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It cultivates: discipline, modesty, humility, compassion, generosity, self confidence, respect for ones self and others... these are the things that most attract me to Islam. The things I would like to cultivate within myself.
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I get this...I really, really get this. I completely agree that all people need to be affirmed, fortified, and sustained in these areas. And I completely agree that these are sorely lacking in many of our mainstream cultural patterns and lifeways as they are presented to us and lived out by so many.
For women especially...we are actively obstructed and torn down in these very areas by mainstream culture and by the way men relate to us (which in large part is, unfortunately, simply how they have been culturally schooled to relate to us). I do understand the need to step away from this entire unhealthy and unsustainable arena as it currently exists in the West, and to find and to forge new patterns and lifeways for ourselves as women in the West.
You are choosing what appears to be a very traditional option, which if lived out in the middle east might be a very dangerous one...particularly the bit about apostasy being punishable by death (i.e. cannot leave the faith).
However, if lived out in the West in an environment where your autonomy is your own and cannot be taken from you unless you give it up (and I would never advise trusting another human with your legal and logistical autonomy -- only Spirit)....
...then it can certainly be your own counter-cultural lifeway that sustains and nurtures YOU. Your chosen lifeway clearly and very directly makes the point that you are not an object but that you quietly demand to be treated as a person who is not sexualised by common Western standards but whose garb directs the gaze to the face.
I will say that I personally agree with Semper, in that you can -- and very rightly should IMO -- do and be and stand for all of those same things you admire in Islam regardless of whether you ascribe to all its beliefs or not.
You can certainly stand for your dignity, for modesty and discipline, for self-confidence and a refusal to let the petty, exploitative, oversexualised presentation of women in the West define who YOU are -- Islam or no Islam.
Having said that...kudos to you and good on you for doing whatever is right for you. The intention behind all you are doing, as I understand it, is exactly where women of Spirit will ALL go on their journey, either sooner or later -- and I very much hope it IS sooner. I.e., toward self-realisation and dignity and confidence, and toward a calm, centred, and self-assured refusal to be compromised or to let others use them or define them in ways that are not in alignment with their own highest good.
Peace & blessings
and much love and light to you...
7L
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@002 Cents,
Sounds to me like have a handle on this. I say this just to give you a little support in the face of some of the doubt others are expressing. If I could offer one last bit of information - it would be that ultimately you do not need a religion to have a close relationship with God. Don't get me wrong, religion is a great vehicle to foster such a relationship and it is just right for many people - but it truly is not necessary. I guess what I'm saying is good for you - and it's awesome you are sticking to your will, keeping an open mind and leaving room for options. I do hope you find what you are seeking.
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Sapere Aude,
Sempe
A man who has not passed through the inferno of his passions has not overcome them.
-- Carl Jung
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