Staying in a Bad Marriage

Throughout most of documented history women of all cultures and civilizations have lived under patriarchal circumstances. In almost every religion and civilization women's status was not equal to that of a man's. Women in most cultures are looked at as subservient, obedient creatures that were put on this world for very few reasons, mainly to bear children and do what their husbands require of them. In fact, religions are a big part of the reason of this oppression due to the religion's reinforcement and justification of patriarchal conditions. In this week's selected readings from different aspects of Islamic, Byzantine Christian, and Western Christian cultures, it is very apparent as to how these three religions did reinforce and

Gender inequality has maintained the suppression of women worldwide and unfortunately has impacted third world countries with the greatest magnitude. Everyday in these countries there are countless occurrences of physical, emotional, and psychological abuse that must be acknowledged as a primary concern for the world to help overcome. It is however important to recognize specific cultural and religious practices of gender hierarchy that are accepted by women in these countries. While keeping this in mind it is of paramount importance to keep sight of the consequences of abusing these cultural practices at the expense of women’s liberation and development.

Domestic violence against women is prevalent in almost all the societies in the world. It is an issue which was not even recognised as a crime 40 years ago and is still not recognized as a crime by many societies. Women suffer from violence, including physical, sexual, emotional, and psychological violence by strangers and their partners all over the world (Kaya, 2010). Even though it is a worldwide occurrence, there are some women who face more intense and frequent violence depending on their culture, country, religion,

Religion is used by men and women alike to account for the validity of domestic violence towards women and violence in general.

If a husband is in a leadership role in the religious community, the woman may feel trapped. Many churches have give a false a inaccurate definition of what abuse is. It’s often view as a family matter in lieu of a criminal offense. This slanted view of what is considered abuse is a clear indication that some church leaders are not equipped to address domestic abuse. Some women stay because they have a strong biblical conviction tied to their marriage vows that prevent them from reporting abuse. Today, you see more couples writing their own vows to fit their individual values and life style. Often omitting the traditional vows and eliminating the word “OBEY”, the word OBEY is no longer received with warm welcomes in our culture today.

Domestic violence against women and it’s association with different cultures, ethnicities, and religions has proven to be difficult to evaluate. There is a correlation between domestic violence and different cultures, ethnicities, or religion of which women are of lower status or importance than men. However, it appears that domestic abuse may not be racial or ethnic in origin. A number of environmental factors contributed to the prevalence of domestic violence including age, acculturation, socio-economic status, and education levels. Cohabitation and unemployment also appear to increase the risk of abuse (Van Broeck, 2001). This results suggest that ethnicity and religion may not actually be the key facets contributing to patterns of domestic violence. Instead, they are merely an indicator that abuse is taking place.

“And what can one do?” (Gilman). Gilman’s question represents the women population of the world perfectly because what is one supposed to do, being disobedient is not taking lightly, seeing how the husband may have inflicted physical pain, on top of the already emotional pain that is being inflicted by not allowing the social contact that she desires. Situations similar to Jane’s can be directly correlated to those issues in the Muslim communities.

Through examination of Islam’s understanding of marriage, however, a more egalitarian perspective in relation to Daoist culture emerges. Scripture concerning marriage in Islam dictates that men are not to treat their wives with “harshness” and that they are to “live…on a footing of kindness and equity” with their wives. Through incorporation into the holy text, the notion of relatively egalitarian marriages is introduced to the Muslim culture, implicating that there is an element of equality with regard to the social valuing of men and women. Moreover, women in Islam are given some degree of legal protections within marriage. When accusations arise within marriage, rather than defaulting to one half of the union, there is a system of equality within the legal code, allowing for spouses to rebuke the other’s accusation through a series of testimonies and religious oaths.

Biblical and historical texts such as these are often looked to as guidance for how individuals in modern society should behave and how they should act. Marriage as an institution has been tied to the Catholic and Christian implications of devotion to ones partner, specifically for a man to a woman. Women are expected to love their partner through sickness and through health, but also till death do them part. Divorce is seen somewhat taboo because the vow expects this couple to be united forever. However, it extends further then just marital roles.

There are many cultures around the world that do not expect clergy celibacy (Daly, 2009) including Christian denominations who allow ministers/priests to marry. These Churches demonstrate how marriage is compatible with the priestly life. These churches present a great example of how familial responsibilities are compatible with religious commitments. A study of married Evangelical ministers and Roman Catholic priests revealed that there were no significant differences in dimensions of religiosity or commitments to the parish between the celibate and married clergymen (Swenson, 1998). Both are

Our world is filled with a variety of different religions yet they all share common characteristics. They have some sort of history, or myth, which is often told as a story. They tend to develop doctrines, which are basically a set of principles that guide people’s actions. All religions have a wide variety of rituals, in which are practiced in their specific sacred place. Many different emotions are associated with religious experiences. Also, religion contains ethics, or morals, which offer a code of conduct for their followers to live through (Robson, 12-15). Although there are many differences between the diverse religions of the world, the similarities seem to be more apparent. One subject that seems to be underrepresented in the study of religion is the involvement of women and the roles that they play. “…there is much value in examining how women are perceived and treated in different traditions” (Anderson, xii).

In the Christian religion, there are two basic laws allowing divorce without the commitment of sin, infidelity and marriage to a nonbeliever whom has abandoned the commitment. However, in today’s society divorce has become a very common thing, as people decide to split part in their many marital dissolutions, and only one of these are considered to be a top five reasons why married couples actually divorce. Furthermore, infidelity or parting upon religious conversions only take upon circumstances of high sin in the views of the Christian God, rather than depicting compelling rational views that affect couples in everyday life.

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.

A sacrament is a sign of something sacred, so it is a visible form of and invisible grace enacted by God that has power effect. In the Catholic Church, there are sacraments. There are two public sacraments, one is matrimony, where we encounter the church and community or society. Although, the dignity of Matrimony is low compared to the other sacraments it is essential for the church to continue the apostolic tradition of faith. Marriage is a valid union that has moral and social aspects “The Sacrament of Matrimony signifies the union of Christ and the Church. It gives spouses the grave to love eachother with the love of which Christ has loved his Church; the grace of the sacrament thus perfects the human love of the spouses, strengthens their indissoluble unity, and sacrifices them on the way to eternal life”. Because the couple freely give themselves to the other and accept the other completely, marriage is a conjugal covenant. The sacramentality of marriage must include the grace of God and unity with Christ. Therefore, there are goods of marriage brought about by God3. These goods include the gift of marriage which is children, complete fidelity and the bond of unity3. Christ, the eternal covenant, offered himself to the church as a spouse through his death and resurrection. This relationship is the foundations of the sacrament of Matrimony, therefore in this paper I will examine the history, meaning, significance and order of celebration of marriage in the Catholic

The union between a baptized man and a baptized woman is known as a sacramental marriage in the Catholic Church. The two people make a covenant of life and love to each other through the vows given at the ceremony. Not all people receive the sacrament of marriage because they are called to another vocation. This sacrament requires preparation and communication between the couple. They have many decisions that have to be made, involving how their children will be raised. Both the man and the woman must be open to having children, have free consent to get married and are to stay; with this person for the rest of their life, unless an annulment is granted. A sacramental marriage, based on the church's teachings, is important to me because of the