Bad Religion

BAD RELIGION

Male dominance is a tactic that has invaded and been practiced by most of the worldís established religions. Christianity is one of the most eminent religions created by a male point of view. "Christian thought has found females theologically problematic." Examples of this are seen in the writings of St. Paul ("Man was not created for the sake of woman, but woman for the sake of man.") and quotes in the Bible ("The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her fornication: and on her forehead was written a name, a mystery: "Babylon the great, mother of whores and of earthís abominations." And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses of Jesus."
Hinduism uses goddesses to portray cultural views of womenís evil nature. The goddess Kali- which means dark or black - is a perfect example. She is usually depicted as naked, smeared with blood, decorated with fangs, a necklace of severed heads, and earrings of childrenís corpses. She is the goddess of fury and is irrational and uncontrollable. She "threatens stability and order. Although she may be said to serve order in her role as slayer of demons, more often than not she becomes so frenzied on the battle-field, usually becoming drunk on the blood of her victims, that she herself begins to destroy the world that she is suppose to protect. In association with other goddesses she appears to represent their wrath and fury, a frightening, dangerous dimension of the divine feminine that is released when theses goddesses become enraged."
Confucius was very much concerned with maintain the social hierarchy he perceived as being handed to him by the ancients. This hierarchy placed the male emperor at the top of the society at large, and the husband/father at the top within the family. He spoke a lot about the "authoritative gentleman" as being the ultimate in human self-realization. So it seems that for Confucius, women were not a high priority. When the subject of women did come up, it was in an indirect manner, likening "fools" and "small minded men" to womenódecidedly non-authoritative, in his opinion. "When Confucius does speak about women, he does so in derogatory terms, suggesting that they are generally unruly and resistant to legitimate authority." For centuries women have struggled to find their place within these traditional guidelines. Should it be assumed that they conform to or accept the male- dominated religions? Is religion a vehicle that has perpetuated and amplified an otherwise minor or nonexistent imbalance of power? Or is the male dominance in religion an indication that males are the source of the problem, which finds its solution in religion? Do females truly play an integral role in the dominant religions, or are they delegated to the periphery, doomed to perform auxiliary functions? Are the majority of women even aware of the inequality that surrounds the basis of their religious beliefs? It is with these questions that we began to study womenís role in religion.
Some theorists, such as Richard Wright and E.O. Wilson see this inequality is rooted in human biology. Richard Wright has applied animalistic tendencies to explain human nature. He bases most of his ideas (including support of the Madonna/Whore Dichotomy) around the "aggressive male/ passive female" generalization. In his book, "The Moral Animal" he says, "One can imagine courtship as, among other things, a process of placing a woman in one category or the other. The test would run roughly as follows. If you find a woman who appears genetically suitable for investment, start spending lots of time with her. If she seems quite taken by you, and yet remains sexually aloof, stick with her. If, on the other hand, she seems eager for sex right away, then by all means oblige her. But if the sex does come that easily, you might want to shift from investment mode into exploitation mode. Her eagerness could mean sheíll always be an easy seductionónot a desirable quality in a wife."
However, if the Madonna/Whore Dichotomy is rooted in biology, how does one explain the cultural differences in its intensity? The Virgin Mary, for instance, is a perfect example of this refuting idea. The importance of the Dichotomy is significantly greater in South America than it is in North America. Roman Catholicism is the dominant religious tradition in South America, which places much emphasis on devotion to the Virgin of Guadeloupe. South Americans, subsequently tend to place much importance than North Americans upon the sexual experience of women. In the United States, Roman Catholic doctrine still preaches abstinence until marriage; however, there is far fewer stigmas placed upon those who do not comply.
This example led us to our hypothesis. Females are viewed as inherently more spiritual and more religious than men are. The stigma placed upon women arises when this stereotype is perceived to be compromised. Because of the notion that women are more spiritual, men often feel inferior in the eyes of God. They compensate for this "loss of power" by condemning portions of the female population ñ whether by placing restrictions upon, demonizing, or actively excluding them from theological consideration. We feel that sexism arises as a part of the socio-political dimension of religion and not the spiritual aspect of it. It varies between different cultures and religions and therefore should not be considered inherently grounded.
We examined how women are depicted in, dealt with, and orient themselves within the traditions of Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, and Hinduism and how these examples play into Wrightís theory of human behavior. Ultimately these past depictions of gender shape present ideas about women and play a part in how they identify to themselves. These ideas also determine future structuring. How humans collectively choose to think about gender and sex is the most powerful force in determining future paradigms.

METHODS:
We began by studying texts of and about the traditions in question, as well as scholarly texts pertaining to religion in general to get a sense of the doctrinal and theological terrain. We provided a sample from the Bible to several people, asking for their analysis. The results will be discussed in some depth later on. Additionally, we wanted to gain a better understanding of otherís unique views of religion, so we created the following survey.

Survey Questions: Male or Female?
1). Do you differentiate between religion and spirituality?
If so- do you consider yourself more religious or spiritual?
2) On a scale from 1-10(increasing importance) please rate the importance of Religion:
and Spirituality:
3) Are you a member of a congregation? - If so- what religion/denomination?
4) Do you attend church regularly?
5) Fill in the blank: G-d plays a ____________ role in my life.
6) Do you pray? If so- how often?
7) What is the goal of your spirituality? (Circle all that apply)
Enlightenment... Needs ...Forgiveness ... Wants
Welfare of Others... Redemption... Other_________
8) Do you feel your own religion is male dominated?
...Supports the Madonna/Whore Dichotomy?
9). Do you believe females play an integral role in your religion, or is it directed more
towards males?
10) In your opinion, are females, in general, more religious, less religious, or about as
religious males?
11) In your opinion, are females, in general, more spiritual, less spiritual, or about as
spiritual as males?

Results:

From the proceeding questions, we grouped the surveys by gender. We then entered our data into Statview and ran several analyses. First, we analyzed whether males or females were more likely to describe themselves as religious or spiritual. We found no significant gender difference, as an overwhelming majority of both sexes described themselves as "spiritual" and not "religious." In fact, only 4 people out of 44 described themselves as religious rather than spiritual (3 females, 1 male.)

The second analysis looked at whether males or females were more likely to view women as "more religious." Again, there was no significant difference. In relation to this, we found no significant evidence to suggest that women are viewed as more religious than men rather than as religious or less so. Out of 45 who returned responses, 25 viewed women as more religious, 19 viewed them as the same (as men), and 1 viewed them as less so.

Our next analysis looked at the gender difference in response to the question "are females more, less, or as spiritual as men." While most that responded were more likely to view women as "more spiritual" rather than "more religious," there was no significant difference in response between the genders. Of the 45 people who returned responses, 28 view women as more spiritual than men, 16 view them as being as spiritual, and 1 views women as less spiritual than men (a female, in fact!)

The only analysis that even came close to a gender difference had to do with church attendance. Of the 49 polled, females were much more likely than males to respond that they attend church regularly. However, our p-value was still a bit too high for this difference to be significant (p-value=. 0737.)

Discussion and Conclusion:

When analyzing the P-values in regards to the data, it is apparent that they are unusually high. This signifies inconclusive results. Speaking from hindsight, we could have achieved better results if we had surveyed a larger portion of the population. The fifty people we polled proved to be insufficient sampling. Also the nature of the topic, being religion, was difficult to empirically test. Religion, being based on a leap of faith, is about as subjective a topic as they come. When reading accounts of religious experiences from around the world however (especially among mystics,) we encounter some basic trends and similarities. The content may vary (a Christian sees Jesus, a Buddhist, Amitabha) but the general dynamics are constant. This may well point to a "subjective objectivity." That is to say, the experience is constant, but the way in which it affects the individual differs.
Earlier, we brought up another "survey" we gave out. This was an account from the Book of Genesis about which we asked the question "some would suggest that the first portion of the Book of Genesis represents an esoteric text, while others see this as a literal account of creation and Humankindís fall from grace (because of woman.) Still others would argue this to be nothing more than mythological fiction. What are your thoughts on this account?" We then gave this to a Professor of Comparative religion, as well as two students of religion. Professor Hanges writes "When set against the background of the cultural context of the period in which the religion of ancient Israel arises, the Genesis account clearly reflects the efforts of priestly specialists who have appropriated common mythic traditions from this cultural context in order to critically reflect upon from the Israelite theological perspective. They are theological statements and not historic or scientific."
A student of religion writes "the separation of man and woman has little to do with biology or sex, but something more akin to (but not exactly) psychological discord. Only someone who reads the text really literally would place the blame on "woman" in a material sense. "Woman" is simply the first distinction in Adam, that gives "him" the ability to reason, and hence "know." Gershom Scholem wrote that the first portion of the Book of Genesis is an "esoteric text par excellence..." Another student of religion pointed out that God himself admitted to use of "disguised" modes of communication. "To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given...The reason I speak to them in parables is that seeing they do not perceive and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand." (Matt. 13.10)
The proceeding discussion is relevant insofar as it is a plea, when undertaking the study of religion, to appreciate that there are (at least) two dynamics at play: the spiritual, codified process of individuation and self realization, and the socio-political "machine," utilized in order to promote the agendas and maintain the power base of the priestly elite. The latter is just the sort of system Jesus and the Buddha fought against in their respective times and places. Even today, we instinctively realize these two levels, and we might postulate that this is directly reflected in peoplesí response to the "religion versus spirituality" question (as stated before, people, many of whom had discarded organized religion, overwhelmingly identified themselves as spiritual.)
So, although our data was inconclusive, we learned much about religion itself and peopleís attitudes towards it over the course of the semester.

Bibiliography:

Campbell, Joseph. The Masks of God: Oriental Mythology. The Viking Press Inc., New
York 1962.

Gross, Rita M. Buddhism After Patriarchy. State University of New York Press,
New York 1993.

Stevenson, Leslie and Haberman, David. Ten Theories of Human Nature. Oxford
University Press, New York 1998.

Subbamma, Malladi. Hinduism and Women, Ajanta Pulications, Malka Ganj, Delhi
1992.

Wright, Robert, The Moral Animal. Vintage Books, Random House, Inc, New York
1994.

Young, Serinity, Ed. An Anthology of Sacred Texts by and About Women, The
Crossroad Publishing Company, New York 1993.

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