September 14, 2008

Religion and Feminism

Let me draw your attention to this: Buffy the Vampire Slayer slaying church attendance among women. Initially, it made me laugh. But I thought and realized that if it is true, I would consider it to be a step in the right direction.
Dr Aune says the church must adapt to the needs of modern women if it is to stop them leaving in their droves.

She believes many women have been put off going to church in recent years because of the influence of feminism, which challenged the traditional Christian view of women's roles and raised their aspirations.

Her report claims they feel forced out of the church because of its "silence" about sexual desire and activity, and because of its hostility to single-parent families and unmarried couples which are now a reality for many women.


Pretty much all of the major religions repress women either overtly or implicitly. The obvious: Islam. Even the modern, more secular variations do not give equality to all genders and sexualities; I'm not talking about the segregation of men and women, but the availability of leadership positions with comparable prestige and power.

The Roman Catholic church is also another good example. While they do not loudly preach the inferiority of women, it is a recurring theme in the Christian faith: Eve tempted Adam. Salome demanded John the Baptist's head. Mary is the most prominent Biblical female figure, and she was modest and devout and unsullied by man at the time of the miracle. Mary Magdalene was a former whore who loved Jesus at least as much as his 12 male disciples, but she's been eclipsed by men in power over the centuries.

Now, I'm an agnostic, not a pagan or Wiccan. But I can see the lure for women to gravitate toward religions where the Mother is the god figure. That concept makes much more sense to me than the "old bearded guy in the sky" concept. I'm just saying that I'm not personally gonna go around worshiping the almighty Womb. Those are ancient traditions where females have equal or greater standing than males. And what woman can argue her intrinsic inferiority to men? Females make up half the natural world- at least the part that can be divided into dual sexes.

Beside the woman empowerment aspect of paganism, in these times if more people choose to subscribe to a nature-based belief system so much the better. We need more Earth-conscious people.

~Marie

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