IKEA has apologised for what it says was an 'error' by its Israeli branch. Israeli IKEA had produced a catalogue containing no images of women in deference to the country's large and influential ultra-Orthodox community. This went down like the proverbial lead balloon at the company's headquarters in ultra-liberal Sweden, where a spokeswoman said, 'We have been very clear that this is not what the IKEA brand stands for'.
To be fair, IKEA has form in this area. In 2012 it was forced to make a similar apology for removing images of women from its Saudi Arabian catalogue. At the time it said: 'We are now reviewing our routines to safeguard a correct content presentation from a values point of view in the different versions of the Ikea catalogue worldwide.' It's hard to be sure from the language, but I think this means they promised they wouldn't do it again. Clearly after five years the message still hasn't got through.
Also to be fair, the ultra-Orthodox movement in Israel is pretty touchy. Just last week a group of them caused 'absolute bedlam' on an EasyJet flight from Tel Aviv to Luton because they refused to sit next to women. Aeroplane stories aren't uncommon; a female Holocaust survivor who was told to move seats on an El Al flight because an ultra-Orthodox man wouldn't sit next to her is suing the airline for discrimination.
So, are there really two opinions about this? Surely, surely IKEA Israel – and IKEA Saudi Arabia, come to that – got it catastrophically wrong? Doesn't ultra-Orthodox theology and practice – Jewish or Muslim – discriminate horribly against women, seeing them as vessels of sin and occasions of temptation, limiting them in every sphere of life, frustrating their ambitions and denying their God-given right to flourish?
Well: no argument there from me. I'm a thorough-going egalitarian. As a Christian, I think what's become known as 'complementarianism' in whatever religion is nonsense. It's a weasel word for a weirdly twisted way of reading Scripture that consigns women to subordinate roles when the gospel is about liberation, for women and men. Women preachers? I'm all for them. Women pastors? Bring 'em on.
But, but. I'm deeply uncomfortable with the attitude behind this apology and the storm of protest that provoked it. It seems to me that it's a kind of ideological imperialism, a sort of secular totalitarianism. It's profoundly illiberal liberalism. It's saying, not just to male ultra-Orthodox Jews but to female ones as well, 'We will not respect your culture and your choices; we will not serve you or engage with you; we so abhor and abominate your lifestyle that we will make no concessions to it whatsoever.'
I'm troubled by that, for two reasons. First, because it fails to understand the rationale behind religious exclusivity. Male ultra-Orthodox Jews – and Muslims, and complementarian Christians – don't treat women like this because they hate women; they do it because they love God, and they believe this how that love works its way out in practice. There are strong arguments for classifying every such theology as inherently abusive. But in practice, that doesn't do justice to the real lives and real relationships of those who are part of such communities. It is possible for men and women to be happy and fulfilled within cultural frameworks that, on the face of it, ought to drive them up the wall. Egalitarians like me and IKEA need to understand that.
But second, when we accept the logic that says to a religious group – or any other group – 'You must conform to the majority view, and there are no exceptions,' we're on a very slippery slope. We're saying the way forward for such groups is either submission or increased isolation from the mainstream. A truly liberal approach would be to say, 'We don't believe what you believe, but we will respect your views as far as we're able and accommodate them as far as we can.'
The truth is that religiously exclusive groups that want to interact with the wider world can't do so entirely on their own terms. They have to learn to give a little, and perhaps that discussion is being held in the ultra-Orthodox community about rules for kosher flying. But in a world where the non-religious hold the purse-strings and the power levers, it's more important than ever to argue for the rights of people to do what they like, as far as possible, and live as they please.
Follow Mark Woods on Twitter: @RevMarkWoods
