A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power

I bought this book for one primary reason... To verify that the United States had at least one president who tried to serve our country to the best of his ability...and to continue a life of service for people around the World that he had grown to care about... We do not now have such a president as a majority of our country has noted again and again... The danger of this dramatic increase to incite violence, hatred, bigotry and prejudice, again, drew me to this book as Carter in his book shares not only his concern but actual statistics and factual information about how Women are now being seen/treated across the world. Of particular interest was his personal story about religion and his ultimate decision, along with his wife, to leave the church he had been attending for years. Interestingly, one woman, Angelina Jolie, took the route of creating a movie showing the sexual abuse of women during wars. I wanted to at least share the trailer for the movie, but found that most information has been taken off due to content... Isn't that the reality of it all...a movie that shows the reality of war is not allowed to be showed because of how horrendous the activities "in the movie" was...but we've done nothing much to speak out to stop these atrocities actually happening within any war zone... Carter shares his personal experiences as he became aware of what was happening in the world. For instance, during the 1963 speech of Martin Luther King, he was struck by his son being in Vietnam, as King condemned the government for being the biggest purveyor of violence, noting that he had to condemn that before he could condemn the spreading violence in the ghetto... King went on to say that we could not look at freedom without the concurrent commitment to peace and non-violence. Carter went on to tell of his realization that women, who were disproportionately affected, could not have equal rights without the recognition of how violence has placed women in that unequal position. Quoting Pope Francis in 2013: "Faith and violence are incompatible," Carter points out that violence may not be more than there was in the past, but the key thing is that we know better and globally, we have sought to improve human rights in every possible way. Moving forward into the book, Carter covers Spousal Abuse, for instance, by noting that many men use Matthew 5:39 about turning the other cheek, by stating that Christian women are required to just take it... That is quickly turned into the third choice (taking it or returning the violence) by going to a women's shelter... Why are we still failing? That's what I wanted to know... This is not an easy book to read, especially for women. Men? Some will agree but will they have the strength of characters to speak out when misinformation about some religious practice is used to commit violence? There are many people and groups speaking out more and more, with specifics, such as those by Ritu Sharma, Cofounder and President, Women Thrive Worldwide, who openly states "There is no religion that despises women. Hatred cannot come from the Heart of God..." There is much to learn in this book. The primary confirmation for me was that God, in no way, wants women or men to be objects of violence... and that anybody who uses religion to justify violence is doing it based upon his own will not God's! Frankly that was worth reading the book for me; however, there is much more powerful material that needs to be read, some of it perhaps new to those men who are willing to listen and, then, be strong enough to speak out. Note that the United States is only 23rd in the world as a country who absolutely treats women and men with equal status... and that, further, they had improved and then dropped again. Violence has indeed increased and it's coming from all sectors of the United States as well as across the world... It is especially reprehensible to know that many use the Bible and other religious texts to justify the treatment of women, rather than to strive to understand what is actually being said... In one way or another I have fought for betterment of the way women have been treated for all of my adult life...Admittedly it was my own personal battle in the professional arena mostly. Now, I can see what is happening across the nation and the world on a much broader scale. Reading this book has expanded greatly my base of knowledge and awareness...An important contribution of the book. This is highly recommended to women and men...Stop what has and is happening to women, children, and men around the world! GABixlerReviews.

I know Jimmy Carter takes a lot of flack for his performance as a President, fine .But he is truly an incredible American. This book lays out in clear, direct language the global ills and lack of progress we can make if we face if we oppress 50% of the population. Often dismissed as 'women's issues', sexual repression in the form of gendercide, family violence, political and religious attacks on family planning, etc affect the human race as a whole. He points to examples in history and illustrates his points with comparative cultures. I'm drawn to his humble approach and peace-driven (very logical) reasoning. He points out we have become a world where violence is the first choice instead of a last resort. Not to sound hippy-dippy, but he makes a very good point that it does not make for a better world. I would love to put this in the hands of every religious fundamentalist out there, because it would be a dose of intelligence, rationale and humility in their willfully ignorant worlds. I feel this book was timely, as it seems there is a push-back on women's progression in the past few years. It feels like women have to defend themselves for their sexuality and their desire for equality at every turn. His common sense views feel almost damn therapeutic in a world full of crazy.

A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power by Jimmy Carter "A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power" is a heartfelt appeal to fight discrimination and abuse of women and girls on a global scale. This book provides insight into the source of violence and shares ideas on how to address it. President Carter, a man of great compassion and courage is on a personal and commendable quest to improve the lives of all people around the world. This inspirational 225-page book includes the following eighteen chapters: 1. My Childhood, 2. Commitment to Peace and Women's Rights, 3. The Bible and Gender Equality, 4. Full Prisons and Legal Killing, 5. Sexual Assault and Rape, 6. Violence and War, 7. Observations as a Traveler, 8. Women and the Carter Center, 9. Learning from Human Rights Heroes, 10. The Genocide of Girls, 11. Rape, 12. Slavery and Prostitution, 13. Spouse Abuse, 14. "Honor" Killings, 15. Genital Cutting, 16. Child Marriage and Dowry Deaths, 17. Politics, Pay, and Maternal Health, and 18. The Road to Progress. Positives: 1. A well written and heartfelt book that illustrates clearly the great quest that President Carter is on. 2. An excellent and neglected topic. The appeal to fight discrimination against women and the need to empower them for the sake of all of us. "During the nine decades of my life I have become increasingly aware of and concerned about the immense number of and largely ignored gender-based crimes." 3. President Carter is a man of a good and goes out of his way to find good in other faiths. Throughout the book he shares quotes from religious leaders of various walks of life. You don't have to be a man of faith to be good but it's clear that this is a very important component in President Carter's life. I don't share these views but how can you not like Jimmy Carter the man; he is such a great man. 4. The book revolves around two underlying factors that lead to the abuse of women: religion-based assertions of male dominance, and culture of violence. 5. Surprisingly fair. "Devout Christians can find scriptures to justify either side in this debate." 6. Great observations throughout this book of what ills our society. "During the past three decades extended incarceration of people convicted of drug use and other nonviolent crimes has replaced an emphasis on rehabilitation with job training and restoration of citizens' rights after the convicted have paid their debt to society." 7. Handles very difficult topics with utmost care and compassion. 8. President Carter's shares his unique experiences, wisdom and empathy with countless interesting and relevant examples. 9. The Carter Center (founded in 1982) and its impact. "We have come to the conclusion that many of the other abuses of women and girls (slavery, genital cutting, child marriage, rape) can be reduced only if women have more access to information about the international, national, and local agencies that are responsible for publicizing and ending these abuses." 10. Interesting and troubling chapter on "The Genocide of Girls". 11. The eleven criteria to address the worldwide problem of slavery. 12. The issue of AIDS. A discussion on progress and setbacks. "One of the setbacks in Africa has been in Uganda, which had a superb anti-AIDS program when we were on this trip." 13. The horror that is `honor' attacks. "It is hard to believe that there is still a prevailing custom in many communities to murder a woman who has been raped, refuses to accept an assigned husband, has an extramarital affair, or even wears inappropriate clothing. This is done in order to salvage the honor of the besmirched family." 14. Interesting topic of dowry payments. "Since girls are considered to be a burden on the family and unmarried ones an embarrassment, many families are willing to go bankrupt to get them married." 15. Interesting facts concerning work compensation. "Over the past decade there has been little improvement: the U.S. Census Bureau reports that women's full-time annual earnings were 76 percent of men's in 2001 and 76.5 percent in 2012." 16. The four primary criteria used in the assessment of achieving gender equality. 17. The impact of first ladies and other prominent women in the quest to enhance women's rights. 18. The touchy issue of abortion. "It has long been known that there are fewer abortions in nations where women have access to contraceptives, the assurance that they and their babies will have good health care, and at least enough income to meet their basic needs. And it has been proven that strict prohibitive laws have no significant effect on the number of abortions." 19. Some success stories are discussed. "One of my personal heroes is Ela Bhatt, also an Elder, from India. Her parents were Brahmins, and she received a superb education leading to a law degree. In 1955 she joined the legal department of the Textile Labor Association (TLA), founded by Mahatma Gandhi, and soon became the leader of its women's wing." 20. Actions that the Carter Center supports and monitors. Negatives: 1. I believe that part of the problem is that the Bible does in fact include troubling passages and never once denounces slavery as an immoral practice. It says a lot about a deity who doesn't have enough enlightenment to denounce a practice that would result in the future death and pain of countless human beings. I am a Secular Humanist and state without reservations that one can be good without gods. 2. Doesn't extend the same courtesy to secular leaders or atheists as he does to religious leaders. Here's an example, "I called on believers, whether Protestant, Catholic, Coptic, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, or tribal, to study these violations of our basic moral values and to take corrective action." Or..." The subject was `Mobilizing Faith for Women,' and the world's major religions and geographical regions were represented." 3. "Faith and violence are incompatible." Has it been? Many of the worst atrocities committed against humankind have in fact been faith-based initiatives. 4. The book focuses on the social issues pertaining to violence against women but ignores the biological factors. We as humans are product of our genes and the environment we were brought up in. So is biology a factor, yes or no? 5. The need to find a compelling way to change men's behavior toward women. The impact of understanding our biology/culture. There is a great final paragraph that mentions this factor but there is very little of substance on this very important aspect of the problem. 6. No notes or formal bibliography outside of the author's own books. In summary, this is an important book that will hopefully achieve its goal of helping fight the discrimination and abuse of women and girls. I have the utmost respect and admiration for President Carter, his quest is a noble and an important one. Read it and get inspired to help. Further recommendations: " Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide " by Nicholas D. Kristoff and Sheryl Wudunn, " The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time " by Jeffrey D. Sachs, " The Slave Next Door: Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Today " by Kevin Bales, " I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban " by Malala Yousafzai, " Infidel " by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, " Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead " by Sheryl Sandberg, and " Work with Me: The 8 Blind Spots Between Men and Women in Business " by Barbara Annis and John Gray.

This is such a thoughtful and reasoned explanation of what is happening, why it is not right and why it needs to be called out. It is wonderfully and approach-ably written.

Jimmy has been a Sunday school teacher for seven decades & is an awesome feminist who knows what he is talking about. I highly recommend his beautiful & fascinating book.

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This is a very interesting book and a suggestion to react to a condition of statu quo! Read think react

Amazing book! This is a must read. Jimmy Carter is a fabulous author.