Religious feminism

Feminist theology is a movement, generally in Christianity and Judaism, to reconsider the traditions, practices, scriptures, and theologies of their religion from a feminist perspective. Some of the goals of feminist theology include increasing the role of women among the clergy and religious authorities, reinterpreting male-dominated imagery and language about God, determining womens' place in relation to career and motherhood, and studying images of women in the religion's sacred texts.

The influence of religious feminism is completely responsible for the shift in Western gender roles in religion. Prior to feminism, women were considered as morally inferior to men and the source of many temptations, especially sexual infidelity. Women were believed to be dedicated to childbearing, their homes, and husbands and therefore had no part in preaching or writing. Men were considered more like God, essentially making women completely inferior to men. Change is not complete and many denominations still prohibit women preaching, and retain the belief that a husband is an authority set over a wife.

Methodology

Feminist theology attempts to consider every aspect of religious practice and thought. Some of the questions feminist theologians ask are:

How do we do theology? The basic question of how theologians may go about creating systems of thought is being reinterpreted by feminist theologians. Many feminist theologians assert that personal experience can be an important component of insight into the divine, along with the more traditional sources of holy books or received tradition. (The relevance of personal experience to the policies of groups of people is a familiar notion to veterans of the feminist movement.)

Who is God? Feminist theologians have pioneered the use of non- or multi-gendered language for God, holding that language powerfully impacts belief about the behavior and essence of God.

Where are women in religious history? Feminist historical theologians study the roles of women in periods throughout history that have impacted religion: the Biblical period, the early Christian era, medieval Europe, and any period of import to a particular religion. They study individual women who influenced their religion or whose religious faith led them to impact their culture. The work of these scholars has helped feminist theologians claim historical figures as their predecessors in feminist theology. For example, Sojourner Truth's "Ar'n't I a Woman?" speech pointed out, "Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman. Man had nothing to do with him!" Elizabeth Cady Stanton produced the "Woman's Bible," excising the traditional Christian text of all references she thought contradicted the positions of women's rights.

In Christianity

In Judaism

In Islam

Muslims generally reject the term feminism because they link it with Western promiscuity, sexual freedom, and negligence of childbearing. Nevertheless, feminism has so profoundly influenced Islam, especially among Western Muslims, that Muslims as a whole do not realize Islam was ever not feminist. Muslim literature, especially in proselytizing, emphasize the complementarian view that men and women are different but equality.

However, critics of Islam claim that the Qur'an and Muhammad are mysogynist and cannot consistently be reconciled with feminism. These include polygamy, wife beating, the existence of houris in paradise, the lack of female imams and prophets, and demanding that womens' first responsibilty is to bear children.

Other religions

In the latter part of the 20th Century, feminism was influential in the rise of Neopaganism in the United States, and particularly the Dianic tradition. Some feminists find the worship of an all-loving goddess, rather than a god, to be consonant with their views. The collective set of beliefs associated with this is sometimes known as thealogy and sometimes referred to as the Goddess movement. See also Dianic Wicca.

Gender and God

Others who practice feminist spirituality may instead adhere to a feminist re-interpretation of Western monotheistic traditions. In those cases, the notion of God as having a male gender is rejected, and God is not referred to using male pronouns. Feminist spirituality may also object to images of God that they perceive as authoritarian, parental, or disciplinarian, instead emphasizing "maternal" attributes such as nurturing, acceptance, and creativity.