Analysis Of Women And Interreligious Dialogue

Two forces which gathered strength in the last half of the twentieth century now dominate the world religions at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The first is the globalization of religions and their resulting encounter with each other, and the second is the need to redefine attitudes toward gender as women have stepped forward to insist that their full humanity be acknowledged in the religious as well as the social realm.

In all areas of life and society the treatment and well being of women have always been challenged. In many religions the role and status of its women are usually overwhelmed by the actions and roles of its men this inequality of religions between male and female allows these feelings and ideology of which sex is superior or inferior to bleed into a society’s culture thus shaping their treatment of their men and women.

Racial reconciliation should be a top priority for every Christian, of any race or cultural background. But will this demand for a "multicultural center of learning" produce a less prejudiced society? Multiculturalists insist on greater sensitivity towards, and increased inclusion of, racial minorities and women in society. Christians should endorse both of these goals. But many advocating multiculturalism go beyond these demands for sensitivity and inclusion; here is where Christians must be careful.

The role of women in human affairs, religious beliefs, and social practices are highly concerned by scholars when women involved religious life. “God the Father/God the Mother”, third chapter in the book The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels, examines major distinctions between Orthodox Christianity and Gnostic community in the concerns of the roles and characterizations of women by relating scriptural views and texts. While sharing a common topic of women’s role in religious life, “Images of Women in Early Buddhism and Christian Gnosticism” is an article in the book Buddhist-Christian Studies by Karen Christina Lang that discusses the major images and examines four categories of women whose participated in the religious activities of both Buddhist and Gnostics communities. In “God the Father/God the Mother”, Pagels compares the views of women between Orthodox communities and Gnostic sources.

Possibilities and challenges of interreligious and secular dialogue in today’s world. According to Zago, globalization was imminent and interreligious contact unavoidable, leading to religious pluralism. The tendency was increasing and creating challenge to mission, which would create not only meetings but also clashes among various religions. He anticipates the need of attitudes and initiatives for interreligious dialogue, but this “Dialogue, however, must not eliminate proclamation that remains at the heart of mission and is the criterion by which to judge the validity of mission and to promote discernment in elaborating a theology of mission and dialogue.”

In the final chapter of Objectivity and Diversity, Harding puts feminist discourse in conversation with cultural context and religiosity; particularly, I’m intrigued by the future of religious feminism in contrast with the more popular secular feminism. Secularism is an issue that Western feminism grapples with frequently, tending to adopt secular views because of rampant misogyny in religious institutions. This Western secular approach, however, is especially problematic because lends an oppressive characteristic to a movement that otherwise seeks to eliminate oppression; it also irreparably reduces feminism to a one dimensional body of Western secular knowledge. This type of free market feminism is quite indebted to the patriarchal, classist, and racist concept of “secularism” as a superior institutional ideology and continually propagates capitalist forces that oppress women. Nonetheless, it frequently derides religious feminism is for perceived conflicts of interest and the historical role of misogyny in most religions.

That Eid morning, my mother and I, adorned in traditional Pakistani dresses, bangles, and henna, made our way to the women’s section of our local Mosque to pray with the hundreds of other brightly colored dresses already gathered there. The Imam, a religious leader, began the service, and I watched the women, synchronized, carry out the motions of Islamic prayer. When I was very young, this is the image that would come to mind when I thought of my faith: harmony, a hall overflowing with women who seemed to find, with each movement, the purpose of life in religion, a purpose that I never discovered despite the security that

Rather it sees its role as a process of mutual empowerment for the faiths involved. It is about engagement in public concerns and the joint pursuit of social justice, human dignity and constructive action on behalf of the common good of all citizens.” This highlights that interfaith dialogue is crucial and is needed immensely in Australia and the world to avoid religious ignorance and is used as a way to correlate and connect with the wider social responsibilities that religions and faiths hold globally.

Religion goes hand in hand with culture, and in the Muslim countries this is very apparent. The cultural importance of men over women may have stemmed from religion, however it was further recognized when imperialist countries introduced capitalism and class divides. “Islam must combat the wrenching impact of alien forces whose influence in economic, political, and cultural permutations continues to prevail” (Stowasser 1994, 5). Now, instead of an agrarian state where both men and women had their place, difficulties have formed due to the rise in education and awareness that women can and do have a place in society beyond domestic living Though women are not equal to men anywhere around the

Christians believe the image of God to be three Gods merged into one. The Trinity’s components are the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit and they are all equal. Each form of God has the same attributes of all-powerful, all-knowing, always present,

Religion can be seen to act as a social control over women to a large

Christianity and Islam are two of the world’s largest and most recognized religions. They are both religions believing in one God and each has a holy book, the Qur’an and the Bible. Both books encourage belief in God and teach patience and honesty. They both also forbid lying and stealing and believe in some type of Heaven and Hell. So, if they have so much in common, why is there so much conflict between the two? This question is the exact reason why I chose to take World Religion. I thought it was important to learn and understand the beliefs of other religions so that I could better understand the issues affecting our society today. But that is easier said than done. It is hard to separate the actual religion from the outside

Religion is a major cornerstone of human identity and culture. Anywhere you look on earth where there are people, there is a religion or set of beliefs that those people follow. Many times, the teaching of these Religions can be twisted and manipulated to justify gender bias. The Simple truth is people are treated very differently based on their Gender by followers of two of the most popular religions in the world: Islam and Judaism. I am going to examine some ways the teaching of these two major religions are used to oppress, abuse, and differentiate women.

Christianity and Buddhism represent two of the most prominent religions in the world today. Various societies in the world feature multiple differences when it comes to gender roles in society, and there have been multiple research studies that have sought to bring out a clearer comprehension of these gender patterns.. The religious perception of gender roles in society havs been seen to share various similarities as well as many differences between them. This paper provides an evaluation of the comparison between Buddhism and Christianity when it comes to the gender patterns in society. There is a way to analyze and explore these two forms of religions through providing discussions on the significant beliefs as well as practices on gender and gender roles.

My paper studies the three most significant and most commonly known western religion Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in terms of the role that the woman played and a brief synopsis of the religions itself. Religion is a system of human though which usually includes a set of narratives, symbols, beliefs and practices that give meaning to the practitioner’s experiences of life through reference to a higher power, deity, or ultimate truth. Judaism, Islam, and Christianity are the only religions that are based on a single creator and that are why they are called western religions. These three religions are monotheistic faiths practiced by about half of the world’s population. Believers of the three religions are found on every continent