Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Cedars, Cedarville University, Christianity, feminism, journalism
Cedarville University, never the greatest fan of academic freedom, has finally shut the door on its student newspaper. CU’s Public Relations department had censored the paper for about a semester in order to limit controversial content, but apparently those censors were not conservative enough for CU.
I take a certain amount of pride in knowing that my articles annoyed the trustees of Cedarville University. It means I did my job. I made people think, and the people who refused to think simply got angry as they always do. I didn’t think it was possible for my opinion of Cedarville to drop, but it has. News flash, CU: Censorship is not ok. You don’t have the right to tell people what to say unless they are participating in hate speech. You are not my babysitter. You are not my parent. You are not my pastor or my counselor or my conscience. Your job is to educate me, and you have failed this job miserably.
I feel that I’ve wasted tens of thousands of dollars on this school. CU specializes in brainwashing, not education. It’s also difficult not to see this as a personal attack. I’m aware that my articles only contributed to the problem; they did not create the problem. The world does not revolve around me and My Edgy Feminist Style. But I do think I’ve been misunderstood, and that no one’s bothered to correct the misunderstanding. Why is it so terrible to identify oneself as a feminist? Feminism is not so radical as people seem to think. Feminism is about equal respect and equal opportunities–no more and no less.
I don’t want to go down in history as that liberal feminist girl. Who would? I don’t want to be defined by my politics or my ideology, and yet because I am outspoken, that’s the label that CU’s administration and student body has pinned to me. It makes me easier to understand. I’m a known quantity and I’m that much easier to dismiss.
And they did. They dismissed me, and my friends, and all the work we put into the student newspaper. That’s not all right. And we won’t be quiet about it. I invite you to visit the following two sites: http://chronicle.com/temp/email2.php?id=ydzqSHptgsHpmY9qRdCgCfjxVnfGrShq and http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2009/04/cedarville_stud.html for more info on Cedarville’s latest Epic Fail.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Christianity, conservative christianity, feminism, fundamentalist Christianity, religion, sexism
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/19/gender.religion
In her article “I’m Not Praying” Cath Elliot makes the claim that religion is anti-feminist. “Christianity is and always has been antithetical to women’s freedom and equality, but it’s certainly not alone in this.” she writes. “It’s the patriarchy made manifest, male-dominated, set up by men to protect and perpetuate their power.”
Although Elliot does have a point–religion has been used to justify horrible human rights abuses that include the systematic oppression of women–her thesis is flawed. Religion is not inherently anti-feminist. Neither is Christianity. Individual Christians are often sexist, as are millions of people who may or may not be religious. The fact that the Christian God is portrayed as male doesn’t make Him sexist; if we want to be really theologically accurate, God is a Spirit and doesn’t even have a gender. He’s even ascribed female characteristics at certain points in the Bible.
There’s the problem of the Old Testament, of course. The Old Testament appears contradictory in its treatment of women, first treating them as property but also featuring strong women like Mariam, Deborah and Jael. The two books named for women are in the Old Testament, and both feature women who blatantly used their sexual power to achieve their own ends. These women are still celebrated by Christians, although the fact that Ruth “lay down” with Boaz and that Esther was a concubine are usually ignored.
I think it is Christianity’s traditional attitude toward women that feeds Elliot’s perception. My personal experience has been similar to hers. Most conservative Christians I know are sexist at least on some level. Some are more vocal than others. Worst of all, the women of this movement allow themselves to be oppressed. They are taught the lie that a woman’s place is at home, that she cannot preach or teach men, and that her main function is to be a subservient breeding machine for the head of the household. This is propaganda on the scale of Orwell’s Doublespeak, only this time the Party’s slogan (“War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength”) is lauded as Biblical truth.
Christian women have taken gradual steps toward gender equality. The United Methodist Church, the United Church of Christ, the Reformed Church of America, and certain Presbyterian and Anglican congregations permit female ministers. These churches recognize the inherent equality of women with men. But most denominations still forbid female leadership. The Southern Baptist Convention (with whom Cedarville is affiliated) recently reaffirmed its adherence to traditonal male headship. This creates a poisonous environment for women, and adds to the unflattering perception that people like Cath Elliot have of Christianity.
As long as women believe the conflicting idea that although they are of equal worth to men they are to be submissive to them, Christianity will be used as a tool to oppress and domineer females. Those of us who don’t swallow that lie need to take a stand. We need to reject the false dichotomy projected by Christian patriarchy. Until then, Cath Elliot’s point stands largely unchallenged.
Filed under: Christianity, Real Life, patriarchy | Tags: egalitarianism, feminism, patriarchy, quiverfull, vision forum, visionary daughters
I’ve encountered Christian patriarchy in one form or another since childhood, but until recently, I didn’t have a name for it. I started questioning it at age seven when I demanded to know why our church made girls wear skirts. “I don’t know, honey,” said my mother. “Well, that’s stupid,” I told her, and she didn’t argue. My mother is an outdoors person. She was a tomboy who played with Tonka trucks instead of dolls, and to this day she loves nothing more than to fish in a mountain stream on a fall day. You don’t wear skirts when you go fishing.
You can’t climb trees in them, either. I discovered this when I was eight. I attempted climbing our apple tree in a dress, which ripped. Mom said: “Sarah, you can wear a dress or climb trees. Not both.” I chose the trees and I’ve never looked back. My life has not been empty or unfulfilled because of that childhood decision. I don’t feel that I am somehow unfeminine because I like climbing trees or hate wearing dresses or better yet, plan to pursue a career. Organizations like Vision Forum and Visionary Daughters would have us believe that unmarried women should live at home until their eventual marriage. Apparently, marriage is to be the goal of every woman’s life. A career is unthinkable. Her sole job is to be a keeper at home, and her boss is her husband (and, allegedly, God). Independence? Higher education? Dating? Goodbye to them.
My parents have always told me that if I didn’t go to college, they were kicking me out after I was 18. They put great store in the ability to fend for oneself, and that is what I and my brother have been trained to do. We were encouraged to follow our dreams, to use our God-given abilities. Not once was I criticised as sinful or unwomanly because I preferred reading books to cooking or sewing. I am an International Studies major. I will be studying in Wales for the fall semester of 2009, and I’m hoping for an internship in DC next spring. Keep at home? No, thank you. I love to travel and I love to be on my own, and I don’t doubt that God’s made me that way for a reason.
I want to marry some day, maybe even have children. But it’s not my priority, and why should it be? My priority should be serving God. It’s a priority that I am trying to keep a priority. Other things like to creep in, but that’s life in this world. I’m grateful that my parents threatened to kick me out of the house if I didn’t do something with my life. I’m glad that my mother thinks it’s wierd for girls my age (19) to marry. She is of the firm conviction that the Quiverfull and Patriarchal camps are out of their minds, and more importantly, out of the Scriptures. And I am glad that my father finally recognized that I do not need him or my little brother to protect me.
A godly family, indeed.
