece of fabric that is such an essential part of my wardrobe. Indeed, these 47 inches are imbued with mystical, magical properties. Over the years, the secrets of hijab�s magic have been revealed to me by well meaning people from all walks of life.

December 11, 2003

For Islam, Against Patriarchy: Shirin Ebadi's Nobel Lecture
To disregard women and bar them from active participation in political, social, economic and cultural life would in fact be tantamount to depriving the entire population of every society of half its capability. The patriarchal culture and the discrimination against women, particularly in the Islamic countries, cannot continue for ever.

December 5, 2003

A Woman�s Ballad
Today is her day oh dear woman who sighs At night she bears angry hands, voices that cry At dawn comes the calling, she wakes in disguise Bent down in prostration, her soul comes to fly

December 1, 2003

Little Mosque Poems
In my little mosque there is no room for me to pray. I am turned away faithfully five times a day. My little mosque: so meager in resources, yet so eager to turn away a woman or a stranger.

November 13, 2003

Facing the Facts: Time to Demand Women's Rights
Anti-Muslim bigotry has become acceptable in the mass media. And yes, women are still exploited and discriminated against in the West. But these phenomena do not erase the very real problems that exist in contemporary Muslim societies.

November 12, 2003

Boxed In by a Bit of Cloth
Ten years ago, at the age of 25, I took off my scarf in Cairo and went out in public with my hair showing for the first time since I had turned 16. It is difficult to overestimate the guilt I felt.

October 23, 2003

Loving and Leaving Hijab
I quit reading anything at all related to the topic of hijab quite some time ago. Let�s face it, Muslims are never going to agree on the issue. There are hundreds of touching and personal accounts on why women choose to don the headscarf. These �hijab stories� can be especially helpful to Muslim women considering adopting the hijab into their lives. With that said, I�m here to present you with another hijab story.

October 16, 2003

Sex, Money, and Pretty in Pink: Savitri's Story
�It would only be a few months' work. �Pretty In Pink� was a high-class place. The clients were mainly lawyers, judges, businessmen, financiers. Guys in suits. Most of them married or with girlfriends. I could work a few shifts a week, and earn around $100 an hour. One shift would pay for my boyfriend�s legal fees. After a few months, I would have enough for a bond, my textbooks and my college fees. A few months would not harm me.�

September 15, 2003

Why All the Fuss? Gay Marriage and the Fear of Joy Among Muslims
As a happily married Muslim couple who almost weren't, we need to speak on their behalf, even though Islam does not permit same-sex marriages. If gays and lesbians wish to pursue their own path in life, who are we to place obstacles in their way? If their choices are contrary to that of the Divine, only the Divine can be certain.

August 27, 2003

Mind Over Mullah
Mernissi�s ideas are always challenging but well covered and sensible. To explain the terrifying ascent of terrorist imams, she makes the distinction between the �media imam� (a modern creation) and the �traditional imam� (a reality during the time of the Prophet). The �media imam� is a creation of modern technology. He, in turn, uses modern technology to magnify his presence and bulldoze his rhetoric over the many complex debates the community could potentially participate in. However, the �traditional imam� was vulnerable and utterly challengeable when he failed to secure the rights of each individual in society.

August 11, 2003

Not Running Alone: A Review of Farah Nousheen�s �Nazrah�
And like with any rich and satisfying coffeehouse discussion, we are left with a question that gets us and keeps us thinking: What is our responsibility as Muslim women living in the west where, at least for today, there exists more religious freedom than in predominantly Muslim countries?

July 30, 2003

The Moral Maturity of Two-Year-Olds: The Reward and Punishment Mentality Among Muslims
No wonder the ummah is in the state it is in! We keep ourselves morally at the age of two-year-olds and destroy relationships between one another with legalism, literalism, and self-centeredness. And we wonder why our rulers are so bad? We wonder why we can't get ahead? We wonder why the world doesn�t look to Islam for guidance. It should be obvious.

June 17, 2003

Rescue Us from This Town: Confronting the Oppression of Women in Muslim Society
There are too many unfortunate realities in Muslim communities and countries. It�s time to overcome our fear of facing those realities, and it�s time to work to change those realities. That work isn't only about getting poor men jobs and getting people to pray and fast more. A lot of that work is very uncomfortable work, which entails us feeling guilty, angry, and ashamed about our larger Muslim family.

June 6, 2003

Can Muslims Handle the Truth? Amina Wadud Talks About Islam, AIDS, and Tolerance
Islam has the capacity to respond to a wide variety of things. There can be an Islamic response to HIV and AIDS that is compassionate, tolerant, supportive, and inclusive. But what is considered an Islamic response now is unacceptable to me. Others are making more viable responses, and Muslims are sitting on the sideline. Meanwhile, AIDS continues to grow in our community. We need to step up to the plate as Muslims.

Vulnerabilities: HIV and AIDS
If HIV/AIDS was merely the result of immoral or un-Islamic behavior then non-Muslim countries should have a higher percentage of cases. However, highly industrialized countries like the United States have more active measures to curtail the spread of the disease perhaps because they do not resort to such an equation. When the emphasis is on reducing the spread of AIDS and not on taking a moral high ground, then more effective means for its reduction has resulted.

June 4, 2003

Muslims, Islam, and AIDS: Thoughts on the 2nd International Muslim Religious Leaders Consultation on HIV/AIDS
Amina Wadud (left) greeting conference participants By Farid Esack All narratives are influenced by the narrator. To a large extent my own account of the Second International Muslim Religious Leaders Consultation on HIV/AIDS, held in Kuala Lumpur May 19-23, and...

June 2, 2003

When the music stops: Extremists Disrupt Muslim HIV/AIDS Conference
The 2nd International Muslim Leaders Consultation on HIV/AIDS, held in Kuala Lumpur from the 19th-23rd of May 2003, was proof enough that religious zealots will stop at nothing to make people submit to their own agendas. The participants at the consultation were all shocked when a bunch of extremists stood up and verbally terrorized one of the speakers, Dr. Amina Wadud, after she presented her paper.

March 21, 2003

What Mad Women Want
I am mad, and I'll tell you why. I am mad about stupid, egotistical male rulers who don't mind killing hundreds of thousands of innocent human beings to salve their egos. Who trump up fake charges for a war no one wants or even understands the reasoning behind. Who refuse to give in to something unjust, unfair, illegal and immoral so as to save the lives of thousands upon thousands of the people over whom they are supposed to be steward. What a moral high ground that would be!