Word Magazine March 1989 Page 5-6

RELIGION: ITS ROLE IN SOCIETY

Can It Be a Vehicle by Which Women and Men Are Allowed

Common and Equal Experiences of Humanity?

by Laurice B. Maloley

Religion broadly defined in Funk and Wagnall’s Standard Encyclopedia is “a way of life based upon man’s ultimate relation to the universe or God”. For me religion, and more specifically CHRISTIANITY is a spiritual journey, a path or road which could lead to happiness and peace — “the peace that surpasses all understanding.”

The foundation of the spiritual life of a Christian lies in the Gospel of Jesus Christ (His birth, life, death and resur­rection) and in the GOOD NEWS He preached. Christ nowhere distin­guished between men and women as children of God and objects of His redemptive ministry. Women in the life of Jesus of Nazareth were present from the ANNUNCIATION to the ASCEN­SION. It was through a woman that God became flesh, not using her as a passive instrument, but making a reali­zation of His plan of love depend on her acquiescence and her free adherence to her faith. Mary participated in the in­carnation not with her body only, but above all, by her trust to live in God’s will. (“Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to your word,” Luke 1:38.)

Jesus did not say much about wom­en; His views were expressed primarily in His actions, and these actions con­stituted a dramatic breakthrough with­in the society of His day. By the regard He showed to women, by the treatment He gave them, by the purity and univer­sality of His love and ministry, Jesus erased all lines of superiority or inferi­ority between men and women and placed all on the same level of grace.

One of Christianity’s greatest contri­butions to society is that it brought re­ligious equality to woman with man be­fore God. In the Early Church this was manifested by the inclusion of women in the apostolic meetings for prayer; there was a great variety of ministries in

which women served. Their work was of a charismatic nature; they taught, served as missionaries as well as in con­gregations, visited the sick and pre­pared women for baptism and burial.

In the Orthodox Church of the Byzantine period, the ordination of Deaconesses was similar in form and substance to that of the higher clergy (deacon, presbyter or bishop), in that it took place within the holy sanctuary and during Divine Liturgy. (Orthodox Women — Their Role and Participa­tion. Symposium O Agapia, Roumania — September, 1976) In the course of the centuries, the woman’s role in the life of the Church diminished. It is in­teresting to note that deaconesses were ordained in the Orthodox Church un­til the 12th century. The Reformation and other evolutions of the Church made no provisions for the office of Deaconesses and their ordination ceased. However, other traditions, cus­toms and mores of the Middle Eastern culture of yesterday remain very much a part of the Orthodox Church tradi­tions in North America today.

Babies are churched according to the Old Testament custom with male ba­bies being entered through the Royal Doors into the Holy Sanctuary; while female babies are taken up to the Doors and in some churches only as far as the top step leading to the Holy Sanctuary. The babies are always presented for churching by the mother. During the wedding ceremony, a Gold Crown is placed on the head of the groom while a Silver Crown is reserved for the bride.

The churching of babies can be un­derstood in Old Testament practices, but what is mind-boggling is the con­tinuation of discriminating practices af­ter baptism. The rite of baptism is said to be the acceptance of the baby into the Christian community, which is said to adhere to the NEW TESTAMENT of Jesus Christ. “It is finished” — the old law of Moses no longer is valid, but rather the ‘NEW COVENANT’, the ac­ceptance of which is said to put male and female on an equal level of grace through Jesus Christ. (“To all who received him, who believed in His name, He gave power to become chil­dren of God” —John 1:12).

The rite of baptism abolished the Old Testament rite of circumcision as a manifestation of entrance into the reli­gious community, however baptism into the Church of Jesus Christ did nothing to eradicate the Old Testament traditions and views in relation to wom­en. The Church continues to stigmatize woman because she was born female, and as such has a menstrual cycle each month, albeit, a biological function among other biological functions necessary in the procreation process. Jesus publicly cured a woman who had an issue of blood for over 12 years (Matt. 9:20) and all four Gospels relate the in­cident, therefore it is significant in the earthly ministry of our Lord. Here we are almost 2,000 years after His crucifix­ion, when He shed His blood for the sal­vation of all humanity, using the issue of blood to keep women on the outside looking in.

The old traditions and practices rein­force a false image of male supremacy and further define women as inferior beings. A society based on a superior/subordinate power structure breeds dis­content and violence. Religion can help woman become aware that she is an in­tegral part of humanity and she should be willing to take her place along side man before God. If humanity is to be purified and Christianized to a far greater extent, it is imperative to have an enlightened, spiritual womanhood. By nurturing and developing her spirituality, a woman will grow in Grace through Jesus Christ and will view her­self with self-esteem. She will be able to ‘passover’ from her individuality to her universality and to be in harmony with reality at its deepest level. She will come to understand that spiritual reality is unitary, in her wholeness she will be able to take responsibility for herself and to develop to her full potential. Through her spirituality, she can come to the realization of her ‘oneness’ with man before God. (“Male and female He created them and called their name Adam,” Gen. 5:2). Eve then was Adam’s second self and differed from him in sex only, not in nature.

Both men and women were endowed by God for equality and mutual inter­dependence. With equality, woman’s position would be improved and it can’t help but improve all aspects of society. Men would be free of the pressures im­posed upon them by the double stand­ard of our society. Both men and wom­en will be able to seek responsibilities within society compatible to their qual­ity of life. It should follow that society would benefit from happy, achieving, satisfied and loving individuals.

Equality and mutual interdepen­dence is achievable by adhering to Christian principles (“Love ye one an­other, as I have loved you,” John 15:12). In a family, the microcosm of society not founded on a power-oriented structure, mutual interdependence is manifested by love, respect, understanding and car­ing, not only for oneself, but for all fel­low human beings. There is no longer “me and you” but rather “we”.

Jesus stated in the Sermon on the Mount, that Christians are to be to life what salt is to food. This is a perfect ad­monition for the enlightened Christian Woman, as the family is the initial educational unit for religious growth and development. It is precisely in this area that a woman could contribute much of her talents to the shaping of so­ciety.

Through the teachings of Jesus Christ and by His example, we have been learning that life itself is a religion. Nothing is more sacred than a human being, and that the end of all institu­tions, whether the home, the Church or the educational establishments, is the development of the human soul.

Laurice B. Maloley is a member of the Church of St. John of Damascus in Ded­ham, MA.