Women And Religion

Religion has existed for as long as man has. Both men, and women believed in a

superior being to explain the existence of life. Now with the different

varieties of religions, men and women play different roles that are permitted

by each one of them. Men are allowed to do as they please in the church as far

as the worshipping of god is concerned, but women have been and still are

restricted from performing some of the same task. Women are expected to follow

and obey the word of God just as much as men are, but they still are denied the

privilege of spreading the word of God. The male gender has dominated the world

for the past hundreds of years, but times have changed and women are seeking

equality. Even in the church, men are categorized as superior to women. Since

it is difficult to actually know what God wants from his followers, the Bible

is one source that has been used as reference to determine superiority of

genders in the church. "Jesus was a man who chose 12 male apostles to carry on

his work, therefore only men could be priest" (Connel A1), is a common

reference used to the scriptures found in the Bible. This attitude labeled

tradition is still around today and is being taught today throughout the world,

basically in the Roman Catholic religion. The Bible states "Let your women keep

silent in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak, but they

are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law" (I Corinthians

14:34). When a person receives the calling, whether man or woman, it usually

means that God is asking to become one of hisdisciples and spread his word.

Women receive this calling just like men, but because women have been denied

that privilege for so many years, they have no choice, but to serve only

between the boundaries that have been given to them. Since many churches have

finally given in to allowing women into the ministry, they now believe that God

does not have a gender, and there are a number of ways God can be addressed

without calling God a he or she. Another argument is that Jesus asked his

followers to "take up your cross, deny yourself , and follow me" (Ostling,

55): he did not say whether it should be man or women. Supporters of women's

ordination believe that what is important is that Jesus came to earth as a human,

not a male. One more argument stated stories that Christ was a carpenter,

which dictate that only those skilled with hand tools shall be called to the

priesthood. Besides a numerous amount of evidence in favor of women's