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Jezebel, Sheba, and Hillary?
On matters of women in the church, it's time to take the lead from women themselves. To date, the lore and history of organized religion, not to mention the career of priest and preacher, has belonged to men. But what do women want? Contradictory ideas can be held at the same time. In politics, most female voters tell pollsters that they are in broad sympathy with feminist goals: equal pay, opportunity at executive jobs, the right to control their own bodies. Yet so-called security moms put Bush over the top in the past two elections, and the unexpected popularity of Sarah Palin suggests that social conservatism, combined with spunk and dedication to one's family, fits the mold of a reformer.
In religion the contradictions are even stronger. The image of women in Christianity grew from Eve: temptress, sinner, fleshly, and disobedient. Yet at the same time the natural role of wives and others has always been nurturing and loving. It has taken centuries to unravel the knot that ties women to prejudiced, outworn roles that few want to play today. In the Middle Ages a martyred woman was a saint, now she simply possesses low self-esteem and puts up with abuse. Seduction and temptation lose their sinful connotation once sex becomes mutual between the two sexes and a natural response that deserves no shame or guilt. We tend to regard peace as a feminine quality. Yet conservative devout women, especially in fundamentalist denominations, often turn out to be supporters of the Iraq war and violence against abortion clinics.
It's against this tangled web of values that the question of a woman as President or a woman as clergy exists. From the outside, it may seem a natural step for Episcopalians, traditionally the most liberal of Protestants, to allow women bishops, yet this is one of the chief causes for a bitter rift in the faith. Women priests in the Catholic church, again from the outside, seems like an innocuous reform. But to the Church's hierarchy, it spells a tear in the fabric of tradition and male authority going back to Peter, founder of the faith. Electing a woman to be President is a progressive reform that has been a long time coming. It would strengthen the country and make our democracy more honest -- as it is, women are grossly under-represented in Congress. Women in the clergy is also a much overdue reform, but one can't equate it with politics. In conservative churches, a worldview is at stake, and in that worldview white male dominance has been the rule. Therefore, to a strict conservative, one can't break rules simply to be fair.
I am making these points because the question of women in the clergy seems like a slam dunk; one can hardly imagine why any woman would be against it. Yet we cannot imagine why young Turkish women are fervent about bringing back the veil, or why the burqa should exist in the first place. Culture and tradition are as conflicted and entangled as human nature itself.
By
Deepak Chopra
|
September 3, 2008; 9:38 AM ET
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Posted by: common sense | September 5, 2008 9:22 AM
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as usual chopra, you don't have a clue...politics and religion are two different worlds and apparently if they are not kissing your behind, they don't merit respect...you will never be the messiah you want to be and hopefully you will get what you deserve...
Posted by: Dwight | September 5, 2008 7:36 AM
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Religion is precisely the reason that women have been denied equality for so long. Even today the "holy" books are used to keep us second-class citizens.
Time for religion to go.
Posted by: Pam | September 4, 2008 9:32 PM
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Paulo Romano: "It's not a choice to murder, it's a sin."
Of course this would not apply to Iraq or the death penalty.
Posted by: Anonymous | September 4, 2008 2:01 PM
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Richard Thomas: "I saw the face of Hypocrisy and Ego."
And it was Republican. Republicans have no interest in women or their needs. They only have an interest in power and control, and they will use any tactic that leads to their control or destroys their enemies. It is like the "beast" that lives among us. Because it monopolizes power it is very hard to avoid or reduce it. The only cure is for the majority to believe in the values of democratic process. Even then it is a constant battle against the forces of tyranny. This, for better or for worse, is the human condition.
Posted by: L.Kurt | September 4, 2008 1:39 PM
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Your phrase, "the right to control their own bodies," is insanity saying "the right to murder." When did "choice" trump "morality?" That's a sick and selfish way to approach the God-given gift of life, to refer to it as a choice. It's not a choice to murder, it's a sin.
Posted by: Paulo Romano | September 4, 2008 12:24 PM
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Hi Deepak,
I don’t see a problem with feminine spiritual leaders; the world has been void of the presence of nurturing love and compassion of the feminine.
Did you know the Bible Belt is where the most extreme weather is going to occur? It could be destroyed.
Are Gods people there in this zone or are the ones that serve the Antichrist for lack of a better label. Perhaps the area attracts a certain consciousness.
They are also least likely to connect to The Source which would provide the intelligence to preserve them.
The source has a web site but I doubt they would be reading here to find it.
“We don't need a clergy anymore” saith the Lord.
Spiritual teachers and voices of wisdom would be great.
Did you notice that most the people at the Republican convention looked like old hollow empty shells. I did not see the presence of spirit.
I saw the face of Hypocrisy and Ego.
The Democratic convention was alive with spirit.
Posted by: Richard Thomas | September 3, 2008 6:42 PM
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IS THIS ELECTION ABOUT JUDGMENT
Sarah Pahin uses poor judgment and the GOP makes her out to be a hero!
This election should not be about Sarah Pahin not having an abortion.
This election should be about her not using the good judgment to use birth control.
Any intelligent person knows that when you choose to have unprotected sex at 43
you have a very high probability of having a child with Downs Syndrome.
The republicans are making her out to be a hero because she used the bad
judgment not to prevent the pregnancy in the first place.
Posted by: Kwaayesnama | September 3, 2008 3:21 PM
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The comments to this entry are closed.
Indeed, the GOP and RNC have been shown to be completely unscrupulous when it comes to supporting their efforts to gain and/or maintain political control - everyone and everything becomes fodder to be sacrificed to this end.
Their candidates know this and are willing to throw themselves on the bonfires of their own vanity in order to get elected.
McCain's selection of a completely untried and unproven (unknown) VP, but equipped with the appropriate ultra-right wing politics as his second, shows an utter disregard for the fate of the nation, should he fail to complete his hypothetical term in office.
This election stragegy is typical of the short-term planning and thinking that governs the GOP's every move.