Women and religion. This is an extremely difficult subject for me. I am a very faithful person. I believe in God with all my heart. I believe in the power of prayer. I believe that God has a plan for all of us. Religion, or should I say spirituality, runs a deep thread through my life.
But, there are some things that disturb me about religion. I am a strong, independent woman with a voice. I often times find my voice lost in the male voices of my Southern Baptist upbringing. I do not think that wives should be submissive to their husbands at all costs. For one reason, this is unrealistic in today's world. Typically both men and women have to work to support their families. Therefore, I think they should have equality in their marriages. Secondly, I think women should be able to hold leadership positions within a church. By this, I mean they should be allowed to be ministers. Luckily, over the years, I have seen the tides turning in this direction. We have a woman Children's Minister in our church. I know of several other Baptist churches in our area that also have Children's Ministers that are women. But, this is not the norm. Thirdly, women should not have to stay in abusive marriages just to please their husbands. I do not think God meant for women to be battered and beat down. These are just a couple of my concerns I have regarding the negative qualities of religion.
On the other hand, there are many positive things about religion that I love. Church does provide a place for women to gather and socialize. There is great power in fellowship and friendship. I think this sense of belonging gives women feelings of worth and value. Church also provides women many leadership opportunities such as organizing events, teaching Sunday school, directing Vacation Bible School, etc. I am all for women being brought together in meaningful, positive ways!
So, I have conflicting views about religion. I think there are times when it can be overly extreme and other times when it is too passive. But, I love the Lord and I hope to be with Him in Heaven someday! Therefore, I'll stay faithful...
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1 comment:
I agree with much of what you have to say here. What sort of God would say it's okay for a wife to be beaten or emotionally abused by her husband? Not any sort of god that I would want to worship, that's for sure.
The problem in organized religion, I think, comes into play when people move away from the basic beliefs of Christianity and Jesus: loving each other, caring for those who need help, treating others as we wish to be treated.
I cringe when people say that the bible is the unadulterated word of God - do they truly think that anyone, man woman or child, could possibly speak for God? And what about the whole translation business? I just simply do not think that we have any understanding of what the bible really said, way back when God may (or may not have) said it. Humans have mucked about with it for centuries, and have had waaaayyy too much time to screw it up.
Good job!
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