In the Christian faith,
most of the focus is on men. Jesus, Joseph, the apostles, and the authors of
the Bible were all notable men that people of the current centuries discuss,
draw, and write about. Because this generation came from a patriarchal society,
the followers of this faith incorporated patriarchal aspects into their
everyday life. That being said, women were not always a huge part of conducting
religious matters. However, this has changed in recent years in not only
Christian faiths, but others as well.
Carol Ochs, Coordinator
of Graduate Programs and Visiting Professor of Philosophy at Hebrew Union
College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York, claims that there are several
ways that women are now contributing to religion (184). These ways include
expanding the norm, interpreting biblical history, restructuring religion,
enlarging the human boundary conditions, and understanding that humans are
created in the image of God (Ochs, 50).
Ochs believes that
women can expand the standard of religious women by promoting the stories of
women in the Bible and pointing out Biblical people who did not follow the
typical patriarchal standards of society at the time (50-51). By doing so women
can demonstrate to both other women and men that women were still a huge part
of Jewish and Christian faiths, even though men were sometimes more prominent.
This will hopefully invite modern day women to be more active participants in
their religion if they want women’s stories to be heard and feminist religious
images to be shared. Along a similar note, Ochs determined that women can
expand Biblical history by not solely looking at male dominated activities such
as conquests and wars, but also looking at trade, cooking, and day to day
living (51).
She also believes that
women can restructure religion by providing a greater openness to God’s
presence (Ochs, 52). She argues that women look at the ethics of the situation
and the entire Biblical background of an event whereas men tend to focus on one
single aspect only (Ochs 52), making it seem that women should be the
interpreters of history rather than men because they have a better view of the
whole picture. It would certainly be useful to analyze the Bible from both a
patriarchal and feminist perspective in order for followers to get a better
religious perspective. Ochs says that if women enlarge the human boundary
conditions of circumstance, conflict, guilt, suffering, and death this
perspective can be gained (53).
The last and one of the
most important ways Ochs believes women can contribute to religion is from
women’s understanding that all people are created in the image of God (54). She
states that women are more often not the primary caretakers of children and are
the only ones to experience childbirth (55). In this way, women are responsible
for boosting their child’s self-confidence and making them feel like worthwhile
children of God. If women are successful in their task, children will feel a
special connection to God and their religion, therefore expanding their faith.
Not only that, but they will feel the need to share their faith with others
through praying, religious literature, or even religious artwork.
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