Yes, a religion and feminism question.

[deus_vobiscum]

I have to pose some questions to y'all. You don't have to be a theologian, a gender theorist or anything to respond. I really want your thoughts. Like my position on abortion, I haven't come to a firm and final conclusion. It would be helpful if you were Christian, but anything will be appreciated

Comments

[deus_vobiscum]

2. I read a thealogian (spelling deliberate) last year who articulated a position she called "strategic essentialism." She argued that some forms of essentialism allowed women to embrace some things such as motherhood without being bound to them. I guess I was defending Elizabeth Johnson on similar grounds. To completely ignore biology seems odd, really; women have vaginas and other odd things, and men have penises. Until I can get a womb, I won't be a mother (unless some adopted child of mine starts calling me 'mom').

3. Let me cite the Catholic Catechism: "In no way is God in man's image. He is neither man nor woman. God is pure spirit in which there is no place for the difference between the sexes. But the respective "perfections" of man and woman reflect something of the infinite perfection of God: those of a mother and those of a father and husband." While we recognize that God has no gender, as Christians our Biblical and liturgical language mostly use masculine pronouns and images for God; sometimes we use non-gendered language, but we don't use female pronouns. Sometimes we talk about Christ nursing us at His breast, but that's about it. And that's Julian of Norwich, anyway. Does the use of only masculine pronouns exclude women from God?

5. But is change inherently tied to progress? I think of Gilbert Chesterton's analogy; is my [moral] pocketwatch five minutes slow, or is my coachman's watch five minutes fast? Do we lose our abilities to make normative claims if we resign ourselves to the idea of perpetual moral progress? Or is the duty of Christian theology to articulate the unchangeable Truth (the Word of God) in terms understandable to the modern world?

And I love you, Alice. Insightful as always!

[awonderland]

3. I think that use of only masculine pronouns doesn't have to, but I think it can. PLUS there are a lot of Christians out there that think it is the only way to refer to God. God only appears on earth as man is there general thinking. I think that definitely tends to exclude women. Obviously, if we're talking Catholic (or Lutheran, or Mormon or...) then it is more important that Women are ACTUALLY excluded from having the same sort of close relationship to God that men can have (as clergy, etc....)

5. Change is not inherently tied to progress. There may be unchangeable Truth, but we are unworthy to properly interpret it, so we need to constantly try to change our interpretation (i.e. The Bible does not say we can have slaves, the Bible does not say homosexuality is wrong, the Bible does not say men are allowed to beat their wives)

You always bring out the best in me Joe.