Essay Sample on Religious Studies: Feminism and Christianity

According to Dissident Daughters, it is possible for feminism and Christianity to work together. The churches call nationally and internationally for the creation of liturgies for conferences as well as workshops where they can teach everybody about the process of being integrated into the rights of women. There are programs that support both religion and feminism such that people can pay attention to spirituality and also politics. They can also participate in a community without having to compromise their spirituality or the need to explain their presuppositions. The evidence in the "Dissident Daughters" shows that feminism and Christianity can really work together to empower women Christians and thus it is not a case of fitting two fundamentally opposed belief systems in the same box with unsatisfying results.

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The liturgies created help to keep alive the memories as well as the imaginations of the women believers in the community as well as the men and children that identify with them. The liturgies also help to bring the religious wisdom of the feminist towards public expression. There is the empowerment for the feminists and also other various communities for the need of social transformation. The inspiration to join in the integration to feminism is from the inclusive aspects of a diverse religious tradition. It is inclusive of women listening to music, feminist readings, paying attention to the liberation struggles and also being with women and understanding their needs.

Churches even formed feminist celebrations that were in a bid to reclaim the Pentecost story. They were also meant to evoke new meanings for the participants. The book also shows the expression of delight on women when they were called upon to participate in sharing their gifts. The idea behind the representatives is that when young children are given the options to participate in informal settings, it offers the parent and the child as well an opportunity to share their spirituality.

The Pentecost liturgy is meant to keep alive the memories and the imagination of the community of Sophia-Spirit. They are known to be a feminist church. They seek to rekindle a feminist liturgical vision. Their members imagine a future where they are filled with the Sophia-spirit such that they are able to go forward with the feminist liturgies that will help them in sweeping away all the violence as well as oppression. They dream of a new dawn where the women and also the marginalized will be respected, freed and also filled with power in a way to actualize the liturgical gifts.

The dissident daughters celebrate women and worship at the Uniting Church in Fitzroy. They are known to be an open circle that are seeking to widen their circle. The worshipping community is made up of people that are attracted to the feminist move. There is an inclusive and justice-oriented nature of the liturgies to bring the lives of the members together. The mission statement puts some emphasis on the aspect of racial and also cultural differences. They help to ensure that there is a room for different voices and there is the diverse nature of worship.

Members of the Fitzroy churches are lesbians, gay or bisexual where majority of them had had to transfer from the traditional churches because they experienced disenchantment, harassment or abuse and there are some of them that have no previous religious experience and they are a hunt for a spiritual path for their lives. Generally, there are more churches supporting the inclusion of homosexual individuals in life and ministry as well as actively supporting their attitude during church times. It is to mean that modern churches are in support of various personalities and they are committed to a shared leadership as well as a congregation that they will enjoy immensely.

The Fitzroy church has developed a strong social justice focus as part of their mission. They have much of the focus being centralized on the analysis of the causes of issues like poverty and getting to plan the development of the inner city. There have been more justice focusing on gender issues and also sexuality which has been also in the present times.

The women from Fitzroy Uniting Church realized that they were in need of a worshipping space that was different from that of the men. They could use this space to reflect on their own experience as well as develop their own voice and spirituality. The majority of the women who were attending the church had in one way or the other been caught in violence or at the abusing arms of the men and they could only feel safe when they were in a women's space.

The women have benefitted from the Fitzroy church in gaining their confidence and standing for what they believe. There are also some of them that benefitted from drawing the experience of the church and starting their own independent worship centers for the women. It is unfortunate that some of the women have been deeply hurt in the traditional churches because they got abused by the clergy or because they experienced rejection as a result of being honest about their sexuality or supported their friends that were gay. The women and worship centers thus offer these individuals a safe place for meeting to test the new paths on their spiritual journey.

The beginning of the movement for the women where they started to claim their rights has a connection with the cultural development and to the second wave of feminism. Christianity used to dominate the religious and social landscapes compared to the present days where there was been significant weakening.

There is the presence of feminist rituals that encompass many varieties. Some of these rituals take place in small groups while there are some of them that are less structured and not so public. The feminist rituals also have commonalities where they are occasioned by issues as well as events which are close to the hearts of women. They express the rituals through gestures, symbols and words that have a significant meaning for the women hence helping in the choice of the representation of life.

In making life choices, the claim of women is that they have the authority in the public domain, which has been denied before. Through the support of the churches, women are reclaiming their power and becoming agents of change for the wider world. The rituals help in strengthening women personally and communally. The churches need to continue with the support that they are offering for feminism. The evidence in the "Dissident Daughters" shows that feminism and Christianity can really work together to empower women Christians and thus it is not a case of fitting two fundamentally opposed belief systems in the same box with the unsatisfying result.

Bibliography

Berger, Teresa, ed. Dissident Daughters: feminist liturgies in the global context. Westminster John Knox Press, 2001.