Veiling Practices (updated since presentation)

Hi Everyone!

Presentation link if anyone needs to reference it at all:
http://prezi.com/wr2r-d8y-nzr/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy=

Also another cool video that tricked me a couple times: (Watch and see how many you can get right)

https://www.facebook.com/MvslimInspires/videos/1171243186278954/


So here is the article that we have decided to use in order to fully understand religion as a means for liberation and oppression:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/29/opinion/wanted-leaders-to-turn-interfaith-conflict-into-trust.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FMuslim%20Americans&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection&_r=0

In the class discussion there was talk of appropriation and what exactly was considered appropriate when deciding to wear a head covering when not practicing this religion. Overall, If you are playing "dress up" for the sake up playing dress up and not paying respect to origin then it could possibly align with appropriation of other cultures. Also, we discussed the issues of Islamophobia and the strengthening of that issue as people find excuses to come out of the wood-works because they think it is okay to behave that way. I think as a class we could conclude that there is a blanket of ignorance when other religions view veiling practices; not knowing that most religions in fact practice these kinds of covering practices (i.e. nuns, wedding ceremonies, etc.). Maybe we could consider ways that may create religiously diverse tolerance for one another. How do you think this could happen successfully?

The reading may help explain the question above as it offers a means for understanding and calls attention to the issue of religious intolerance across the board. An article like this could have been useful years ago and persistence is key. You can not create acceptance and safety in religious practice only when a political election doesn't go your way; there needs to be constant discussion. What do you think?

Basic Info From The Presentation:
In veiling practices there are many different perspectives that can be taken. One of the easiest way to understand the veiling practices from each religion is to converse with the person who is actually wearing the veil or covering. Though veiling has been present in most religions at some point or another, most often it is only referenced when discussing Islamic culture and tradition. Consider the type of veil being worn, and on what occasion. Different veils have different messages and different representations. The article cites instances of religious intolerance and ignorance as a need to resolve interfaith conflict. I think that this is a valid perspective to take, however it also cites the election of president elect Trump as fuel to consider the racial intolerance as "new" issues; Do you think this is valid?

Given that overview and reading the article, consider the following discussion questions for commentary:

1. What are your experiences with veiling practices?

2. Based on the article, what are the implications of freedom of expression, via the veil practice, when considering the new government that will take place in January?

3. What are some suggestions to dealing with religious bias or intolerance conflict?

4. How would you take the definition of "religiously diverse democracy" (from the article) and form your own definition based on how you experience the tensions?

Rereading the History of Women and Religions

Hello everyone,

Here’s another link to the New York Times article for Monday, Wanted: Leaders to Turn Interfaith Conflict Into Trust: 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/29/opinion/wanted-leaders-to-turn-interfaith-conflict-into-trust.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FMuslim%20Americans&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection

The fundamental lesson I want everyone to remember after our presentations on Monday is the importance of religion in women’s history. 

History itself is an interpretation. We choose how we perceive events of the past with a modern lens, which can limit or enhance our perspective. Unfortunately, our “modern lens” is designed for a white hegemonic viewership, which then normalizes this one perception and neglects the other histories (think intersectionaltiy). Religion and women’s roles are also interpretations. Bible scholar, Helen Sterk, argues that the Bible is, “Not sexist but that society’s sexism has led to interpretations of the Bible that ignore women’s presence” (DeFancisco and Palczeweski, 219). Meaning, that the Bible and other religious scriptures may not be inherently sexist, but today’s sexist society contorts our interpretation of religious doctrines to be sexist. A stigma attached to religion is its justification to oppress women, but this justification may be a result of our contemporary ideas about women and women’s roles. The Bible or the Quran are translated to serve a misogynistic world, yet when these scriptures are interpreted by looking at their female figures religion can become a source of empowerment.Women as justified servants to men, slaves or mothers is only one interpretation of women’s roles in religious scriptures. However, when history is reread for a nonsexist audience, religion has been home to feminist ideals all along. Religion was the initial space where women could excel creatively and intellectually. Historical figures such as the 12th century German nun, Hildegarde of Bingen, became an outspoken advocate for women’s rights within the church. She was a composer, author and leader who could only accomplish her achievements by becoming of woman of the church. Women’s activism in the United States was justified by religion. Initially, women entered public activist spaces in the abolitionist movement and used religious rhetoric to justify their cause. Eventually, abolitionist like the Grimkè sisters, were compelled to defend their rights as women which then became the catalyst for the American women’s rights movement. Throughout the women’s rights movement women used religion as the basis for their arguments. Suffragists and temperance leaders relied heavily on religion to justify universal suffrage and activism. Historically, we are taught about the separate spheres men and women inhabited. Men were considered the dominant gender overall, but women were thought be supreme moral beings compared to men. Religion was the one area where women were dominant and believed to be superior to men. There are many examples of women exercising their rights through religion, such as Anne Hutchinson, Mary Dyer, Frances Willard and much more. 

While you’re thinking about religion and women’s history considering some questions:

1. How do we interpret women’s history today? Is it thought to be important? 
2. What are your experiences learning women’s history? 
3. How can we effectively teach women’s history and the role of religion? 
4. How can we undo “history” to make it more inclusive and diverse? 

****UPDATE****

I thought everyone's insight today was great. I hope I emphasized that history is an interpretation and religion was an avenue for women to excel. Most importantly, religious texts are interpreted through historical and social contexts. Depending on how society interprets these texts they can change a society's values. Arguably, if female figures were highlighted from scriptures then people's perceptions of women could change. We also talked about how many women found their callings through religion, mostly because religion offered academic opportunities that were restricted from them in other areas. Activist women used religion as a means to justify their cause, because they interpreted the Bible differently from detractors.

When I asked the class, "What's your experience learning women's history?" The answers were not uncommon. Women's history is not a widely taught subject in schools. Like I previously stated, the white hegemonic, colonizer narrative is the accepted interpretation for history education. Women's history, like most histories, are neglected. However, women were (and are) part of every narrative. They were soldiers who fought in the American Revolution, the Civil War and more, yet these stories are untold. When people said they had been taught women's history it was restricted to a small handful of women. This is also a problematic and dangerous notion, because when we surmise women's history to the Susan B. Anthonys and Harriet Tubmans we lose essential parts of the narrative. History education must account for women's roles, individually and as groups. All important moments in history would be impossible without the group effort. Martin Luther King Jr. did not march through the Civil Rights Movement alone, yet history is taught with an individualistic vocabulary. This is where we see the power of historical interpretation, whose story gets told and whose does not. Which figures are emphasized and which are forgotten?

Scholars and women historians have established women's history as a field of academic study, but it is still developing. The National Women's History Museum, which exists only online due to lack of funding, celebrates scholar, Gerda Lerner. Lerner made it her life's work to ensure a place for women in history education. She helped founded women's history as a respected academic field of study and was a member of NOW (National Organization for Women). Her famous essay, Placing Women in History, focuses on how women's history changed from a narrative to interpretation. Lerner's work critically analyzed why women's history was neglected. She made it her mission to study accepted narratives and reinterpret them to rediscover women's roles.

https://www.nwhm.org/education-resources/biography/biographies/gerda-lerner/

When thinking about women's history education consider the following questions,

1) How can we restructure history education to include women's history?

2) How can the power of interpretation contort or censor history? (think in the women and religion context)

3) Based on your experiences in school, what other narratives would you want to include in history education that weren't taught?

4) What woman from history would you want to learn more about and why? 

Thank you everyone! 

African Americans and Religion

Alexandra Reynolds

Blog Post 1

Hello everyone,

The article to be read for Monday’s class on 12/5, is 

“http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/29/opinion/wanted-leaders-to-turn-interfaith-conflict-into-trust.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FMuslim%20Americans&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection” 

Some key points to keep in mind while reading this article is how you think religion can help bring people together. Although this article doesn’t exactly discuss African Americans in religion I think this is an important article to read about religion in general. Most religions declare a spiritual equality before their supreme deity and it’s important to understand the relationship between spiritual equality and social equality. There are many important historical women who have used religion to inspire them to do their brave acts such as Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman. Women in African American religion have been given more invisible roles than the men had. However, African American women have been known to be more religious than men. While the United States is considered a highly religious nation, African Americans are more religious on a variety of measures than the U.S population. Some of the measures include attendance at religious services, frequency of prayer, and religious importance in life. This can be seen through social media that a lot more African Americans are religious than other citizens in the United States. Some questions I will be discussing in class are:

1. African Americans stand out as the most religiously committed racial group in the nation. Why do you believe this is? 
2. What do you think the difference between spiritual equality and social equality is? And why do you think it’s important?
3. How have you seen religion in general bring people together in your own community?

Update (12/5/16)

Alexandra Reynolds

Blog Post 2

12/5/16

As I discussed in class, understanding the difference between spiritual equality and social equality is very important. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28) This is the quote that I started my presentation with and I think it relates to African Americans in general because God won’t judge a person based on things such as their skin color. If we connected social equality with spiritual equality, there would be a lot less oppressed groups, for we are all equal in His eyes. I mentioned four women that have specifically used religion as a means to improve society. Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Maria Miller Stewart all were motivated by religion. 

As I also mentioned during the presentation I would be providing the website that I used to find all of my statistics. http://www.pewforum.org/2009/01/30/a-religious-portrait-of-african-americans/ This website does a great job explaining many different factors of African Americans and religion. My questions will not be based on this website but feel free to check it out because it is very interesting.

Stephen D. Glazier is an American anthropologist. He is a Research Anthropologist at the Human Relations Area Files at Yale University. He has done fieldwork in Trinidad focusing on Caribbean religions, which I found interesting. He is interested in Religious Conversion across Cultures, Transcultural Psychiatry, Religion and Ecology, and Caribbean archaeology. He has written many books and articles, one of them being “If ‘Old Heads’ Could Talk.” in 2012. 

A couple discussion questions to think about are: 

1. Discuss a time that religion has played a crucial role in a decision you’ve made pertaining to work, school, friends, etc. 
2. Why do you think religion is very important to African Americans especially?
3. What is the difference between spiritual equality and social equality?
4. Why did many African American socialists use religion as a means of motivation?  

Sexuality and religion

Hey all! On Thursday I will be presenting on the topic of Sexuality and religion. The book focuses more on western religions more specifically on Christianity and due to the fact that I was raised in a catholic household this is what I personally know more about, so I apologize if my presentation mostly focuses on that religion in particular. While reading the reading for the article I would like you to think about experiences you have had concerning the two topics; if you were exposed to one religion more heavily I would love to hear about your experiences during the discussion! For me personally my parents never had any problems with others sexual orientation but the religion they followed has been known to not be as accepting of different sexual orientations or different ways of expressing it.

Keep in mind the ideas that were in earlier chapters about sexuality such as the fact that sexual orientation not only refers to attraction in a physical or romantic sense, but as both of them. Sexuality also looks at some ideas such as when some people do not follow gender normative roles.
The article I chose is titled “Is Christian Teaching on Sexuality Psychologically Harmful?” This article is told from the point of a Christian analyzing the stigma that is present about Christians and their child’s sexuality and what he thinks on the issue. I do want to mentions there are some harsher topics such as suicide discussed. The article discusses adolescents coming out to their religious families and how different families can receive the news differently. Here are a few topics to think about while you read, both the text and the article.

http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2015/02/14319/

1.      What has been your experience with a religious institution and their views on sexuality?

2.      In your experience, do you think that most religions have solid stances on their follower’s sexuality? Which aspects of it?

3.      Do you know anyone who might not be considered heteronormative? How was the news received by their family. (no need to share this in your posts if you feel uncomfortable with the topic.

4.      The article talks about parents not knowing how to handle it when their comes out to them, do you believe there are ways to prepare them?

5.       What are the author’s views on such issues?

Complementarians and Egalitarians

Hi everyone! I will be presenting the teachings of Complementarians and Egalitarians on Thursday. I know that these terms may be somewhat new to all of you, therefore, it is a good idea that you all become familiar with these terms so that understanding my presentation will be much easier. When reading my article, Women in Ministry: Beyond The Impasse, by following the link posted below, there are a few things that I would like everyone to keep in mind. With both of these terms directly relating to Religion, it may be a sensitive subject to some, as we all have our own Religious views and beliefs. Therefore, keeping an open mind and possibly making note of many of the teachings and beliefs stated in this article, hopefully it will result in open discussion and opinion during my presentation!


http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/98766.pdf


1) What are the beliefs that are associated with Complementarians and what are the beliefs that are associated with Egalitarians?

2) Does the information provided in this article directly correlate with your Religious beliefs? If not, what have you been taught and how does it differ?

3) Would this article be significantly different if it were to focus on men in ministry opposed to women? Why or why not?

4) How can the three books within the article that support evangelical viewpoints be compared and contrasted? Do they all center around the idea of "distribution of power" between men and women?

5) After reading the article, as well as the ideas and theologies based around the three books discussed within the article, have you created a better understanding of the material to build a consensus between Complementarians and Egalitarians?

**Update Post Presentation**

I greatly appreciate everyone who participated in my presentation and although there were many views and standpoints expressed in my presentation, I appreciate everyone giving their opinion respectfully and intuitively! Our class discussion assisted in creating a better understanding for everyone when confusion transpired in regards to Complementarians, Egalitarians, and the idea of equality. The topic of Religion leaves many open ended questions and concerns because we all have our own views, beliefs, and values. During the discussion, students provided their own personal opinions and while some were quite similar, our Religious beliefs created barriers in some ways that we were able to get through together. The ideas and views of Complementarians and Egalitarians were categorized as "abusive" by many students because in one way or another, there was degradation. Some could argue this to be true while others could and were able to dispute it. One major idea that was brought up during my presentation was the idea that since the beginning of time, the Bible has had a significant amount of male dominant figures opposed to female dominant figures. This has held true since the beginning of time, therefore with these beliefs being so set in stone, it is impossible for any one person's view or opinion to change these ideologies. Another major factor that was discussed in regards to the roles of Complementarians and Egalitarians was cultural views. Cultural views, beliefs, and values play as big of a role in a person's life as Religious views, beliefs, and values do. Therefore, a barrier is created when we strive to depict which view, Complementarian or Egalitarian, is more realistic, equal, and holds the most power in a relationship. The class discussion led to many unanswered questions in regards to why Jesus' apostles were strictly male and not one was female. Therefore, we assume that this may be when male dominance was enacted. The Christian Research Journal published an article called "A Woman's Place: The Evangelical Debate Over the Role of Women in the Church" which says, "Egalitarians believe the most compelling explanation of Jesus' failure to call women to be among the twelve apostles had to do with decorum, because the potential for scandal was too great. Complementarians point out that Jesus simply did not select a single female apostle"(2009). This statement alone is why we are left with so many unanswered questions, thoughts, and assumptions. After gaining knowledge on the Religious views and beliefs of Complementarians and Egalitarians hopefully you can better answer these questions:

1) In your household, relationship, workplace, or Religious community, which of these views have you seen enacted more and why do you think that may be?

2) The class agreed that both the Complementarian and Egalitarian view can be portrayed as "abusive." Do you agree or disagree? Why?

3) Are there any similar views that can be compared and contrasted to these Catholic and Christian Religious views within your own community, lifestyle, or Religion?

4) Would you agree or disagree that cultural views, roles, and assumptions can tie into these ideologies? Why or why not?

Ehlke, Ronald C. (2009). "A Woman's Place: The Evangelical Debate Over the Role of Women in the Church." Christian Research Journal, Vol. 22, Issue 4. Retrieved from http://www.equip.org/article/a-womans-place/.