How can any self-respecting female be a member of any Christian church?

Question

Beside Judaism, Islam and Hinduism, Christianity in its tradition and practice is loaded with contempt for women.
I don't understand how any woman can subscribe to that and still keep a modicum of self-respect.

Answer 1

Neither can I, but I have thought about it a lot.
I was brought up strictly Catholic, but left at 20, for exactly that reason.
There are some female theologians, like Gretchen Hull, or Uta Ranke-Heinemann in Germany, who must be considered self-respecting females, but they are the exception.

I do believe that most girls growing up in a Christian environment get so brainwashed by the time they are 15 that they no longer even consider themselves qualified for any role in the church beyond putting flowers on the altar and cleaning the floor, even if they get on to good positions in their careers.
And most people don't read the Bible, which is not encouraged in Catholicism anyway, so they are blissfully unaware of the misogyny that's part and parcel of it.

So I think it's at least possible to call yourself a Catholic and be a self-respecting female, but that means you don't examine your religion too closely, or else that you must have the conviction that things as they are are wrong, and must be changed from within.

Answer 2

When will people tire of going into the mist for answers and guidance. How long will the long sleep continue for anyway?
In the first chapter of Genesis creation is accounted for on the true spiritual level that it is right now. God’s image was made manifest through male and female ideas. No part of God’s image is inferior.
If you want to believe that God actually needed a material rib to create a woman, that is your business, but remember that woman was created prior to this recreation version.
Human thought is slow to wake from the dream of the mist. Do you know what the mist is and the nature of it yet? If you do not groan a little on the inside, you do not know.

Answer 3

How can any self-respecting female be a member of any Christian church?

No, and here is why: 1 Corinthians 14:34

Answer 4

Martha took the typical woman's role: "Martha was distracted with much serving." Mary, however, took the supposedly "male" role: she "sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching." Martha apparently thought Mary was out of place in choosing the role of the "intellectual," for she complained to Jesus. But Jesus' response was a refusal to force all women into the stereotype: he treated Mary first of all as a person who was allowed to set her own priorities, and in this instance had "chosen the better part." And Jesus applauded her: "it is not to be taken from her."[14] Feminist Gretchen Hull calls Luke 10:38-42 "the most significant encounter because it taught that women should prefer studying theology over a preoccupation with domestic chores."

(from Gretchen Hull's "Equal to Serve: Women and Men in the Church and Home")

Answer 5

And where do you get that from ? There are many,many instances in the Bible where women are referred to as just as important as men :

Luke 13:16 :Jesus referred to a woman as a daughter of Abraham,giving her the same status as a son of Abraham.

Luke 8:1-3:Jesus taught many people,and some of his closest followers were women,including Mary Magdalene,Joanna,Susanna,and the sisters Mary and Martha.

Mark 10:11-12: Jesus gave women equal rights in divorcing their husbands,as men had divorcing their wives.

Judges 4 and 5 : Deborah was a Judge and the leader of the army.

How's that ?

Answer 6

The Apostle Paul said, what did he say? Oh yes, he said that women should keep silent in church. Church people generally pay a lot of attention to Paul; actually preferring his words over Jesus' words, cause Jesus goes way over the heads of most Christians.

But yes, you're right. Christianity is not a huge improvement over Isalm when it comes to respect for women. I'd stay out of all those places if I were a woman, especially if I were one with healthy self-respect.

Answer 7

From your point of view...you obiously do not understand how freeing Christianity is to women. Jesus treated women with honor and respect. He taught others to do the same.. He forgave those who should have been stoned to death for their sin. He makes me, a woman, equal with men... In Christ, there is neither male nor female, bond nor free... He came to set me free and I am free indeed. Some who don't read the Bible or follow its teachings, but instead follow the 'church' and its teachings, control women. But a true chirstian is a free Christian. I am free to be me... free to serve God... free to sing, preach, speak, love, teach and do what any man can do for God.

Answer 8

you see, the thing about modern religion, is that the people pick and choose what they want to believe out of its religious doctrines. they think they can go live in magical happytland in the sky, so long as they do (or say to do) a couple things out of the religious contexts. in todays USA, people have narrowed it down to simply believing in jesus to get into heaven, they dont care about how much sense it makes, they need their little security blanket and bygolly they'll have it.

Answer 9

True. A lot of Bible passages suggest that women are inferior. However, I think people have to take the Bible in the context of its (patriarchal) society at the time. Today, hopefully, people do not still believe that women should all be silent in Church and not be allowed to teach anything...

Answer 10

And people wonder why I'm agnostic.....

Thanks for pointing this out because it really is true.

I don't really know how to answer your question. I guess it would be that a self-respecting female cannot be a fully dedicated member of any Christian church or all of Christianity for that matter.