{"id":2069,"date":"2014-02-13T09:49:36","date_gmt":"2014-02-13T16:49:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/carynriswold\/?p=2069"},"modified":"2014-02-13T09:49:36","modified_gmt":"2014-02-13T16:49:36","slug":"dear-feminism-lets-talk-about-religion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/carynriswold\/2014\/02\/dear-feminism-lets-talk-about-religion\/","title":{"rendered":"Dear Feminism, Let’s Talk About Religion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>Gloria Steinem is right.\u00a0 We have to talk about religion more.\u00a0 When asked at the MAKERS Conference this week \u201cWhat do you think the biggest problem with feminism today is?\u201d she responded<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Anti-feminism [laughs]<\/em>. The work that women do is given no economic value whatsoever. We could go on about that. But we all know that. What we don\u2019t talk about enough is religion.<\/strong> I think that spirituality is one thing. But religion is just politics in the sky. I think we really have to talk about it. Because it gains power from silence.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In a piece over at Sojourners<\/em>, Jamie Calloway-Hanauer notes<\/a> that<\/p>\n

Steinem frequently speaks of the effects of religion on the feminist cause. In a\u00a02001 CNN interview<\/a>, Steinem said, \u201creligion is often politics made sacred. If God is a man, then man is God<\/strong>. We need to return and go forward to the understanding that there is God in all living things, not more in men than women \u2026 To believe otherwise is only an excuse for dominating women and nature.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Steinem there is of course paraphrasing radical feminist philosopher Mary Daly who argued in 1973<\/a> that \u201cif God is male, then the male is God.\u201d\u00a0 I do think that Calloway-Hanauer overstates Steinem\u2019s critique about religion and feminism here when she leads her piece with the claim that Steinem said religion is the biggest problem facing feminism.\u00a0 In order, in her response, Steinem rightly notes that anti-feminism is a big problem.\u00a0 Economic challenges affecting women are a big problem.\u00a0 And, as Calloway-Hanauer eventually notes, NOT TALKING about religion is a problem:<\/p>\n

the collective we are not crying foul when those in positions of moral authority assert that men are superior to women<\/strong>. To move closer to gender equality, [Steinem] proposes, the collective we must cry foul.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In 2009 I made an argument<\/a> that feminists should care about Christianity.\u00a0 Not because Christianity or any religion for that matter is awesome.\u00a0 Quite the contrary.\u00a0 \"\"<\/a>Insofar as religion is and has been part of the problem in the oppression of women, feminists MUST pay attention to it.\u00a0 Engaging, reforming, transforming, challenging and upending systems perpetuating domination is what feminism must continue to be about.<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s talk about politics in the sky.\u00a0 Let\u2019s talk about how the concept and image of a male God has been used to keep women under patriarchal control.\u00a0 Let\u2019s talk about how women have actually been foundational figures in most religious traditions.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the thing that Steinem and too many other high profile feminist voices forget or simply fail to point out in their celebrity feminist conversations:\u00a0 Feminist theologians have been doing this for a long time.\u00a0 In print.\u00a0 In person.\u00a0 Online.\u00a0 I\u2019d be happy to provide a reading list if you just realized this.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re talking.\u00a0 Are you paying attention?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gloria Steinem is right.\u00a0 We have to talk about religion more.\u00a0 When asked at the MAKERS Conference this week \u201cWhat do you think the biggest problem with feminism today is?\u201d she responded: Anti-feminism [laughs]. The work that women do is given no economic value whatsoever. We could go on about that. But we all know […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1142,"featured_media":1273,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,4],"tags":[1006,728,731,729,730,121,732],"class_list":["post-2069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christianity","category-feminism","tag-feminism","tag-gloria-steinem","tag-jamie-calloway-hanauer","tag-jennifer-aniston","tag-makers","tag-religion","tag-sojourners"],"yoast_head":"\nDear Feminism, Let's Talk About Religion<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gloria Steinem is right.\u00a0 We have to talk about religion more.\u00a0 When asked at the MAKERS Conference this week \u201cWhat do you think the biggest problem with\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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