- Resources for Christian Living: Why
female images for God matter, women in early Christianity, and
an index of religion websites from Rutgers University.
- Special Topic: Religious influences
in silencing women's voices in music and art over history.
- Current Issues: News items of
interest to feminists.
Introduction
Greetings as we begin another year of "Web Explorations
for Christian Feminists." I've been thinking about making
some changes in format over the months to come; but for now, the
only change will be a discontinuance of the feature called,
"The World Wide Web and You." The site will now consist
of only three sections: resources for Christian living and
learning, a special topic, and current events.
Since the links under these headings will take you to sites
outside eewc.com, please keep in mind that the Evangelical and
Ecumenical Women's Caucus cannot be responsible for their content.
Nor does the inclusion of a link mean that this represents an
official position of EEWC. Rather, the links will simply direct
you to sites that I think you'll find interesting, informative,
challenging, and/or inspiring. I hope you'll enjoy exploring them.
Resources for Christian Living and Learning
Images of
God
Here is an excellent summary of some of the female images of
God found in scripture. This site from The Lutheran,
November 2001, a publication of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of
America, helps us see that each biblical image of God provides
another glimpse of what God is like. But at the same time, we are
reminded that none of the many images of God in Scripture is
complete in itself. The author, Elna Solvang, is an assistant
professor of religion at Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota.
Why
God Is Often "She"
In this article from Beliefnet.com, Elizabeth Johnson, author of She
Who Is, provides further evidence of female imagery for God in
Scripture. She tells why it is important, in our seeking to learn
more about the nature of God, that we do not neglect evidence of
God's maternal relationship to the world.
Women
in early Christianity
Ancient texts discovered in recent years provide a new view of
women's leadership roles in early Christianity. Karen L. King,
Professor of New Testament Studies and the History of Ancient
Christianity at Harvard University Divinity School, prepared this
overview as a supplement to PBS's Frontline series,
"From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians."
Virtual
Religion Index from Rutgers University
Here you can find information about virtually any topic related to
religion (in the broadest sense of the word). It contains an
impressive array of links and is an excellent resource for
research.
Special Topic
Silencing women's voices in music and art
The BBC reported in January that for the first time since 1992,
a
woman was seen singing on television in Afghanistan.
This angered the deputy chief justice of Afghanistan's Supreme
Court, who called the
public singing of women "un-Islamic" and demanded
such broadcasts be stopped. At first, executives of the state run
television station reconsidered their decision about allowing
women to sing on TV, thinking that perhaps the country was not yet
ready for such broadcasts. They were ready to discontinue the
practice. But Culture Minister Sayed Makhdoom Raheen stepped in
and reminded the executives that this was a new day in Afghanistan
and that the new constitution included equal
rights for women. So the singing continued.
However, more evidence of a sharp
division over the practice soon showed up in media reports.
Some religious and political leaders vehemently protested the
appearance of women and said such broadcasts must cease. These
leaders claimed that to prohibit women's singing on TV would not
deny women their rights but that women's rights would more
honorably be served if women fulfilled their "natural role in
society." That role included being veiled (something the
singers did not do) as well as remaining quietly behind the
scenes. The religious and political leaders who wanted to silence
women's voices believed that Islamic law, as they interpreted it,
has actually been embedded in the new constitution and must be
followed. At this writing, the controversy was continuing.
As I read those reports, I thought about how women's voices
have been silenced again and again throughout history in the
name of religion. Western culture is no exception. There was a
time in Christian history when 1 Corinthians 14:34 ("Let your
women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto
them to speak.") was used not only to prohibit women's
speaking in church but also to keep
women from singing in church choirs.
And such attitudes spilled over into areas outside of
institutionalized religion as well, with women's musical talents
stifled or left unrecognized as a result. One of the most
egregious examples of the lengths to which the church went to keep
women's voices silenced in public worship was the period when
choirs employed men known as castrati
singers. To produce powerful voices with upper registers, many
boys were castrated to prevent their voices from deepening as they
grew into adulthood . That way, choirs (and opera) could be
assured of having high voices available without the necessity of
using female singers. In 2001, human
rights groups and historians in Italy called upon the Pope to
apologize for the Church's historical condoning of such practices
(even though officially forbidden). The practice was said to have
been tolerated into the 20th century.
In an excerpt from her book, Eunuchs for the Kingdom of
Heaven: Women, Sexuality, and the Catholic Church, Uta
Ranke-Heinemann, a Roman Catholic feminist theologian in
Germany, refers to the general prohibition of women's singing in
church. She shows that it is but one item on a long list of ways
the Church instituted repression of women as it moved away
from the teachings and practices of Jesus and the early believers.
You can read more about the prohibitions
of women's ministry over history, including proscriptions
against women's singing at Women
Priests.org.
Of course, Christianity, whether in its Roman Catholic
expression or in the myriad of Protestant denominations, is by no
means the only religious faith in which a patriarchal takeover has
kept women from exercising their God-given gifts. Karen Armstrong,
whose book The Battle for God has received widespread
acclaim, wrote an article entitled "The
Eve of Destruction" in the January 14, 2004 issue of the
British newspaper, The Guardian, in which she tells of ways
women have been devalued and discriminated against in all the
major world faiths. What prompted her to write the article was the
renewed efforts of a group
opposed to women priests in the Anglican Church and desirous
of promoting an all-male enclave within the church as a preemptive
move before women are consecrated as bishops. The group opposed to
women in church leadership uses the name "Forward
in Faith."
Teachings about women's voice have also appeared in traditional
Jewish teachings, which instructed men not to listen to a
woman's singing if she is not related to them. Similarly, Islamic
teachings have also provided warnings about women's voices and
the intimacy and temptation they may create. Strict guidelines,
with regard to tone and volume, must be followed when women speak.
Despite all the restrictions that have placed obstacles in the
paths of women who wanted to develop and use their voices and
other talents, women have nevertheless achieved over the ages.
They have composed, performed, painted, sculpted, and spoken
publicly. Here are some sites to explore:
Women's Early
Music, Art, and Poetry
A goldmine of links to sites showing women's achievements in these
fields.
Women in
art
On this site, you can click on a long list of names of women
artists and see their paintings as well as read about their lives.
Feminism
in art
This site presents both illustrations and analysis of art in
relation to the feminist movement.
An
Interview with the Guerilla Girls
The Guerilla Girls comprise an unusual group of feminist activists
who fight bigotry in the art world through humor. Here they talk
about how they get noticed and what impact their message has been
having.
Gifts of Speech: Women's
speeches from around the World
This excellent resource from Sweet Briar College provides a vast
array of online speeches by women, including Elizabeth Cady
Stanton, Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, Helen Keller, Marie
Curie, Eleanor Roosevelt, Shirley Chisholm, Betty Friedan, Barbara
Jordan, and many, many more. Just click on "Browse," and
then choose names or dates. Plan to spend a long time on this site
and to revisit it many times.
Current Issues
New
book on women inventors throughout history
(Guardian Online, January 23, 2003)
"World's
Women Look to Win"
BBC, December 31, 2003
Saudi
Arabia's veil challenge
BBC, January 21, 2004
"Unveiled
women anger Saudi cleric"
BBC, January 21,2004
Muslim
cleric jailed in Spain for book on beating wives without leaving
marks
BBC, January 14, 2004
"Cleric
gets 15 months for book on how to beat wives" (more on
story above)
San Francisco Chronicle, January 15, 2004
"Morocco
boosts women's rights"
The Guardian, January 21, 2004
Britain
has its first female judge on highest court
BBC, January 12, 2004
More
about Britain's first female law lord and her views
The Guardian, November 6, 2003
Tech
savvy women treated poorly when shopping for electronics
BBC, January 11, 2003
Making
decisions about hormone therapy
San Francisco Chronicle, January 18, 2004
Women
in politics: San Francisco's example
San Francisco Chronicle, January 23, 2004
A
lesbian feminist Muslim calls for reform
San Francisco Chronicle, January 19, 2004
First
woman to head a major city fire department
San Francisco Chronicle, January 11, 2004
"Saudi
Women use Koran to advance fight for equality"
San Francisco Chronicle, December 28, 2004
"My
life as a modern day slave"
(BBC, January 26, 2003). For more information on human trafficking
and the modern slave trade, see the following human rights sites: Stop
Human Traffic and its parent site, Anti-slavery
International. Also, check out Free
the Slaves. You might also want to check out the
January/February, 2004 issue of Mother Jones magazine, noting
especially these articles: "Against
All Odds" and "21st
Century Abolitionists."
That's all for this edition of "Web
Explorations for Christian Feminists." I hope it has
stretched your mind and heart and provided new ideas and
information to think about. It may take you many visits to check
out all of the links, so be sure to come back and visit us often.
And don't forget to look at the archived editions as well.
Your Web Explorations tour guide,
Letha Dawson Scanzoni
© 2004 Evangelical and Ecumenical
Women's Caucus
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