Feminism, Religion, And The Internet

In 1988, the Council for Biblic¬al Manhood and Womanhood published the Danvers Statement, affirming that "In the church, redemption in Christ gives men and women an equal share in the blessings of salvation; nevertheless, some governing and teaching roles within the church are restricted to men." I am hesitant to single out one organization for focused argument, but this statement accurately represents a sentiment within the faith that I find disturbing. In this paper, I will use the redemptive trend hermeneutic to deconstruct the CBMW's affirmation, while providing my own views on why I find both women in ministry and the redemptive trend hermeneutic as valid.

In times of turmoil for the church, intellectuals and scholars who defended Christians against accusations from outsiders were dubbed the Christian Apologists. They included people like Justin Martyr in the 100s A.D., Augustine of Hippo in 300s - 400s A.D, and Tertullian in 100s - 200s A.D. Tertullian wrote pieces on philosophy in the church, prayer, and baptism. He was one of several apologists to write about God being three separate ‘things’, but Tertullian was the first to name the Son, Spirit, and Father as the Trinity. He was one of many to write against women in the church, but he was the most vulgar and profane. Tertullian’s publication, On the Apparel of Women, is characterized by his mimicking of Paul’s writings in the New Testament, paradoxes and hypocrisies throughout, obvious misogyny by a modern standard, and men’s harmful view in a time where I, as a woman, would not be allowed to learn to read and write if my husband or father deemed it so. Not only did he insult a women’s place in the church as others did, he attacked a women’s place in anything. In the centuries after he lived, his teachings aren’t as influential in the church, but his base ideals are still part of our society as out dated standards.

Throughout my selected text, Johnson focuses on the church along with the subsequent androcentric image of God, and how it impacts woman around the world. She explains that throughout history, with the help of the church’s patriarchal nature and society’s values as a whole, woman have been seen “as a ‘defective male’…that must live in obedience to her [male counterpart,]…[ and who are often also referred to as the] ‘second sex’” (Johnson 92). This

Professor of religious studies Karen Armstrong finds in the early Christian Church examples of hostility toward women and fear of their sexual power, which she contends led to the eventual exclusion of women from full participation in a male-dominated church.

Feminists see religion as an instrument of patriarchy which means that society is based around male domination; they believe that this is a set of beliefs and practices responsible for women’s subordination. However functionalists believe otherwise and argue that its function is not to oppress women but to keep society stable whilst Marxists believe that religion oppresses the working class not females.

The second great force at the turn of the century is itself global: the emergence of women in the public sphere, including the public face of religion. This is in part a function of women's growing economic and political power, but also a result of religion itself coming into the public sphere in new ways. Many aspects of religion have long been considered private and relegated largely to the context of home and family, where women have often been the primary practitioners, though men might dominate in institutional leadership positions. As both religion and women move out of the private into the public sphere, new challenges arise. For example, central facets of family and home – particularly love and sex – which have more traditionally been the purview of women and of religion have entered the realm

When reading Lynn Japinga’s Essential Guide to Christianity and Feminism, there are many different lessons that you can take from it, ranging from lessons on what it means to be a feminist, what it takes to be considered a practicing Christian, and the many critics that both Christians and feminists face. Much like The Bible, the lessons you take depends on how you read it and what of your own knowledge and experiences you bring into the analysis. As someone who is on the forth year of sociology and gender studies programs, I went into the reading with a preconceived view on what it means to be a feminist and with knowledge of the potential dangers that women within Christianity face.

In “Bring back flogging” Jeff Jacoby argues that corporal punishment should be brought back into our justice system because imprisoning criminals is taking up too much of tax payers money and criminals learn how to become better criminals in prison. He uses statistics, facts, and quotes to help support his claim that our justice system is sub par and does more harm than good to taxpayers and even criminals. Even though Jacoby makes a good point the essay fails to include ethos and pathos making it ineffective. Although he supports what he says with hard facts and statistics he fails to gain an emotional connection with the readers nor does he establish his credibility. Logos is important in an essay because readers are more capable of making

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. - Matthew 6:9. The idea of “God the father” is one that is rooted deep in our society predominantly the ways in which it rejoices men. The almighty all and powerful God is outlined as a male figure in the bible, constructed using almost entirely masculine language. This simple fact has provoked men to assume the position of authority, to oversee over his family. This simple fact leads to an imbalance of power between men and women subconsciously oppressing women within our society. In Mary Daly’s “After the Death of God the Father,” Mary explains how the Judeo-Christian culture has served to bring structure to a sexually imbalanced man driven culture." This male-controlled society has its establishments in the most discernible parts of Christianity.” Mary’s work is a continuation of what is known as “The women's liberation movement” furthering the conversation of societies hold on a woman and bringing change. In this critical evaluation of Mary Daly's work, I will discuss the thesis and argument of the reading, along with an analysis of its assumptions and implications.

In Saiving’s article, The Human Situation: A Feminist View, she exemplifies the issues of viewing religion through a male-only lens. Saiving brings to light what oversights are made to women’s issues when theology is only focused on the male perspective. In Plaskow’s article, Setting the Problem, Laying the Ground, she similarly points out problems she finds in the male perspective of theology and how we should fix them. Both authors focus a great deal on unearthing women’s experiences and valuing women has fully human, rather than simple objects in men’ narratives.

Since the dawn of the Patriarchy there has been a very apparent attack on women and what it means to be a woman (Daly 44-45). This popular theory of misogyny in the Western world first surfaced in 1973 when radical feminist Mary Daly published “Beyond God and the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women’s Liberation (Daly 44-45).” Within the pages of Daly’s book lies controversial attacks of biblical text, more specifically the story of Adam of Eve alongside a call for action for women and men to undo the brainwashing that years of conditioning has caused them (Daly 44-45).

Dating back to history, Christine de Pizan, one of the first identified female writers from the late medieval era, is the genuine master of the “box”. In her famous “The Book of the City of Ladies”, Christine de Pizan alludes to celebrated female figures and “box” her audience. She confronts the disparagement that “a man should never serve…anyone lower than him” especially woman, with the argument that all the angels “surely” are “happy” to serve the Virgin, “who is above all the angels” (24). This argument locks Pizan’s audience – close-minded Christian men – into a box. It appears that questioning the virtues of the Virgin Mary would be directly questioning the Bible, thus the argument that woman is “lower” than man dismantles. Pizan continues to tackle with beliefs that denigrate woman. She breaks down the condemnation of Eve into the paradox that without Eve, there would be no Mary, and thus “humanity” will not be “conjoined to the Godhead” (24). Again, Pizan’s skillful command of the allusions and rhetorical questions wins her the bitter agreement from her audience, because any doubting would not be reasonable for that they do value the existence of Christ more than anything if they are sincere Christians. In plenty aspects, Christine de Pizan’s writing echoes with that of King; they both allude to renowned individuals whose ideas or reputation are accepted widely as weapons to drive their audience into

In fact, it is crucial to recognize the improvements the Church has made in recent years; if this were not 2015 but rather, 1915 or earlier, the Church probably would not have even uttered the word “woman” in a positive light. Furthermore, based on personal experience, feminists do tend to castigate the Church, focusing on the bad and not on the good. However, the Church has made respectable strides regarding its take on feminism and womanhood. This progress, although it is not easily seen, is entirely visible when looking at documents written by Pope John Paul II such as Mulieris Dignitatem, “Letter to Women”, and “Culture Equality Is Urgently Needed Today.”

Religion is powerful in that it controls followers’ behaviours and beliefs throughout their entire lives; it is a form of social control. Catholicism is one of the most widely known religions influencing more than 2 billion people around the world (Ross). Within Catholicism not everyone are seen as equals; men have greater privilege than women. The bible and church are from a male’s point of view (Christ 86) and passages within the bible are used to enforce a sexual hierarchy. In fact, the oppression of women begins with the first story in Genesis about creation, which portrays females as being inferior to men and even of an evil nature. This one passage is the main source of justification of oppression of woman in the church (Daly 13).

Discuss, using examples from this essay, whether or not he successfully achieves his thesis through this piece.