No Country For Women

      I do not recall the exact moment I became aware of women’s issues in Christianity. I believe it was my first month in Bible College at the age of nineteen. Most of my upbringing was permeated with images of my mother leading worship, giving vivid descriptions of prophetic images, and preaching from the pulpit. She was something else to behold. I remember her frazzled hours in study and research, gathering information in English and practicing her delivery in Portuguese. And then the final product; the woman could deliver. I cannot recollect ever knowing her to wonder about her calling or whether or not she should be performing certain tasks in ministry. At my young age I did not even notice the disapproving glances from some of our conservative missionary friends when we would discuss the nature of Pentecostal growth in South America. I was oblivious. 

Then there was college. I drove out to Southern California glowing with the prospects of my newly realized freedom. This was going to be great! I did not fully understand the idea of a calling, but I knew I was called to something. As I became familiar with my new school, the students, and Bible College life, awareness began to sink in. One of the whispered mottos amongst the young men was something to the effect of finding a wife before graduation. I felt sick to my stomach. Was that all there was to it? I was part of a pageant lineup to better accessorize the calling and ministry of one of my male peers? I was appalled. What of my gifts? What of my calling? My calling is not confined to roles, jobs, or tasks I may perform, but is a general integrative theme that weaves its way throughout my life. I ran. I ran straight to the Air Force recruiter’s office and enlisted for six years. Did I find the liberation I was seeking? To answer that we must attempt to understand what liberation and subjugation truly are and the tinges they adopt through the lens of varying cultures. 

The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of evangelicalism on women within culture. It will compare the world’s major religions and secular cultural shifts to effectively gauge how women have fared globally in contrast to the evangelical movement. 

Islam 

Islam has three predominant views of women across the spectrum. The first view is the traditionalist view. The traditionalist believes that all women are inferior to any man. It is thought that women are happier and society is stronger when women obey men’s decisions in all aspects of life.The traditionalist holds to the notion that a woman can only become happy and fulfilled in her role as mother. Women are not capable of competing with men in the workforce because of inferior intellect and physical weakness.

The second view is the feminist view. The feminist favors complete secularization of Islamic societies and equal legal rights for women. The feminist views Islam as irreconcilable with women’s rights and believes the modernization of Islam to be a wasted effort that will only prolong the oppression of women.

The third view is the progressive. Progressives do not accept the ancient interpretations of the prophet Muhammad's words that argue for women as weak and inferior. Progressives have taken to understanding the sacred writings of the Qur’an in a contemporary light that is relevant to modern culture. They believe their interpretations to be as valid as those of any previous scholars. 

One of the predominant topics in Islam is polygyny. Speaking from a Christian perspective, Islam takes into account the fallen nature of man and his natural inclination towards infidelity, but instead of encouraging a higher standard, provides for this in the practice of polygyny. Traditionalists see western culture as irresponsible in their care for women as infidelity is unavoidable and leaves a girlfriend or mistress without provision. According to the traditionalist, the practice of polygyny does not allow for such immoral behavior and demands that a man be accountable for all women he potentially seeks out for sexual gratification. For most Muslim women, rejecting religion is not an option. They desire to find liberation, truth, and justice from within their own faith.

The progressive muslim woman believes the traditional interpretations of the Qur’an to be patriarchal and states the following: “For too long, men have defined for us what it is to be a woman, how to be a woman and then to use religion to confine us to these socially constructed limitations that reduce us to being the inferior half of the human race.” They are convinced that Islam in and of itself does not oppress women, but is instead influenced by cultural practices and values of a society that views women as inferior and subordinate to men.

Young Iranian girls who think themselves victims of a fundamentalist system frequently run away from home. They do not, however, run to freedom. Ninety percent of these young runaways end up captured and sold into prostitution. For them it is a lose/lose situation. They run from one dehumanizing practice into the arms of an even more abhorrent future. The message is to cover up or be completely uncovered. The women’s movement in Islam is rooted in cultural shifts towards feminism that characterized the 1970’s. Current female political figures in the Islam world find that forward thinking towards equality is grounds for continual and fatal threats against their lives and the lives of their families. 

Hinduism

In India the women’s movement accompanied colonization by the British Empire in the late 19th century. Pandita Ramabai is considered the mother of the women’s movement in India. Her motivation to improve social conditions for women is accredited to her conversion to Christianity in 1883. Ramabai rebelled against the exploitive nature of the Hindu religion.

       The Hindu and Muslim women in India began forming groups and societies as early as the 1860‘s. They would discuss the evils of the Purdah System and polygamy. The establishment of the Young Women’s Christian Association in India in the 1880‘s gave them the confidence they needed to speak out against injustice. A group called Rashtra Sevika Samiti (RSS) founded in 1936 took up the causes of fetus testing, infanticide, and the abortion of female infants considering these practices an extreme insult to women. They felt such practices were an overall attempt to thin out the Hindu population in the name of family planning.

The male population outnumbers the female population in all religious communities.  Hindu feminists consider the caste system to be the main cause of all societal ills against women to include domestic and societal abuse and female infanticide. They believe it to be an assault to woman’s character, piety and moral conduct. Most women attempting to maintain some semblance of Hindu culture cannot reconcile with women’s movements. There is little to no shift towards an interpretation that would allow both to coexist. In a recent work, Sheryl WuDunn tells the horrific stories of Dalit life in Indian slums. The injustices suffered in this culture are a matter of human rights and are not confined to women’s issues, yet women are leading the outcry as their husbands, brothers, and sons also suffer at the hands of the caste system.

Buddhism

Women in Buddhist influenced cultures are trapped in the dichotomous dynamics of the over-sexualized female and a complete denial of any beneficial sexual identity. The Buddhist view of women aligns with a patriarchal power structure reflecting the educated religious elite and leaves no room for sexual egalitarianism.  Buddhist texts represent the masculine as sacred and feminine as obscene and defective. The result for women is an association with their feminine identity as secular, powerless, profane and imperfect.

       Women took note of the destructive images that prevented their spiritual fulfillment and an exploration of feminism into Buddhism began in the 1930‘s prompted by I.B. Horner’s Women Under Primitive Buddhism. Horner pointed out the glorification of the role of prostitute and desirable traits frequently portrayed in Buddhist literature. In contrast, much was also written on the preference for sexual transcendence. The role of the mother in society was completely devalued. The dichotomy dictated that women’s sexuality must either be completely evil or nonexistent. As neither option is a reality, women’s power in society was virtually eliminated. Buddhism, not unlike some primitive thought in Christianity, viewed sexuality as a result of a fallen world, or as they phrase it, the “devolution of the cosmos.”

  With such transcendent knowledge, the soteriological path for women became the complete reversal of their sexuality and worldly desires and in some sects, their transformation and rebirth as male. Due to the intense emphasis in Buddhism on detachment from worldly senses, motherhood is resented and understood as an undesirable attachment and bond with this world. As with Islam and Hinduism, Buddhist texts portrayed the female sex as physically and mentally weak, defective, and more vulnerable to ignorance. Not uncommon to Christian antifeminist arguments, Buddhists claimed that “if women left the domestic sphere of activities, social institutions would collapse with the expected breakdown of the family.”

Judaism

Judaism follows much the same path as that of Christianity. Recent studies have shown evidence of prominent female rabbinic leadership from the 1st century BC into the 6th century AD. Brooten explores the existence of several inscriptions from this time period bearing the titles “head of synagogue,” “leader,” “elder,” “mother of the synagogue,” and “priestess.” In her thesis, Brooten attempts to discern whether or not the titles are honorific or functional. She finds no grounds for honorific titles during this time period and concludes that the titles were functional. Brooten concedes that such roles for women were an exception to the norm, not unlike the present in Judaism. 

Aside from Brooten’s study, it is the consensus of most feminist scholars that the voices of women were silenced during the Talmudic period and disregarded by the men shaping Jewish liturgy.The winds of change stirred the hearts of ten jewish women in 1972 and they crashed the Conservative Rabbinical Assembly with a list of demands towards equal rights for women. The list did not include full rabbinical instatement and focused on smaller participatory tasks such as prayer and teaching in the synagogue. Women continue to move forward in Judaism and have a strong legacy and rich heritage that supports their case for egalitarianism. Cultural advances have been made for the celebration of womanhood in areas previously conceived of as taboo, such as sexuality, menstruation, and birth. 

Catholicism

Catholicism follows along the same lines as much of Christianity throughout history. Women have been afforded highly influential roles within the church, but remain short of offices such as priest and bishop. Common perception has been that women are not called to such offices and lack a general understanding of what it means to be a member of the clergy in the Catholic Church. 

A case study was conducted in the 1970‘s on one hundred women who professed a calling to the priesthood. These women were organized into five groups. The first two groups exemplified great spiritual depth and understanding of the role of priest. The latter three groups opined more on what was wrong with the role. While seen as negative in this particular case study, such sentiments are not uncommon to a professed purpose by women in other arenas. Upon being interviewed, both Michelle Bachmann and Sarah Palin, contemporary women in conservative politics and professed evangelicals, answered that their start in politics was motivated out of a need to change the corruption they saw around them - a corruption they perceived as a result of a “good old boy’s” network. 

The Catholic women interviewed believed God made men and women as helpmates who complement each other. From their perspective the priesthood is intrinsically limited today because of its exclusivity of women and the absence of this intended partnership in ministry. When exploring the reasons behind the women’s aspirations to the priesthood, their reasons were not any different than that of their male counterparts to include both healthy and unhealthy reasons. The overall assessment was that most women who profess to have a call to the priesthood are spiritually, emotionally, and socially stable with the ability to discern a call to the priesthood. Of the women interviewed seventy seven percent were acting out of legitimate awareness of God’s voice and a calling on their lives.

The Reformation and Beyond

Methodists can be credited with much of what we know of feminism today. Many evangelical groups attempt to view feminism as apart from Christianity when in actuality, it is a product of Christianity. Two verses come to mind that may help set the stage for the historical scene that played out in the 18th and 19th centuries. The first is from Joel’s prophecy, “I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.” The second verse is from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

The Methodist movement began with John Wesley in the 1740’s. Wesley found great value in the counsel of both men and women. He endorsed women’s charitable works and their influential prowess in leading others to Christ through personal testimony and prayer. John Wesley was an entrepreneur of sorts who took the message of the gospel beyond the walls of the church into the open air. Wesley was truly a reformist and attempted to bring about change within the Anglican tradition. He remained an Anglican for the duration of his life even amidst the continual debates that challenged the status quo. 

Due to the open-air setting of Wesley’s approach, many women found themselves uninhibited by the walls of the establishment, priestly raiments, and hallowed pulpit. Moving within the parameters of Wesley’s admonitions of testimony and prayer, women found themselves afforded the opportunity to preach. Uncertain of her allowances and not wanting to violate any unspoken mandate, Sarah Crosby wrote in 1769 to Wesley inquiring of the appropriateness of her preaching. In response, Wesley wrote to Ms. Crosby cautioning her against the appearance of preaching and advising her in ways to circumvent the issue. Eventually Wesley fully endorsed women in the task of preaching on the grounds of what he termed an extraordinary call. 

The first half of the 19th century saw a continuation of women as lay ministers throughout western culture and in evangelical settings. Women traveled the country serving parishes and preaching at revivals. Women were instrumental in leading movements for the abolition of slavery and prison reform. Women were not concerned with equal rights, but with the calling they felt to preach the gospel. In 1861 the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) presented a vote for the laity rights of women. The vote failed by a narrow margin, but was ratified in 1868 when once again the vote came to the floor of the General Conference (GC). The unforeseen consequence of the vote was the appearance of five female delegates at the General Conference. Secular and Christian journalists alike covered the event, as it predated any suffrage movement. The women were removed from the GC, but not for long. In 1904 twenty four women took their rightful places as lay delegates to the GC. Opponents of the decision voiced a fear that women, making up two thirds of the church population, would take over. These fears were unfounded and women strove to work responsibly in cooperation with the men of the church.Women have always been considered the mainstays of the Church throughout history and have constituted a majority. Modern sociologists identify the same trend in the early centuries of the Church. 

Conclusion

In analyzing the trends between the roles and influence of women in the early church and in evangelical movements, the common denominator for advancement towards women’s rights seems to be the manifest presence and work of the Holy Spirit. Every documented “wave” of the Holy Spirit is closely followed by what we also term “waves” of feminism. The reformative nature of the evangelical movement was a ripe field for the beginnings of women’s rights. From the early stages of the Church, Christians have been known for their innovative solutions for the betterment of society. Care and compassion for one another is exemplary of our roots and continues to be characteristic of the spread of the gospel. Christianity has always been at the cutting edge of societal reform.

Secular society, however, tends to take what good the Church has accomplished through strong ethics and principles and twist it for evil purposes. We see this happen in the institution of welfare states that counter the good accomplished by the liberation of minorities. We see the good accomplished towards healthy work conditions and fair pay bent towards the greed and corruption that now characterize many of our labor unions. We see the same perversion in what the Church desired to be a Spirit led movement towards an equal view of men and women in giftings and standing before God. Secular culture led feminism into a dark extreme of oppression that stripped women of their divinely designed femininity, sexuality, and modesty. Evangelical Christianity maintains at large, that men and women are created equal and that our differences contain meaning and purpose. 

Much is written in popular evangelical circles that confuses the facts surrounding the move of feminism and is counterproductive to the good accomplished by the Church. Fear of growth threatens to take us back centuries to an oppressive age predating the Reformation. One popular evangelical pastor bashes the temperance movement as an attempt to "wussify" the Christian man and strip him of his freedom. His observations on the temperance movement are uninformed and poorly researched and do not take into account the post war era and depression that was leading the country swiftly towards passivity and alcoholism. The temperance movement, regardless of what poor theology may have emerged in conjunction with it, most likely saved the nation from a sure plummet into dependency. As we have seen time and time again, the ramifications of war on returning veterans are overwhelming and immobilizing. Healing and time are required before soldiers can effectively reintegrate into family and society. Rwanda is a modern example of a country recovering from genocide through the efforts of women, while men take the needed time to rediscover and reinvent vision. Rwandan women lament the depression their men have fallen into and the passivity to which they have succumbed. They would do anything to pull their once stoic warriors away from the bottle and back into the present realities of rebuilding a country. The post war contributions of women worldwide to replenish, nurture, rejuvenate and sustain cultures are infamous throughout history and our story of civil war is no different. The temperance movement was an endeavor to save our men from the same fate. 

There are many faults and injustices that can be found within Evangelical Christianity in regards to women’s rights. I think there is still a great deal of work to accomplish if we ever hope to arrive at a Biblical egalitarian view. My approach has changed drastically from those early college days. I no longer run from the challenge presented by views of inequality, hoping to find freedom in the secular world. Now I meet the confrontation with anticipation, hoping to change the minds of those who would view me as incompetent or inferior in spiritual giftedness. Feminism is not a product of secular culture; it is a global movement that, as so many global movements before, was conceived in the fertile soil of the gospel and will continue to grow until it has reached fruition. 

When it comes to equality, no place is “safe”. However, comparatively speaking, as we have analyzed the present state of the major religions of the world and culture in general, Evangelical Christianity is clearly the most protected yet simultaneously liberating environment for healthy growth towards an egalitarian view of women as we are created to be - distinct, yet equal. Carolyn Custis James notes it well, “Women don’t want to create a parallel universe in the church for women, but desire instead to be incorporated into the ministries and life of the body of Christ - to be part of a Blessed Alliance living out the gospel together with their brothers.”

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