Looking Critically at Women and Religion

I really enjoyed the presentation today on Women and Religion, and I thought the religions that the group decided to focus on were good choices. Eastern Orthodoxy is certainly not a Christian sect that immediately comes to mind when most people think about Christianity (at least that would be my guess), and so Hannah and Larissa’s personal experiences with the churches were definitely not stories that I had heard before. Larissa in particular discussed how, while women have restrictive roles in the church, it does not feel oppressive because the church is just the way that it is. I wish we could have heard more about her take, but as it is, I’m not exactly sure I completely understand. On one hand I think a lot of women take that sort of stance with their churches – they want to stay in their church, they like the religion, so they push aside whatever might be holding them back, or any patriarchal values in the church as simply the way things are. I understand this point of view as being reconciliatory, but I think a more critical look at the way women are treated in the church is necessary.

I was also glad that we had time to discuss Islam and the French laws about head coverings. Because I’ve spent time in France and am studying French, I’ve had people ask about the laws and they often assume that the socialists of France were the ones who wanted to pass it. I think this stems from the stereotype that socialists and communists want to control everything and abolish religion, somehow. Like I said in class, it’s important to remember that these laws don’t represent the views of all politicians in France and all French people. French people, while mostly secular, are for the most part very tolerant of religion and religious practices; but there has been a lot of anti-Islamic sentiment in Europe as of late, due in large part to immigration, like Z said.

Overall, I really enjoyed the presentation and thought it was a great one to wrap up the course before the end of the semester. Having discussed religion and women all semester long in Dr. Miller’s Women in the Bible course, I think the group members did an excellent job of covering a wide variety of topics in a short amount of time. The presentation was informative and interesting.