Is God a Feminist?
Definitely.
OK, so we don’t usually think of him/her in those terms, which may conjure up women protesting, marching and going bra-less. But does God buy into society’s biases against women, males’ illusions of superiority, the violence perpetrated against women and their objectification in entertainment and pornography? Not the God for whom I’m searching.
Somehow, however, the equality of the sexes has been lost on many religious people. In the case of Christians, it’s especially hard to understand.
Christians believe that God became a human being in the form of Jesus of Nazareth. Presumably, God chose a certain time, about 2,000 years ago, and a certain culture, that of Judea, to do so. The time may have been right in the development of Jewish religious views, but the contemporary culture did not hold women in high regard.
You can say that about all the cultures of the ancient world, perhaps, but surprisingly, the ancient Hebrews were probably among the best in that regard. Look at the story of creation in Genesis, for instance. Many aspects of the story may seem sexist in our eyes – like the role of Eve as temptress – but it was unprecedented, say Scripture scholars, that Genesis had Eve created from Adam’s rib, exhibiting an equality that was unheard-of among other cultures.
Because Women Do It
That message was lost on most males, however, and has continued to be so throughout the ages. Women are still, in many ways and places, considered second-class. A recent New York Times article reports that women’s salaries are stubbornly stuck at about 20 percent below that of men for the same work and cites research showing that “work done by women pays less because women do it.”
People searching for God, especially Christians, should do all they can to change this, based on Jesus’ teaching and Christian writings.
“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female,” writes the author of the Letter to the Galatians in the Christian Bible, “for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Jesus repeatedly broke the rules about the separation of the sexes, like when he had his extended conversation with “the woman at the well.” The early Christian biblical authors chose to include it in the gospels, rejecting the prohibition against single men speaking to unrelated women.
But perhaps the most touching scene of its kind in the Christian Bible was Jesus’ encounter with “the woman caught in adultery.” The woman was brought before leading men of the community where Jesus had been preaching, the idea being to corner Jesus.
They remind Jesus that Jewish law requires that such a woman be stoned to death. If Jesus agrees, his reputation for compassion ends. If he does not, he is an apostate from Judaism.
Nothing is said, of course, about the man with whom the woman had adultery – even though the prohibition against adultery applied to both sexes. Jesus seemingly has no patience with the notion that the woman was expected to answer for her sin, but not the man.
He resolves the tension with a remark that is a blow against hypocrisy and misogyny. It has become among history’s most famous quotes: “Let him without sin throw the first stone.”
The Catholic Church, to which I belong, has especially struggled with the status of women. Although women do the bulk of the work in the church and are arguably the most faithful, they are barred from the ranks of the clergy.
Arguments Are Vacuous
I really believe this will change, and hope that it does. The arguments against women priests appear to me to be vacuous, and are needlessly alienating many women of good will. There are enough legitimate issues in the church that can cause alienation without clinging to one that has little merit.
Women priests could contribute immensely to the church’s mission in a way that men can’t.
So if I feel this way, why do I stay in the church? Perhaps if I were not a male, I would feel differently, but I think women’s equality in the church will arrive a bit earlier if I stay in the church and make my views known.
Apart from that, there are lots of good reasons for staying. The principle one is that for me, it’s the best way of finding God.
