What Feminism is about for me (1)


In  my next few blog posts, I will be taking up the topics of feminism and patriarchy.

Who on earth came up with the idea that women should be of less value than men? As far as we can look back into history, we see women treated as less than human beings, without worth. The discrimination of women is astonishing, considering that at Creation, God created humankind in his image, as a double pack of equal worth. Of course, we know that we no longer live in the ideal world created by God and that things went terribly wrong at the outset when the first human couple decided to test their free will. Both Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit: Eve because she longed for more knowledge, and Adam, because he deliberately decided to disobey God’s command. The result was that their ideal world was destroyed. For thousands of years, we as women have suffered most under the resulting oppression and discrimination. 

God’s plan, however, was to restore his human children to their original condition. The basis of our Christian religion is the plan of salvation, by which God promised to eradicate the results of sin and create a new ideal world of justice and happiness. The price he paid was the life of his Son, Jesus Christ. If Christ was prepared to die for every human being, who are we to treat one half of humankind as beings of lesser worth?

Women’s rights are human rights, but women have to fight for this maxim to be acted upon. Women have always had to fight for their rights in society and much has been achieved. But women in many parts of the world still live in terrible oppression. We must help them surmount the barriers that have been placed before them.

Although women have with some success fought to improve their situation in society, their situation in many churches has not changed. Women are still excluded from full participation in the mission of the church. This is most notable in the current actions of Catholic women in Germany, who demand a total reform of the system of the church. Among other things, they demand the opening of all positions in the church to women. The movement is spreading around the world, with the Catholic Women’s Council serving as an umbrella organization for the many protest networks.

Many evangelical churches have embraced patriarchy as being instituted by God. The recently published book by Beth Allison Barr The Making of Biblical Womanhood refutes this concept and shows that although patriarchy was exercised in all cultures and still prevails, there is nothing divine about it.

Women are tired of waiting for things to change. They have constantly been told, “The Church is not yet ready for change. Have patience. Wait.” These words have been said in Rome and  in Silver Spring. It is time for all who believe in gender justice and equality to act. Standing up for women should be our Christian duty. Things will not change by themselves without action. That is why it fills me with satisfaction and hope when a church organization takes action to treat women equally because they are no longer willing to wait indefinitely.

My contribution to the effort is my book Tired of Waiting – Women in Church and Society, which I have just published. I hope that it will open eyes to the necessity of not just talking, but acting.

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