Lingering+Challenges

= = Lingering Challenges

Just as congregations are opening their doors and breaking ceilings based on "opposite" sex roles, there is also a thread of contemporary Christian culture that represents the revert to traditional and patriarchal views and practises. Looking into the Vatican's response to //The Da Vinci Code//, religious language and symbolism in government and Catholic clerical celibacy, we recognise where there are still challenges in acknowledging and accomodating a system of gender equality.

The Da Vinci Code

  //The Da Vinci Code// writen by Dan Brown, gives us an insight into religion. Dan Brown gives us a new view of the history of Christianity which chanllanges the historical record. Brown has two main themese in his book that the goes into detail about, they are the bloodline and the sacred feminine. He explains that the Holy Grail is a representation of femininity, womenhood, and feminity. That the Holy Grail is also a metaphor for scared feminine and the goddess which was almost lost, because he power to produce life threatened the rise of a predominatly male church. He discussed Mary Magdalene, and stated that she was not a whore, that she was a married women, and that the Catholic Church portrayed her as a whore in order to demonize her. In his book Mary Magdalene was married to the human and was pregnant at the time of the crucifixion. Diane Morris bleieves that Dan Brown viewed the sacreed feimine as old and lost, nature and womb, and she is the salvation of men. //The Da Vinci Code// is very critical of the male. It discusses men giving up on religion and spirit, and are rather more concerned with material sucess, which is a big concern, because men are the ones who are in charge of religion which is something that Brown is constantly speaking about in the book. Dan Brown brings up a lot of discussion in his book, he makes us question Christianity, and leaves people with a confusion about what to believe and what not to believe. Do you believe that //The Da Vinci Code// has any truth to it, and has it changed your views about Christianity?  media type="youtube" key="5_inVOSGLuI" height="302" width="370"  View the video "The Da Vinci Code: How did the Church Suppress Women?" on the role of women in early Christianity and gender relations in other faiths and societies at the time at our Liberation & Oppression page, under //Women in Christianity//.

The Sacred Feminine

 What do the works of Leonardo da Vinci have to do with the loss of the sacred feminine throughout history? What was da Vinci trying to communicate to the public through one of his most famous paintings, as the most popular painting in the world, the Mona Lisa? Many people admire her androgynous features and have hypothesized if da Vinci made this painting of the woman he loved or of himself as a self portrait. What most people do not know is that Leonardo da Vinci believed in the spiritual equality of man and woman, and this may be the reason the Mona Lisa is neither a convincing representation of man or a woman.

Belief in the Sacred Feminine is a religious movement. One branch of it feels that femininity is closer to divinity than masculinity is, and people who follow this tradition worship feminine beauty and the power of sexual reproduction. Because women have the ability to bear children, this makes them more sacred than men, and it also shows that men can only experience the sacred feminine through sexual intercourse.

Celibacy and Marriage in Priesthood

 Clerical celibacy was introduced in 324 at the Council of Elvira, where the 81 canons were written and put into law regulating clerical celibacy, marriage, and sexuality. The thirty-third canon was written: "Bishops, presbyters, deacons, and others with a position in the ministry are to abstain completely from sexual intercourse with their wives and from the procreation of children" (CUA). It was a quarter century later that at the Council of Laodicea that it was declared women were explicitly excluded from ordination, suggesting the ordination of women existed prior to the mid-fourth century. Over the next 500 years, the Church underwent a series of reforms in the direction of celibate priesthood. Near the end of the eleventh century, Pope Gregory VII instructed priests to “escape from the clutches of their wives” and pledge celibacy before ordination. Just two decades later, Pope Urban II decreed that all priests’ wives be sold into slavery and their children abandoned. This did little to halt the issue of priests violating their pledges to celibacy.

From the decrees of clerical marriages as invalid to the establishment of celibacy and virginity as superior to marriage, the issue of celibacy has since its conception faced difficulties among Christians. The policy of celibacy, continence and chastity has been nearly two millennia of morphing contradiction, based on a clear distrust of women whose caresses, according to St. Augustine (401 A.D.), are “so powerful in drawing the spirit of a man downwards” (FutureChurch). The results of this conflict are evident in the myriad policies of Christian denominations: some allowing married men to be ordained as deacons but not priests or bishops (Latin-Rite Churches), some ordaining married men as deacons and priests but not bishops (Eastern Orthodox Churches), and others with no restrictions on celibacy and marriage (Anglican Church).

Miami celebrity priest Father Alberto Cutié is the most current example of Catholic backlash to mainstream views regarding lifetime celibacy in priesthood as inhuman. Following the publishing of several paparazzi photos of Cutié and his girlfriend kissing on a beach in the Mexican celebrity magazine //TVnotas// in the spring of 2009, Archbishop John Favalora of the Archdiocese of Miami expelled Cutié from his preaching position in the Catholic Church, refuelling public debate of whether or not priests should be confined to the centuries-old tradition of celibacy (Padgett). He was well-received among the Catholic communities in southern Florida, even referred to as "Father Oprah" for his television personality that had brought followers to the only growing Catholic community at the time. Despite his beliefs in the importance of celibacy among Catholic priests, he joined the Episcopal Church in late May 2009, marrying his partner Ruhuma Buni Canellis the following month (Jaweed).

In a 1992 letter from Father Joseph Breen of St. Edward's Church in Nashville to the magisterial leaders in Rome, he said: "Rome's attitudes and practices relating to women, sexuality, and authority are not in harmony with the mind of the universal Church. They have only the flimsiest historical and theological justifications, and they fly in the face of political, social, and economic realities" (Lederer). Even in the face of opposition like that of Breen, the laws of clerical celibacy grew and persisted across several centuries out of the distrust of women and the necessity to imitate the celibacy of Jesus in his lifetime; this is hotly debated as well in light of Dan Brown's //The Da Vinci Code//, in which it is discovered that Jesus was not celibate at all. Gregory VII's "clutching wives" and St. Augustine's female-induced downward spiral paint an image of women that does not constitute respect; historical implications of repressing and controlling clerics' sexualities, often times by referring to women as temptresses and creatures ruled by sexual function, has allowed such policies to remain in tact into the next millenium. Menstrual and post-partum discharge make up woman's uncleanliness, and "the unclean woman is a potential source of danger to male holiness which can be polluted in a number of ways" (Baskin, 12). Even well into the twenty-first century, the Roman Catholic Church upholds its policy suggesting celibacy, the self-disciplined distance from women, is a gift from God. In a male-dominated priesthood, it is important to question the implications in men refraining from intimate relationships with women and why this is such a holy gift. <span style="font-size: 15px; color: rgb(76, 77, 78); line-height: 22px; font-family: Verdana,helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: small; line-height: 21px; font-family: Georgia,fantasy;">

<span style="font-size: 17px; font-family: Georgia,fantasy;">Religious Symbolism and U.S. Government

<span style="font-size: 14px; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Religious culture in the United States is often seen intertwined with U.S. government - on our money, in the halls of Congress and on and in our public buildings. The latter, especially, has drawn some criticism in recent decades. Take a look at this Opposing Viewpoints question and answers. After this course, what do you think about this issue?

<span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 150%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="font-size: 110%; color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-decoration: none;">[|Should Religious Symbols be Displayed on Public Property?] <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Eighty-five percent of Americans claim some form of religious affiliation. The public display of religious symbols, though, is always controversial, whether we’re talking about the Ten Commandments in a courthouse or nativity scenes in a park. In the ongoing debate about religious imagery’s proper place, where do we draw the line between private faith and public religious expression? http://www.opposingviews.com/arguments/what-is-the-issue-and-how-did-it-arise

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Another huge debate concerning religious symbolism in the U.S. government is the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools. The original Pledge of Allegiance, which read "I pledge allegiance to my flag and the Republic for which it stands / One nation indivisible / with liberty and justice for all," was written in September of 1892, and was printed on leaflets and put into schools throughout the US. Then in 1923 there was a vote by the first National Flag Conference to change the words from "my flag" to "the flag of the United States of America." The last and most recent change was made in 1954 by President Eisenhower adding the words "under God," which has brought up a ton of controversy. President Eisenhower stated that, "In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America's heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country's most powerful resource in peace and war." After that, children in public schools were forced to stand up everyday and recite the Pledge of Allegiance, which many feel isn't right, because not everyone follows religion. After a lot of controversy about saying it in schools, the courts have said that no child should be forced to say it, that it is the child's decision on whether or not they would like to participate in it. <span style="font-size: 13px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: helvetica,arial,clean,sans-serif;">

<span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Across the Pond

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Religious culture in the United States is not static or confined to national borders. The Catholic Church in the United States works under the Papal authorities in Rome, the Episcopal Church is governed by the Church of England, and faith-based missionaries are deployed to areas in Africa and the Caribbean, accounting for a religious culture constantly in flux and interacting interculturally with peoples, organisations, news and events across the globe. The following highlight lingering challenges recent within the last five years outside the United States but within arm's reach. Each case represents the backlash toward entrenched patriarchal and heirarchical religion. <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="font-size: 70%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-size: 118.8%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">BRITAIN <span style="font-size: 99%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">. <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Homosexuality has been troubling to the Anglican Church ever since the appointment of openly gay Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson in New Hampshire in 2004. Conservative Anglican bishops have been vocal in their concerns about homosexuality in their faith and prompted to meet secretly with advisers to Pope Benedict XVI in York following the decision to ordain female bishops and priests. "More than 500 members of the clergy have already warned Dr Williams [the Archbishop of Canterbury] that they will consider abandoning the Church unless havens within the Church free of women bishops are created for them." The talks were never discussed with the Archbishop, implying that political action is brewing within the Anglican Church. Though the content of the highly confidential talks have remained under wraps from Williams and the public, there is reason to believe progressive changes toward gender and sexual equality are the root of a possible defect to the Vatican. For more information, read Paola Totaro's 7 July 2008 article //[|Churches' Secret Talks to Stop Gay Surge]// at the Sydney Morning Herald.

<span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">FRANCE. <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> A poster jeans advertisement for a clothing label by Marithe et François Girbaud was banned in Milan, Italy in February 2005 upon its release for 'trivialising' the Christian faith. The photograph is modelled after Leonardo da Vinci's painting //The Last Supper// (1498) with the a female central figure, Jesus a male figure in the da Vinci mural. The following month, the Catholic Church in France sought to ban the advert citing it as "moral violence." Thierry Massis, lawyer for the French Catholic Church, told reporters this kind of disrespect poses a danger to children. The Catholic Church won the injunction, and the poster has since been publicly banned. This is a particularly interesting case because there are many questions to ask concerning representation and the use of symbols. The pose in the photograph mirrors that of a painting, yet that painting is of particular symbolic importance to the Catholic Church. And instead of a bearded man with long hair sitting at the table's centre, it is a woman. For more information, read the 11 March 2005 article //[|French Court Bans Christ Advert]// at BBC News Europe. To view Christian Feminist art, visit Matt Stone's [|blog].

<span style="font-size: 77%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">ITALY. <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Easter in Alviano in 2005 was particularly divisive as a director casted ballerina Elena Angeli to play the role of Jesus in the town's annual reenactment of the Passion of Christ. Younger citizens have expressed support for the decision of director Corrado Sorbara whilst older residents have called it blasphemy and heresy. In response to the stir, Alviano's mayor urged Sorbara to be more sensitive to the image of Christ, that if he were to cast a woman to play the role of Jesus to do it some time other than Easter. For more information, read Bruce Johnston's 13 March 2005 article //[|'Heresy' of Female Jesus Divides Italian Town]// at the Telegraph.

<span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">References

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Baskin, J. (1985). "The Separation of Women in Rabbinic Judaism." In Y. Y. Haddad & E. B. Findly (ed.), __Women, Religion and Social Change__ (pp. 3-18). New York: State University of New York Press.

CUA. (2004). "The Council of Elvira, ca. 306." The Catholic University of America. (<span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">http://faculty.cua.edu/pennington/Canon%20Law/ElviraCanons.htm <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">). Retrieved 28 June 2009.

FutureChurch. (2009). "A Brief History of Celibacy in the Catholic Church." FutureChurch. ( <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">http://www.futurechurch.org/fpm/history.htm <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">). Retrieved 27 June 2009.

Jaweed, K. (2009). "Former Priest Alberto Cutié gets Married at Coral Gables Courthouse." South Florida, Miami Herald. (http://www.miamiherald.com/486/story/1100573.html). Retrieved 28 June 2009.

Lederer, T. G. (1992). Celibacy and the Catholic Priest." __Celibacy is the Issue__. (http://www.arthurstreet.com/celibacy1993.html). Retrieved 28 June 2009.

Morris, Diane. (2006). "The Da Vinci Code as a Myth." Stimulus Journal. 14(4), 7-11.

Padgett, T. (2009). "The Father Cutié Scandal: Sex and the Single Priest." U.S., TIME. ( <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1896581,00.html <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">). Retrieved 27 June 2009.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Rushton, Kathleen. (2006). "The New Testament and "the Feminine." //Stimulus Journal//. 14(4), 12-17.

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