Liberation Theology for Armchair Theologians by De La Torre Miguel A

Author:De La Torre, Miguel A. [De La Torre, Miguel A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
Published: 2013-10-01T16:00:00+00:00

U.S. Feminist Theologies

During the 1960s, a new feminist theology developed that, like Latin American liberation theology, began to retrieve elements of Christianity that had been ignored by the dominant theological voices. Philosophers such as Simone de Beauvoir of France influenced the feminist movement by capturing the reality of androcentrism and demonstrating how being male becomes normative for all humanity. The enterprise in which early feminist religious thinkers partook was not easy. They were up against a Christian patriarchy comprised exclusively of male theologians, ministers, and even a male deity. They challenged how Christianity had come to legitimize and normalize male superiority within the faith.

It would be simplistic to reduce U.S. feminism to a monolithic expression. Several types exist. For example, liberal feminists focus on equal rights; cultural feminists emphasize the moral superiority of women and the traditional values women are associated with, like compassion or nurturing; radical feminists are concerned with male dominance and the problems it causes; and socialist feminists recognize the role played by class within capitalist societies. While different forms of feminism exist, there is agreement on the task of empowering women to move beyond harmful stereotypes and to work against oppressive social structures.

Just as different types of feminism exist, so too can feminist theology be grouped as revolutionary, reformist, or reconstructionist. Revolutionary feminist theology is influenced by radical feminism and advocates a post-Christian system that turns toward goddess traditions. Many conclude, as did Mary Daly, that Christianity is irredeemably patriarchal and beyond reform. “If God is male,” Daly quipped, “then the male is God.” 2 Even though the church has had a centuries-long history of not treating women as equal human beings, Daly argued that if women’s liberation is to succeed, it must encompass a religious vision—but that the vision should not be primarily Christian.

Reformists, on the other hand, do not advocate abandoning Christianity, but reforming it by questioning the established role to which the church and society have relegated women. Reconstructionists may agree with the reformist commitment to Christianity, but they find the reformist response to patriarchy insufficient. They make a liberationist call to transform both the faith and society. Not surprisingly, many reconstructionists are liberationist feminists.

Liberationist feminists do not make apologies for Christianity’s patriarchy, but they do recognize that within the faith are liberative gems that can be used to dismantle the structural patriarchy and androcentrism of the faith and society. They call for a repentance that rights the life-denying wrongs caused by sexism. According to Ann M. Clifford, the methodology employed has three steps:

1. Attending to experience(s) of patriarchy and androcentrism by listening attentively to one’s experience and that of other women and/or subjugated men; 2. Bringing these experiences into dialogue with a feminist reading of the Bible and/or other Christian texts; 3. Developing strategies for transformative action or praxis that are liberating. 3

Below are a few early feminist scholars who raised the consciousness of Christians in hopes of a more inclusive faith.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton was an abolitionist prior to the U.S. Civil War and one of the original champions for women’s suffrage.

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