Religion is a key aspect to the culture of today’s society, as well as, for thousands of years prior. One major key distinction remains, most religions are male dominated traditions. Catholic, Islamic, and Jewish philosophy truly exemplify this. However, the importance and major role women play within the realm of different theologies is evident. Mary, the Catholic Virgin Mary, the Jewish Rachel, and Islamic Fatima are three important saints whose influence and importance is recognized. The term saint sometimes may blur between mortal beings and heavenly realms. Nonetheless, the three saints named have significance within their particular religious content. Rachel, Mary and Fatima contrast significantly in legends, descriptions and religious philosophies, but are comparable in devotions and reasons revered.
The stories and narratives between these three women differ greatly. Rachel, for instance is present in the content of interpersonal relationships within the Jewish theories (Sered 131). According to the book of Genesis, Laban tricked Jacob into marrying Leah, Rachel’s sister, instead of her. Jacob suspected Laban of such action so he set up secret gestures for Rachel to give during the wedding ceremony. Rachel, however, could not go through with it after considering Leah and the possibility of shame upon her sister. After the ceremony, Rachel hid underneath Jacob and Leah’s bed and spoke for Leah so that Jacob would not recognize the voice and realize he married the wrong sister. Rachel was protecting her sister from humiliation both publically and privately. The story continues to explain that Rachel was infertile for many years. She eventually was blessed to conceive, but then later died during childbirth. “Rachel is portr...
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...s burning herself” (Wecker). The symbol is also associated with the Islamic word “Khasma” which means five- a number identified with fighting off the evil eye. As one can see the stories and opinions of these three important women may be disputed and theories challenged. However, regardless of the circumstances, some similarities still remain.
The topic of Rachel, Mary and Fatima drastically connect to the course. The class has been discussing all semester about the different positions women hold in different communities and at different times. In addition, the differences in religions and key figures are also addressed. The class has also touched on family dynamics and differences in familial structure. The topic of these women has been reviewed in class and with all the reasons combined makes the topic pertinent to a connection within the course of History 010.
...ths of the sixteenth century. Yes, women of that time and place left a very light mark on history. Eventually, the story the book tells spirals down into just some nasty courtroom feuds among family members. The story provides a driving narrative that brings into intimate contact disparate kinds that are still prevalent today. And the conclusion drawn from Anna's actions and reactions may surprise. In both everyday life and in times of crisis, women in the twenty first century has access to effective personal and legal resources.
During the rise and fall of the roman republic the social role women played in society had its influence in religion and in the domestic sphere. A woman’s social status at home changed very drastically, however, her role and duties were relatively static. Religiously few legal steps were taken towards women’s equality and a patriarchal system remained intact.
The spiritual development of a community is a component absent in western formulations of modernity. For Deeb’s interlocutors the process of spiritual modernity is manifested in public piety and “authenticated Islam.” Deeb argues that women are essential participants in the construction of piety and “authenticated Islam” within the enchanted modern. Forms of public piety and social participation, including veiling, community service, and hosting Ashura majlis are necessary components in shaping this enchanted modern. Deeb further examines women’s roles in shifting away from a perceived religious backwardness towards a modern society throughout the second part of her book. Her discussion of the Ashura festival commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Husayn illustrates the shift from a traditional (taqlidi) form of religious worship to “authenticated Islam.” Deeb discusses how latam- self-flagellation- is considered backwards and according to pious Shi’i women the authenticated practice involves learning the lessons from Ashura and applying them to everyday life. The differences in traditional verses authenticated Islamic practices of Ashura reflect the increased participation and roles of women in the commemoration, and in the process of developing public piety and “authenticated
In the beginning of Holy Feast and Holy Fast, Bynum provides background information on the history of women in religion during the Middle Ages, highlighting the different statuses of men and women in society during that time. It is important to understand the culture of the Middle Ages and the stereotypes surrounding men and women to appreciate Bynum’s connection between status, accessibility, and piety. As an example, Bynum mentions that there appear to be basic differences between even the lives of holy women and the lives of holy men, which was because “women lacked control over their wealth and marital status” (Bynum p. 25). Men are clearly construed here as having more power in their daily lives than women—this is a simple, but major, distinction between the two genders which provides reasoning towards their divergence in practices. Women’s s...
In the excerpt of Helen Maria’s Viramontes’ “Under the Feet of Jesus,” protagonist Estrella is depicted as intrigued and persistent in her pursuit of knowledge. This is conveyed through the use of literary elements such as selection of detail, figurative language and tone.
What does it mean to be Jewish or Muslim, or even Christian? What does an understanding of the history that intertwines faith and culture matter to how we live within those religious labels? The Red Tent and Stranger to History, while both using a different perspective, explores the connection between history, culture, and faith traditions, and how we must look at the past to understand our own present and future. Religious experience is distinctly different for women than it is for men, which is evident in Diamant’s portrayal of the silent roles females played in pre-Jewish culture. In contrast, Taseer discusses an experience from a uniquely male view, though both ask the same question: Why do the histories matter?
Miracles are often defined as an event that is unbelievable and unexpected, it can be a series of events and it is usually believed to be caused by godly powers or by unexplainable powers because it doesn’t follow the rules of nature. People who believe in miracles are often people of religion, because they believe its caused by the God they worship whereas people of no religion or strong scientific knowledge would either try to interpret these events with scientific causes or would not even consider them as events but rather as a delusion or events that are made up and had never took place.
I have always found the role of women in religion to be a fascinating and diverse subject, varying from community to community. Sometimes, the role of a woman in society is so closely linked to her religious role, that the two are indistinguishable. For example, why is it that some women are expected to upkeep the home and children without question? How are such gender roles assigned? Are these gender roles created by religion and upheld by culture or created by culture and upheld by religion? Where do such social expectations stem from? What does the daily life of a woman in religious groups that hold such expectations look like? And given these questions, is it possible for such roles to evolve? Has social change within gender roles occurred in the context of religion? In order to find the answers to these questions and questions like them, one must seek further insight of religion itself and the social context within which it exists.
Tradition of the Community: Starting in the Middle Ages, there were the first written accounts of visions of the Virgin Mary, but as the time moved into the Reformation Age, the visions of Mary became more and more frequent. People claimed she appeared them and acted as an instrument of God, telling them to spread the faith and build churches. The most well-known vision that took place during the Reformation when Mary appeared to Juan Diego of Guadalupe, Mexico in 1531.There were many reported miracles in the town that seemed to point to a divine being helping, for example, the roses in the middle of winter, an uncle miraculously cured of a deadly illness, and the image of the Virgin Mary on Juan’s tunic. This vision led to the spread of Christianity to the western hemisphere, and the fact that Mary was speaking Juan’s native language seemed to bring about the belief that Mary is truly the Mother of all Christians and the mediator of the word of God to common people. The vision of Mary at Guadalupe is just one of many that happened during the Reformation, and led to many shrines being built to honor the areas where Mary was believed to have appeared to the people. Each shrine had some symbolic meaning to honor Mary in specific ways. For example, in Guadalupe, the shrine to Mary included the Mexican flag to represent her reach to the Mexican culture, a purple background to represent Mary’s queenly figure, and a pink tunic to represent the sense of joy she fills the people who come into her presence with. With many people claiming to have seen the Virgin Mary, masses began to participate in the tradition of praying directly to Mary in addition to attending church. This allowed people to be able to connect in a stronger way with ...
The book became a great source of information for me, which explained the difficulties faced by women of the mentioned period. The author succeeded to convince me that today it is important to remember the ones who managed to change the course of history. Contemporary women should be thankful to the processes, which took place starting from the nineteenth century. Personally, I am the one believing that society should live in terms of equality. It is not fair and inhuman to create barriers to any of the social members.
Christianity is one of the oldest religions in the world, full of symbolism and historical figures that have caught the attention of many groups of people. Jesus Christ is the most talked about and most analyzed person from the Christian Bible, however, Mary has also been the topic of conversation for many, many time periods. She was once regarded as just the mother of Jesus, but as time went on and people began to look at her role in Christianity as a whole, she began to take on other roles including Mother of God, Mediatrix, and even Mother of all Christians. It is important for all Christians to analyze the origins of ideas in order to best understand how Biblical figures came to be known as the way we understand them to be today. Thus is the case with Mary. By tracing the understanding of Mary from the beginning of Christianity to today’s current society, we can better connect with past cultures and ideas.
She shares how she was clearly shown that that God is triune, that Jesus is the only way to God, that the Bible is God’s true Word, and that God did, indeed, want to be her Father. She shares the heartbreak of being ignored and shunned by her family (the most important unit in Islamic society), but also the goodness of God in providing her with so much more spiritual family—brothers and sisters in Christ—than the natural family she lost. She tells how her relationships with her servants changed, and how she was led to give up her comfortable house, her lovely gardens, and her privacy and leisure time for the sake of
Individuals in modern society often treat symbols - religious, cultural and otherwise - as absolute, often ignoring or forgetting the representative aspect of them. When combined with the patriarchy dominating and influencing our society, this is where the primary problem with symbols starts. In feminist theology, religious symbols and their respective associations, pose a great problem not only to the advancement of women’s right, but to the struggle for the equal representation of their voice, and rightly so, their experience. The role of feminist theologians in the recovery of an authentic God-language can only be achieved if there is a significant change from the male dominated religious symbolisms.
However much Islam and Christianity would seem to share common ground, the discussion is not complete without noting the parallels between this two that have taken center stage. Some of the remarkable differences as they try to answer deep life complexities arise in the areas of religious practices by both their adherents and the clergy (Dorothy 13-28). “There is also a stark contrast to the belief system subscribed to, means of salvation, scriptures”. The most prominent difference present concerns the belief of life after death and practices of depicting the metaphysical
Nazneen and Celie both belong to different culture, religion and nation, but they both are women, the weaker sex. They both belong to that gender which is always identified with the man. Therefore, they both are identified by their respective husband Chanu and Albert. Clara Nubile writes: “In childhood a women should be under her father’s control, in youth under her husband’s and when her husband is dead under her sons. She should not have independence” (1).