Theories of Religion - Feminism & Marxism

Question 1

How does religion act as a stained glass ceiling?

Answer 1

Armstrong
Women are blocked from obtaining senior positions within religious institutions
- Orthodoc Judaism and Catholicism forbid women to be priest, although there have been women priests in the Church of England since 1994, 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

Question 2

Who argues that religious customs marginalise and devalue women?

Answer 2

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

Question 3

How are religious laws and customs patriarchal?

Answer 3

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

Question 4

Who argues religion oppresses women?

Answer 4

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’

Question 5

How are women negatively depicted in religion?

Answer 5

Largely feature male prophets
Women are depicted negatively, for example, Eve was seduced by the snake which led to the downfall of humanity

Question 6

How can religion empower women?

Answer 6

Gillat-Ray
Religion acts as a form of liberation for Muslim women
Some young British Muslim women chose to wear hijab in order to gain parental approval to enter further education, employment, where Muslim women’s presence has traditionally been problematic
Hijab is a symbol of liberation that allows them to enter public sphere without being condemned as immodest

Question 7

Criticism of feminist view of religion

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Stats that criticises feminist view

Answer 8

1/3 of all Unitarian ministers are female over 1/5 of Priests in the Church of England are female

Question 9

How does religion act as an opiate of the masses?

Answer 9

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
- Religion is a product of alienation (loosing control over something one has created)
- Legitimises class inequality

Question 10

Marxism - Spiritual gin

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Marxism - dual nature of religion

Answer 11

Bloch
- Although religion prohibits change by disguising inequality - it can challenge the status quo and encourage social change and rebellion
Religion is an expression of the ‘principle of hope’ our dreams for a better life that contain images of utopia