timppu: To me it matters how much a religion seems to get on with the times. For instance, for Christianity in Finland, I recall the old debates here whether a woman really can be a priest (my understanding is that the Bible suggests no?), yet nowadays it is quite normal at least here to have female priests
Finland is quite progressive on that end for a Christian country though. The German Catholic church still doesn't accept Female bishops. The Vatican itself put out a decree in May 2008 (the last time it was debated officially) asserting that female priests are against the faith and that any bishop who ordains a women is to be excommunicated.
Also don't forget that Islam is present in far more countries than just the Middle East. Albania and Azerbaijan (more than half the population indicates that religion doesn't play a major role in their life) but also Bosnia (though Saudia Arabia heavily sponsors a more radical version of Islam there lately) are among the more secular Muslim countries. Those do exist. See also Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Also note just as there's a quite large variety of Christian sub-divisions, so is the case with Muslims. Some of those Christian sub-divisions are far from progressive (and I'd definitely count the US' religious right as a pretty regressive force). Iran was a really secular country once. As was Afghanistan. As was Egypt.
During the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, the government of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) reformed the education system; education was stressed for both sexes, and widespread literacy programmes were set up. By 1978, women made up 40 percent of the doctors and 60 percent of the teachers at Kabul University; 440,000 female students were enrolled in educational institutions and 80,000 more in literacy programs.Despite improvements, large percentage of the population remained illiterate.
[Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Afghanistan]
I've been in Palestine, criss-crosing the borders on bicycle, trying to see what was done for peace on either side and cycling wherever people sent me - and would argue that there's a sizeable amount of the westernised version of Muslim faith, there, too. Including Women as co-CEO, wearing hair open, in trousers and shirts - whom you wouldn't pick out as Muslim in a general crowd in a Western City. Visited practice sessions of modern Dance troupes where body contact between the Genders is unquestioned and normal.
