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The mosque was filled to capacity, and the courtyard was jammed with the overflow
crowd. Women knelt to pray next to their men. But my Turkish friend predicted that in
a few years, the sexes would be segregated. She pointed to a stairway already filled with
fundamentalist women who believed they should worship separately. They've staked out
this zone until a formal women's area can be established.
Marketers know that women make the purchasing decisions in American families.
Considering this, I ponder whether women make the religious decisions in Turkish famil-
ies, and to what degree women really are behind the changes in moderate Muslim societies
like Turkey. I consider the impact women have on the political discourse in my country.
It's interesting that, in both our society and Muslim societies, women with an agenda can
be at odds. Some women push their agenda in terms of “family values,” while others push
their agenda in terms of “women's rights.”
Many things drive religious people to get political: a desire for economic justice, a
moral environment in which to raise their children, equal rights, the “sanctity of life,” and
hopes for salvation. These are powerful forces that can easily be manipulated by clever
political marketing. They can drive people to war and they know no cultural or political
boundaries.
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