Faith Attitudes to Women
It is probably the three Abrahamic faiths that have raised the most public debate about the role of women in their faiths. Scholars seem to manage to use the scriptures to support either the subjugation or the emancipation of women. But generally what is seen from outside the faith communities is the former – that these faiths are used to ‘keep women in their place’, and it is interesting that Nicola Slee in her work on Women’s Faith Development in Christianity discovers that a common feature is an experience of alienation caused by the church, through which women have to discover the reality of a faith for themselves. Other books such as Azar Nafisi’s Reading Lolita In Tehran or Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s The Caged Virgin give insights into the reality of the experience from the perspective of women within Islam.
An overview of historical and modern attitudes towards women in Christianity, and an analysis of views according to denomination
Troubled by negative attitudes towards women in the church?
Madonna or whore – the two role models for women in Christianity?
and the Jewish myth of Lilith:
Jewish Christian Literature: Lilith
and Christopher LCE Witcombe on Lilith
A thorough article supporting the Catholic view against ordaining women
Gandhi and the status of women (and the writer’s concern this is no longer embedded in India)
A site that has the primary purpose of being a resource for Western converts to Islam and those considering becoming Muslim. Links to a large number of other sites and articles, including debates about the role and rights of women
The role of women in Judaism, predominantly from the Orthodox viewpoint
Recognising that the voices of women of faith are absent in public conversation in America, the Women of Faith Media Initiative has been launched. The list of experts includes Sikhs, Muslims, Christians and Jews
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