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gender & theology - Coggle Diagram

- - - - when we talk about God, we also use male imagery: He is the King. he is the Lord. he is traditionally seen as 'Our Father in Heaven'
      - biblical and popular image of God as a great patriarch in heaven has dominated the imagination of millions over thousands of years
      - we habitually use male pronouns: 'He' 'Him' and 'His'
    - - she refers to Proverbs 8 and the lang that refers to God as wisdom, which is personified as female
      - R argues that the image of God is far more feminine than many people actually knowledge
    - - surely, says Daly, this is the very epitome of sexist ideology. It is not enough then to just reform the Church - women must stand against the Church and form an 'Anti church' which is also 'Anti-christ'
      - D argues that Christianity is inherently male-dominated for many reasons. some of these are:
        
        the main idea in christianity is of God becoming Man. christianity insists that God was incarnated into a male body
        
        in christianity, women are blamed for the fall
    - - C Church talks about how God is genderless because God is presented in both male and female ways
  - - - biblical examples
        
        an important event in the Church's calendar is Pentecost. as described in the Bible, both men and women were present when the Holy Spirit visited JC's disciples and gave them the power to speak in tongues and evangelise
        
        numerous biblical examples of JC engaging with women. at the resurrection, arguably the most important event in the Christian story, JC first appeared to 2 women
      - Galations
        
        salvation seems available to irrespective of their sex
        
        St P's letter to them expresses importance of all being accepted in Church: 'there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus'
    - - patriarchal roots
        
        therefore, women will always be seen as second-class citizens and unable to be saved to the same extent as men
        
        the foundations of Christianity were developed in a patriarchal society (the Roman Empire). so its rooted will forever be male-dominated
      - maleness of God
        
        R argues that JC/Christianity cannot save women because JC is historically male, as is the Word/Logos of God, and JC is deemed the perfect example of what it means to be human
        
        if JC is the perfect human and is male, then its implied that men are superior and only can be saved
- - - - R argues that JC is presented in the Bible as being on the side of the marginalised and oppressed. JC is often with the poor and the downtrodden rather than with the rich and successful
      - this emphasis on the less fortunate and the oppressed seems far away from the stereotypical male image of the powerful warrior
    - - D argues that much of a Christianity is deeply and inherently sexist. she argues that Christian images and language about God are male-dominated and serve the interests of patriarchy
      - Reuther argues that there are female directions in the interior
    - - thinks that a male-dominated society promoted what she calls a phallic (penis-centered) morality, where values such as competition, rivalry, aggression, sexual virility, and ruthlessness are celebrated amongst men
      - D argues that this male-dominated imagery is clear in the OT
      - think that male-dominated Christian imagery has violent results. she thinks it is responsible for what she calls the 'unholy trinity' of rape, genocide and war
    - - according to R, change must come from within
      - D accuses Christianity of being fundamentally sexist, meaning it needs to be abandoned
- - - - when this happens, the wisdom of God is described and treated as a female - Greek word for wisdom is Sophia, a feminine word
      - in other words, instead of male language to talk about God, we find female language. God is 'feminised' rather than being seen as a man
      - God is wise. in the OT, God's wisdom is often personified
      - esp clear in Poverbs; 'Does not wisdom call put? / Does not understanding raise her voice? / At the highest point along the way, / where the paths meet, she takes her stand; / beside the gate leading into the city, / at the entrance, she cries aloud: / "To you, O people, I call out; / I raise my voice to all mankind."'
    - - his desire to help the oppressed seems far away from the stereotypical male image of the powerful warrior
      - JC often with the poor and the downtrodden rather than with the rich and successful
    - - JC's life and preaching focussed on the oppressed and marginalised and he is presented as being on the side of women on multiple occasions eg bleeding women or woman caught in act of adultery. this was not the norm and extremely liberal in such an Orthodox society
      - when JC was alive, many people were expecting a military style leader that could save them from Roman rule and oppression. JC was certainly not the type of Messiah that was expected
    - - God can be seen as female as male
      - femininity, Reuther argues, has as much right to be seen as an aspect of God's identity as maleness. JC is said to be the incarnation of God and if God can be seen to be female or have female aspects, then surely JC must also
      - male image of God (as father, as King, as Warrior etc) should not be seen as defining who God is
    - - she argues that there are more female interpretations of JC which have been ignored or marginalised by the Church
      - in book, she challenges the idea that the maleness of JC is basic to how we should understand him. she argues that his meleaness is not the most important factor in how he is viewed
- - - - female need for liberation
        
        war is defended by what D calls a 'phallic morality' and a 'phallic mentality' she argues that women need to seek liberation from this moral hypocrisy
      - overturning maleness of God
        
        traditional holy places were built were built and managed by men. for this reason, they should not be used anymore
        
        believes that maleness of God needs to be overturned
      - beliefs about war
        
        the horrors of war are associated with manly and adventurous virtues - men doing courageous and powerful acts of violence to defeat the enemy
        
        lang of violence I hidden by technical language: phrases like 'collateral damage' used to cover up the fact that the lives of innocent people are expendable
        
        D argues that war is an inevitable result of the male-dominated politics of the 19th and 20th centuries
      - return to pagan nature religions
        
        these kinds of religions (which Christianity replaced in many cultures) had female deities as their centre
        
        D wants a return to these ancient Goddess/Mother Nature religions since she believes that its not enough for men and women to be equal. m must learn to be silent and listen to w
        
        D recommends a return to ancient pagan nature religions which centred on the female and and Mother Nature as the essence of true spirituality
      - beliefs about genocide
        
        D believes that the current hierarchal structures place men over women in the same way that genocide sets one group over another
        
        genocide is the killing of a large group of people eg during holocaust, millions of Jews were executed. in rwanada, there was a mass genocide in the 90s
    - - identify systematic acts of rape
        
        identified systematic acts of violence towards women: rape genital mutiliation, foot binding, widow burning and hysterectomy
        
        Daly did not view rape only in theoretical terms
      - beliefs about God
        
        Daly believed Christianity had failed and God should be castrated because Christianity has reinforced rather than opposed male superiority, as can be seen in many Bible passages
      - link: rape and war
        
        pointed to the link between rape and war in the Bible, where Moses is enraged after a campaign against Midian because the commanders had spared the lives of all women: 'Now kill all the boys. And every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man'
        
        Daly argued there is a connection between the mentality od rape and phenomenon of war
      - the 'unholy trinity'
        
        suggested that the 'unholy trinity' of rape, genocide and war naturally exist in a world in which 'phallocentric power' is celebrated
        
        argued that the idea of a patriacrchal, fatherly God is the foundation of a sexist culture of unfair criticism and violence towards towards women and an unholy trinity of rape, genocide and war
        
        rape = oppression of women, via violence, pornography
        
        genocide = results from rape culture (one group -men- dominate another)
        
        war = symbols of male values, the church advocates for 'Just War' yet won't allows abortion/euthansia