In The Name Of God

No, you can’t deny women their basic rights and pretend it’s about your ‘religious freedom.’ If you don’t like birth control, don’t use it. Religious freedom doesn’t mean you can force others to live by your own beliefs.

President Barack Obama

by Libby Anne cross posted from her blog Love, Joy Feminism

Evangelical teachings on repentance and forgiveness create a tremendous problem when it comes to rape or other forms of abuse. If you commit a sin and repent of it, God forgives you. I remember hearing Psalm 103:12 quoted constantly: “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” Of course, this was always said in a positive way—isn’t it awesome that God forgives us no matter what? But it doesn’t must mean God forgives us. It also means God forgives rapists, child molesters, and so on—fully and completely.

Dr. Willie Parker didn't perform abortions for the first 12 years of his practice. But then he changed his mind because of his faith.

Jesus Christ visits Sarah Silverman to discuss women's reproductive rights. For more information on how you can get involved, visit http://www.ladypartsjusti...

Blessed Angela of Foligno (1248 – 1309), a Franciscan tertiary, and Saint Catherine of Siena (1347 – 1380), a Dominican tertiary. They were Catholic holy women from medieval Italy.

These two women had mystical visions and practiced extreme mortification. While such behaviors may seem strange and somewhat detrimental to the modern feminist scholar, we must examine these behaviors from the context of the time period of Angela and Catherine. This paper will attempt to contextualize the actions and texts of both women, to show that though they appear on the surface to be the submissive ‘lambs’ of the Church which today’s feminists vilify, underneath the ‘lamb’s clothing’ of orthodoxy they are more akin to the ‘wolves’ contemporary feminists are seeking for inspiration. Angela and Catherine submitted to the Church by practicing imitatio Christi, becoming part of official orders as tertiaries and revealing their actions and visions to confessors.

In their behavior and writings, both women supported the ideals of the Church. This conformity allowed Angela and Catherine to avoid charges of heresy and to carve out a space for themselves within the Catholic Church. However, both women threatened to cross the line into heterodoxy with their critiques of the Church and the extreme degree to which they took their asceticism. In addition to their sanctity amongst the laity, both women were able to usurp some of the Church’s spiritual authority through their actions and texts. Thus, though both women wore the ‘lamb’s clothing’ of conformity, they were ‘wolves’ underneath.

Last week the delightful Vicky Beeching tweeted something about receiving abuse for having the audacity to advocate a feminist theological stance. His Grace pitched in, asking: "Who are these infallible zealots declaring that one may not be both feminist and Christian? Do they have idea of the meaning of either term?" This brought further censure and derision upon his own head. Perhaps a little clarification is required...

Thousands of young seminary girls crowd women’s section, prompting police to prevent entry of prayer activists.

Several hundred members of the Women of the Wall feminist prayer group were blocked from entering the women’s section of the Western Wall on Monday morning, with police saying the move was due to thousands of young Orthodox girls who had taken over the site. It was the first time in the group’s 25-year history that it was denied access to the women’s section for its monthly prayer session, Haaretz reported.

Police said that between 5,000 and 7,000 seminary girls had thronged the women’s area, on orders from their religious leadership, in order to deny access to the Women of the Wall. In addition, police said, about 1,000 ultra-Orthodox male protesters were in the Western Wall plaza seeking to disrupt the controversial prayer service, which is held by the Women of the Wall at the start of each new month (Rosh Chodesh).

Women of the Wall have increased their public profile this year after a series of confrontations at the Wall and subsequent legal rulings in their favor. The group, according to its website, seeks “the right, as women, to wear prayer shawls, pray and read from the Torah collectively and out loud at the Western Wall,” an objective that is vehemently opposed by the ultra-Orthodox.

When it comes to authority, there is no equality. You say, “How does your home run?” A dictatorship. Any questions? It’s a monarchy, okay? Mono. One boss. Okay? That’s how my home is run. That’s how every biblical home is run, by the way, okay? And you say, “Oh, your wife must hate you!” No, women love that. Because they were born to fill that role. Just like I was born to be the husband and the leader, my wife was born to be the wife and to be submissive and subject to me. And she’s gonna be most happier doing what God created her to do, just like I’m going to be most happy doing what God created me to do!

And, you know, you say, “Well, that’s not true, because I talk to all these women that are just, you know, they just want to be a feminist and stuff…” You know what? Here’s what I’ve found over the years: The women who are screaming the loudest that they want to be a feminist and that they don’t want a man telling them what to do, on the inside, are really screaming the loudest, please tell me what to do. Please put me in my place. And, you know what? If you don’t believe that? You’re just ignorant. It’s that simple.

And, yeah, I’m sure that there are some reprobate lesbians out there that have a different view. But let me tell you something: A normal woman, on the inside, wants to follow a leader. She wants to follow a husband. She wants a man there that she can look up to, not look down on…