Theories of Religion - Feminism & Marxism Flashcards
Feminism - Stained glass ceiling
Armstrong
Women are blocked from obtaining senior positions within religious institutions
- First female bishop appointed in the CoE in 2015
- Most branches of Islam do not recognise female imams - some debate whether women can ever lead prayers
Feminism - Religious customs
Holm
- Religious customs in places of worship marginalise women
- Women pray behind men or screens
- In Islam, women who are menstruating are not allowed to touch the Quran
- Menstruating is considered impure
Religious laws and customs
Catholic church bans abortion and artificial contraception
In Islam, men can divorce their wives without agreement of others unilaterally while women must secure their husband’s consent or involve other religious authorities
Feminism - Religion oppresses women
De Beauvoir
Religion compensates women for their second-class status, women tolerate inequality as they believe they will be rewarded in heaven
Religion feeds women ‘daydreams’
Feminism - sacred texts
Largely feature male prophets
Women are depicted negatively, for example, Eve was seduced by the snake which led to the downfall of humanity
How can religion empower women?
Gillat-Ray
Some young Muslim women chose to wear hijab in order to gain parental approval to enter further education, employment
Hijab is a symbol of liberation that allows them to enter public sphere without being condemned as immoral
Criticism of feminist view of religion
Feminists only focus on monotheistic religions, Hinduism is polytheistic and has multiple female Gods, which promotes female empowerment acting as a force for resistance against the patriarchy
Stats that criticises feminist view
1/3 of all Unitarian ministers are female over 1/5 of Priests in the Church of England are female
Marxism - opium of the masses
Marx
- Religion acts as an opiate to dull the pain of exploitation as a result of alienation (in capitalist society, workers have no control over production process)
- Just as opium, masks the pain rather than treating the underlying issues that creates a need for it
- Legitimises class inequality
Marxism - Spiritual gin
Lenin
- An intoxicant doled to the masses by the ruling class to confuse them and keep them in their place
- Ruling class use religion as a tool to maintain social hierarchy and justify class inequality - stops them from attempting to overthrow ruling class by creating a ‘mystic fog’ that obscures reality
Marxism - dual nature of religion
Bloch
- Although religion prohibits change by disguising inequality - it can challenge the status quo and encourage social change
