Women and Religion
The issue of ‘Women and the Church’ is a much debated and often wearisome one, with each side of the argument refusing to give any ground whatsoever.
But what of women and religion? This is a topic currently under discussion at the women’s informal ‘Feminist Theology Group’. With the help of certain literature and hopefully soon the use of videos, we have been enlarging our understanding of the topic, as well as the knowledge and personal experiences of women in the group. So far we have looked at Turkish Islam and the Greek Orthodox Church, and women in Judaism. In the future we will be looking at other religions, including Christianity.
Just because we may be Christians, this should not mean that we confine our exploration to the status of women in our own religion. There is an infinite amount to be learnt from other religions, as well as simple interesting facts to be acquired. How can we ever hope to understand ourselves in isolation from others? As the saying goes (or rather, it does now!): “Woman is not an island.”
We hope to have other women in the group writing articles in this magazine in future issues, describing in more detail what we have been doing.
The Feminist Theology Group meets every other Friday (this term’s dates are November 24th and December 8th) in the Women’s Room (behind the Women’s Studies department in Heslington). All interested women are welcome — just bring some biscuits!