Christianity and feminism

[psychick1486]

How many of you are able to reconcile Christianity with feminism? How many of you have rejected Christianity because of your feminism? I personally can't reconcile the two - the idea of Eve being made from Adam and then "tempting" him, the stance on abortion and homosexuality, and the emphasis on chastity just doesn't work for me

Comments

[aslanscountry]

Abortion's not in the Bible, and some would argue a stance isn't really taken on homosexuality.

[psychick1486]

Sorry, I accidentally posted below.

[starsorstreet]

I was thinking of that myself. I think it's one of those things where people misuse religion to justify political beliefs and end up reaching.

[heartofkara]

No but if you're Catholic then what the "church" says is what goes - that's a branch of Christianity that's definetly anti-choice.

The Bible calls homosexuality (between men because sex isn't sex w/o a penis), eating shellfish, and cursing out your mother an abomination. So don't eat shrimp, be nice to your mom, and have all of the lesbian sex you want!

GodHatesShrimp.com

[psychick1486]

That's true. I associate those with organized religions, which is really more specifically what I was referring to. I guess I wasn't clear enough.

[kattlady]

I don't really have a huge opinion on Christianity. For one reason or another, it hasn't fit my life. I'm pretty happy as an agnostic, and I attend a Unitarian Universalist church on occasion.

[pussy_of_steel]

One of my favorite books on the subject (not Christianity, but Judaism): Engendering Judaism.

[starsorstreet]

I've rejected Christianity as in Christianity the institution. I have not rejected the whole movement and all it's theology, which I believe has value. The thing about the Xtian bible is that many interpret it as command. With that, many interpret passages in a variety of ways, often to suit their own means. I feel that I can be a Xtian (though I don't actually subscribe to any one religious theology, so hypothetically speaking here) and a feminist because I do not personally interpret the bible in a mysogynist manner like so many choose to (including the major religious institutions like the Vatican

[psychick1486]

Oh, I'd love to tell them that. To be specific, they asked me to go to church with them, and I tried to explain that I don't like organized religion for the reasons you mentioned. I also don't like the groupthink mentality of it; it scares me, quite frankly. The girl then went on to talk about how much God loves me, blah blah, etc.

First of all, I think asking people to go to church with you when they've never expressed any interest in religion is rude, because it puts people on the spot. You can't respond without starting a huge debate. Second, even though when I shared that I was pro-choice and she said she was too because God gives us a choice on whether to do right or wrong, and that it's God's choice to judge...well, I don't like that either, because it still infers that abortion is the "wrong" choice.

[starsorstreet]

They sound like the cultist type christians. I call those "the recruiters". The type who feel it's their duty to recruit others, but really they need more people to subscribe to the same beliefs as they do so they can feel secure and "right" (because knowing others who share the same opinion as oneself feels good regardless of the issue -- we all experience this I think)