When I was younger, before I knew what feminism was, I practiced religion. I come from a Christian-Catholic family, so every Sunday I would go to church and during some summers I would do religious education. I used to believe that the Bible told the truth of the creation of our world. I never questioned any of its contents until I grew older and became a feminist.
What got me thinking about religion and feminism lately is a class I’m taking this semester called “Language in Religion and Science.” This class talks about the language in the Bible and scientific documents. Just in the first two weeks of class, we conceived of the Bible as folklore written by men from a long time ago. This is how I feel about the Bible now.
Since becoming a feminist, I’ve realized how much content in the Bible is rooted in misogyny. Starting right from the beginning in the Book of Genesis, in chapter three of the creation story of Adam and Eve, we read about a woman being the one tempted by evil. We read about a woman being “punished” by God with the ability to become pregnant and give birth. But why is Eve the one who is tempted by the devil? Isn’t it true that every form of violence and evil in our world has been created by men? Wars such as World War I and II were started by men, genocides such as Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people were orchestrated and carried out by men, and the death penalty was created by men. So why is Eve the villain in this story?
Later on in the Book of Leviticus, chapter 15, the Bible describes women as being “unclean” during their menstrual cycle. When I read this section for my class, it really got me thinking about how much the Bible and religion has contributed to our current patriarchy. The female menstrual cycle is considered a taboo topic, and I would argue that it is because of this passage in Leviticus. In reality, the menstrual cycle is just a natural process that prepares a woman’s body for pregnancy, so why would it be considered “unclean”?
The treatment of and the lack of women in the Bible — and the fact that all of the Bible accounts are written by men — has made it difficult for me to believe that the contents of the Bible are real. Therefore, it is nothing but folklore to me now.
In addition to straying from believing in the Bible, I also stopped going to church and believing in its purpose. I don’t believe that it’s fair for only men to be priests and to teach Biblical readings. Why can’t women be priests? Are they not “worthy” enough or do they supposedly lack the knowledge to lead the church? Or is it simply about pushing patriarchy by only letting men lead?
Another issue I have with the church is based on my own experience with my local one. My local church (and this may not be the case for every church) started to push political views onto the church attendees. The focus became teaching why abortion is bad instead of teaching God’s word. They started to care more about teaching conservative views than actually doing what the church is supposed to do — praise God. With all of this being said, I still believe in a God. Maybe it’s not the same God as the Christian or Catholic God, but it’s a God I pray to every night. This God is not a man — they’re genderless. Some may say that my God isn’t real, but there’s never been a time when my prayers haven’t been answered. My God is real to me and always with me, and this God is the only aspect of “religion” left in my life since I became a feminist.
