Impact Of Islam On Women, Driverless Car Ethics And Climate Change

Islam and Gender Inequality

Question:

Discuss about the Contemporary Society and Cultural Equation.

Islam is a faith which preaches unity and devotion, power and chastity in its own sense. Islam has given conviction to women who are firm in their resolve and have mental strength. But misinterpretation of its religious texts has completely altered the social and cultural equation towards women which has drastically effected their day to day lives and future. In practicing Islam, it is taught that God judges a person by its gender, so there are different laws for males and for females. Muslim men do not allow Muslim women to do tough jobs such as being a military women or to practice their faith openly by going to Masjids. All he important decisions of the family as well as society are taken by men and women do not get any say in those matters.

All the religious institutions have men as their leaders and they make policies as per their convenience and fancies which are not challenged by women because their opinion do not matter. In the time of war, women temporarily changed their status to become the decisions makers for few days and for numbered events. But after the time of crisis assed, women were seen to do their previously assigned roles and men who were given encouragement by women during war took their places back by citing some religious texts which was appreciated by all. It is not that Islamic religious texts do not have scriptures written in favor of women, making them equals in the eyes of men. But these verses are not recited at public meeting due to the dominance and fear of men and their retaliation after getting offended. If any woman tries to fight or oppose for their rights and upliftment then they are criticized and threatened for life. Women activists are told that they should be ashamed and are a disgrace for their families.

Women are the weakest link of the Islamic society. They are suppressed, abused and criticized at every point and there are innumerable rules and restrictions for them in economic, political and social context whereas men enjoy all the freedom in the society which creates a huge imbalance of gender equality. Consequences of this bias has crippled many generations of young and sharp Muslim women who have tried to make their mark in the pages of history but were not allowed to achieve anything significant.

Ethical Dilemmas in Driverless Car Technology

Driverless cars are one of the most prominent examples of modern day technological innovations. But automated car driving technology is not 100% safe till now and there are many things in a car driving mechanism which needs to be revised. There are many scenarios of accident and safety when a driverless car is on the road. To maintain the safety of the passenger or a bystander the car should follow two philosophical principles given by Immanuel Kant and Jeremy Bentham. According to the philosophy of Kant, the car should apply the duty-bound principle which states that “Thou Shalt not Kill”. This principle is about the importance of life which explicitly establishes that the car should not kill a human being and the car must be allowed to take the path which may harm more than one humans but not kill anyone.

Now, according to Jeremy Bentham the car must follow the principles of utilitarianism. This principle is opposite of Kant’s theory which states that the car should reduce the harm incurred as much as possible and in doing so even if it kills the passenger or a bystander. This creates a social dilemma where the owner of the car wants to protect the car from any harm and also wants the passengers and bystanders to be completely safe. In the case of driverless cars, prioritizing the safety of the passenger can compromise the safety of the bystander and vice –versa. This is known as the tragedy of algorithmic commons. If the perspective of the owner of the car is taken into account then the safety of the passenger will be must even if the bystander on the pedestrians gets killed.

To know the views of people in context of this decision making problem related to social dilemma survey was conducted in which people said that if the harm is minimized and passenger safety is compromised then they will not but the car. It was understood that in cases where people face ethical dilemma like this, they tend to protect themselves when such a situation comes. They are not ready to sacrifice and this becomes a social issue where people do trade-offs where they feel comfortable ignoring the social good. Ethics of robots is the key for this decision-making.

Climate change has been the most talked about topics in recent years. There has been many conferences and meets resulting in climate accords and protocols agreed upon by all the developed countries of the world. Change in climate has negatively impacted the environment of Earth. Green cover of Earth has been diminishing which has reduced the resistance of pollution caused by human actions. Infusion of greenhouse gases has degraded the thin layer of air called the atmosphere to an extent where no further addition is tolerable.

The Negative Impact of Carbon-Based Fuels on the Environment

Negative impact of greenhouse gases has effected components of environment such as agriculture, population, diet forests, oceans, transportation, permafrost and melting of ice. The root cause of this climate change is the use of carbon-based fuels which is the major source of energy generation. Carbon-based fuels are used to generate 85% of energy all over the globe which is a dirty method of energy production in context of the environment. After the end of World War II emission of these harmful gases has increased. This has resulted in the accumulation of heating components in the atmosphere in the form of greenhouse gases.

Warmer months of winter and record breaking temperature hikes in summers are the result of these man made pollution agents. This rise in heat is adversely effecting plants, animals, ecosystem and collectively the entire planet. Ocean life is also depleting as 93% of the entire heat is trapped in it. If recorded data is scrutinized, then it will be observed that heat enhancement has been in last 19 years. Consequently, typhoons and storms have been more frequent and stronger and the average humidity around the world has increased. This results in heavy downpour in selected areas and flood situations.

To change the present scenario there are a lot of things organizations of the world are doing. Installation of 30 gigawatts of wind energy, cost of establishing batteries and energy storage has gone down making it cheaper to own and use, solar energy is more popularly being used in many countries of the world. Due to cheaper components of solar panels its penetration is increasing. Many big business players have started to invest in renewable energy as it is the biggest business prospect in the foreseeable future. Introduction of new technology has also leapfrogged and is adopted by countries who cannot use the above mentioned energy resources.

Impact of rules and regulations of a country on its citizens is huge. Those rules are made by the culture or religious practices followed in the country. Driving a car for a woman in the country of Saudi Arabia is a social offense opposing the custom of the country and its society. Manal got arrested for driving and his brother was detained twice for giving her the car keys. She had to face social condemnation and outcast and a great amount of humiliation for doing such thing which is a very common thing in other countries of the world. It is the social norms that determines what a person is allowed to do or not and is made law in countries like Saudi Arabia.

There is no such law in Saudi Arabia about women not driving a car rather it is a social custom. The reason given for such a restriction by Shura Council is that according to a survey done by UNESCO, women living in countries where women are allowed to drive have more cases of women involved in prostitution, adultery, drug abuse and rape. This custom of based on ultra-conservative belief that women are weak and inferior to men and they are they have to take permission may it be written or verbal from their guardians to do things of common practice. Moreover, women are also issued religious fatwas condemning them from their rightful duties which are derived from wrong interpretation of Sharia Law. To worsen the situation, these codes and converted into laws and their practice makes women believe in the inferiority.

Manal has a different perception of her personality and herself which encouraged her to break the taboo of women driving a car in Saudi Arabia. Inspire of all the social condemnation and outcast she feels to be a hero in front of the women who like to break the shackles of inferiority and suppression around the world but is seen as a villain in the society of men and Saudi Arabia. She is also called a traitor and a betrayer of social norms in her country. Due to the efforts of Manal Al- Sharif and her crusade against social taboos Saudi Arabia has started to take small measure towards improving women rights. She is optimistic about liberating women from the shackles of societal evils existing in this modern world. She believes that women are responsible for their own fate and status in the society.

Reference

Arvanitakis and James. Progress and societies [online]. Culturescope, Vol. 101, Aug 2013: 19-21.Availability:<https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=877783198551758;res=IELHSS> ISSN: 1323-191X. [cited 10 Oct 17].