Why do most, not all, mainstream religions fear women being equal?

Question

e.g. Catholicism - women cannot be priests, Some sects of Islam - women treated like property, Some Sects of Judiaism - women are unclean during the menstrual cycle.

Answer 1

Brad--no one said anything about interchangable.

As for the question--mainstream religions were founded under male-dominated patriarchal socities (is that redundant? lol)
And religion tends to avoid change--thinking that the way it was done back then is the way it was handed down from God or something like that. Therefore, most old religions want to force at least remnants of the old patriarchal society on the modern world. This is my take, anyway.

Answer 2

You're failing to note that women fill many, many leadership roles in the Catholic Church.

The Church runs many offices, facilities, and agencies. Hospitals, schools, homeless shelters, outreach agencies, crisis-pregnancy centers, and on and on and on ...

And many of these Church facilities are headed up by ... women.

The priesthood is hardly the only form of leadership in the Church. Again, you're failing to see that many, many leadership positions in the Church are very much open to women.

Christ treated women with a respect and an equality that was unheard of in His earthly time and place. Yet, He didn't choose any for ordained apostolic ministry -- not even to His own Blessed Mother did He bestow an ordained ministry.

To say that Catholicism treats women as less than equal simply on the basis of an all-male priesthood is, no offense, shallow thinking.

It's tantamount to saying that as far as service to the Church is concerned, the priesthood is the only thing that "counts" -- and it totally ignores (and demeans) the many, many other forms of service that women perform for the Church and its people.

Answer 3

Maybe coz the religions were made up men like mostly male oriented religions. Like I dunno any female prophets. Why would God create the menstrual cycle and then turn around and say there unclean? Don't see why women can't be priests, don't understand why women are treated so badly. Maybe coz women aren't' as physically strong as men. I think men just wrote that stuff. Another reason why I think most religions are man made.

Answer 4

I am not a Catholic, but just because a woman cannot be a pastor does not make them unequal. It just makes them not the same. Bear with me a minute. Before you say, "men and women are the same" think about that. They are clearly not the same--not the same physiologically, psychologically, or emotionally. God made men and women different. They were created equal, just like men. However, God made men to function differently from women, and women to function differently than men. Embrace the different roles :)

Answer 5

steevoford: You said:
"woman are our equals. well allmost they dont have johnsons so they dont get to make any rules or run things but they are our equals"

So, having a johnson is the qualification for making decisions???


In the Baha'i Faith, women and men are equal in the eyes of God. We believe in the emancipation of women, and in their full rights as human beings. Inequality retards not only the advancement of women, but of civilization itself. We are not required to obey husbands, women are respected and cherished. The only restriction is that women cannot be in combat, or have any occupation that requires the taking of life (like an executioner, as an extreme example). Women are life-giving creatures, so it's like choosing between two evils... if we have to choose someone to take a life (let's say in war), better men than women to do that. The station of woman is SO LOFTY because they are life-giving creatures, that taking a life is way beneath them. Not saying that men are life-taking creatures, but it's the better of the two.

Women and men are like two wings of a dove. There are not two right wings, nor two left wings. There are one right and one left wing. They are different, but equal. They must both be equally strong for the bird to fly.

Answer 6

Please do not relate islam to the Saudi's. Their royal relations accepts to abide by utilizing the islam dictated by utilizing very radical muslims observed as Wahhabies. This leads to some somewhat stupid regulations, e.g. someone advised me even as i became in Saudi Arabia that someone who steals a radio from a automobile may have his hand decrease yet would legally be considered innocuous for stealing an total automobile. Saudi's are per chance the worst muslims ever. do not communicate over with their twisted ideas about islam.

Answer 7

Good point. There is a lot of chauvinism still out there. I'm very involved in our church and I am amazed at the commitment level and energy level of women. I am amazed at how incredible they are.

I don't know about other religions but I do know that the Bible teaches the "headship" of man. In the garden of Eden, Eve sinned first and even influenced her husband to do the same. But, the dialogue throughout the Bible holds the man responsible. That's headship (or leadership). It's purely positional. It has nothing to do with worth or ability. It's unfortunate that too many men do not live up to the kind of "servant leadership" that Jesus modeled and the Bible teaches.

Hopefully you find this interesting, here is something I wrote the other day. I hope it inspires you as it did the lady that I shared it with.

The literary structure of Genesis, chapters 1-2 builds a two-fold magnificent emphasis. First, and I truly believe this, the passage is a powerful statement as to the magnificent beauty of woman as the precious jewel of all of God's creation. Think of it, six days of creation. Starting with the inanimate substances of water and dirt, the passage progresses to the more complex forms of plant life and animal life. It then crescendos to the 6th day when God creates the most magnificent of all his creatures. The sixth day is crowned with the creation of mankind in the very image of God. But then, it doesn't stop there. In that 6th day, developed in climactic fashion is the rather lengthy story that takes up a large portion of the 2 chapters of just how God created woman. The aspect, whether literal or figurative, of being taken from man's rib is miniscule compared to the volume of time spent on the creation of woman her self. I've never seen this before. But, the first 2 chapters of Genesis point to woman as the crowning jewel and the most magnificent creature of all of God's creation. Even man stands there stunned at and captivated by her beauty trying to make a statement that lives up to what God had done in creating the most beautiful creature on the planet.

The second climactic emphasis in the passage, of course, is the culmination of man and woman as a completed couple, husband and wife. But the fashion in which this is stated shifts from a more aesthetic description, when describing the creation, to a more axiomatic description, when making the marital declarations at the end of chapter 2. To me the emphasis on marriage in chapter 2 is anti-climactic compared to the almost poetic form in which the creation of woman is described.

But when I saw this and realized this, I too now appreciate that woman is truly the most magnificent of all of God's creatures, both in physical form as well as her inner capacity to love and appreciate all of the life that God created.

I know these words may seem flattering. But they are my attempt to capture and describe the essential beauty of woman, stated as eloquently as I can put it. And, that is the aesthetic and worshipful quest- to appreciate the beauty of God's creation and be left standing in awe of how awesome and beautiful God really is. And, when ever a man forgets this concept, God sends a beautiful woman by in front of him that literally arrests and captivates his attention causing him to lose concentration on whatever he was doing and to stop and take notice. Maybe the getting "weak in the knees" part of seeing an extraordinarily beautiful woman was so that man would fall to his knees and worship the God of all beauty at the site of the most beautiful creature He ever made.

Answer 8

do you mean equal
or do you mean interchangeable

equal does not mean interchangeable, which seems what you are suggesting. Read what RandyGe wrote

you are only showing half truths...

In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God. 1 Corinthians 11:11-12

Answer 9

No Islam respect women and consider as equal and complement to men. See this link for more info:
http://www.turntoislam.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21

Answer 10

It's not a fear thing as much as it is a God thing. In the Bible it says that women can not be head of a family or a church.