War drums beat all around us, raising the shackles of quiet but frightened people feeling helpless. Militant Islam and militant Christians react with ever louder shouts of war. If there ever was a time for reasonable men and women to step forward it is now. The war mongers of Islam and Christianity are so loud it appears to the casual observer that hopelessness is all that exists.

I see opportunity all around me, not just a PollyAnna kind of optimism, but a future full of promise, new…

It has been 35 years since I conducted my research on the roll of women in 32 nations of the world, from China and Indonesia, Mexico, Alaska, nations in Europe from Ireland to Turkey,…