Árdís - 01.01.1964, Page 20

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ÁRDÍS
you and the boy or girl you marry”. We could have a lot more
Naomi-Ruth relationships if society worked at unifying families,
instead of dividing them. If families can not work together, how
can we expect the whole world to live in peace and harmony?
In the Book of Ruth we are told that she was blessed because
she was a virtuous woman. Boaz said “All the city of my people
doth know that thou art a virtuous woman. This message about
virtue is a very controversial one in our day. In our overly sex
conscious society, the virtuous women or men are looked upon as
some freaks of nature.
It might not be right to draw a parallel between Ruth and
us. But have the basic ideas changed so much? Are the standards
of good and evil not the same today as in the days of Ruth.
I am sure you are all reading the modern day literature. Does
it not hurt to see how low an opinion the writers seem to have
of women in general. We can of course always throw the book
away and say: “This is just fiction.” Can we afford to do that?
Should we not be doing something about it instead?
The literary men and women of today, as in every age, are
in a sense the “prophets” of the nations. By bringing out in the
open the sins of society, they are trying to make the nations
aware of the dangers of our way of life. I strongly believe women
hold the key to our biggest problems, and only they can solve
them.
We all know about the wonderful educational opportunities
women now enjoy. We know how ably they are filling the highest
positions, and how they excel in many fields of endeavours. They
are getting equality with men. But, is not the price too high?—
and who pays it?—the children.
In Ruth’s day a woman’s greatest joy was to look after the
comforts of her husband and child. Not a very worthy standard
to our way of thinking. Yet, after all these centuries her name
still lives as a monument to true womanhood.
It seems to have become a woman’s greatest ambition to get
equality with men in all respects, or even to go one better. The
challenge they throw to them is the slogan: “Anything you can do,
we can do better”. Probably a worthy ideal, but who pays the
price?—the children.