Gender Issues in Religion

Gender Issues in Religion

Amongst the world religions are many different attitudes towards

gender issues and sexuality. A hundred years ago, or even a lot less,

these different perspectives did not exist, as they were often

considered unimportant, as King noted 'until recently little attention

has been paid to gender differences and their impact on religious

teaching and practice.'[1] With some religions, their scriptures are

considered to be infallible and therefore not to be questioned. So the

question itself 'are religions sexist' is a fairly new one. Some

religions are thought of as being more sexist than others, but then

there are also religions that that do not share the shame ideas

amongst themselves, like Christianity, where attitudes towards these

sorts of issues can change from denomination to denomination. Whereas

in Paganism there is not a major source of religious teaching, like

the Bible, so is it correct to say that these types of religions have

more liberal views because there is nothing for them to act against?

Or is it possible that some Neo-Pagan groups have formed as a response

against some of these out dated views? The attitude of different

religions towards the equality of the sexes is a good indication to

how sexist they are.

In the Christian religion, the Roman Catholic tradition can be seen to

take the most extreme position where sexism is concerned. Catholicism,

being the first known branch of Christianity, began the first

Christian teachings that did not originate from the Bible. So these

first laws came from Roman law, 'which became the basis for the

Church's laws, granted women a low status in societ...

... middle of paper ...

... Anon. 'The Ordination of Women' at http://www.womenpriests.org/

accessed on 25/05/03

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[1] King 'Religion and Gender' p.647

[2] Anon 'The ordination of women'

[3] Anon 'The ordination of women'

[4] King 'Religion and Gender' p.649

[5] Anon 'What is Paganism?'

[6] Anon 'The Goddess Reborn'

[7] Crowley Principles of Paganism p.51

[8] Carmody 'Homosexuality and Roman Catholicism' p.136

[9] Douglas Sexuality and the Black Church p.90

[10] Douglas Sexuality and the Black Church p.91

[11] Anon 'What is Paganism'

[12] Greenwood 'The Magical Will, Gender and Power in Magical

Practices' p.195

[13] O'Neill 'Theology' p.36

[14] O'Neill 'Theology' p.36

[15] O'Neill 'Is Religion Liberating?' p.69