C’è un movimento nelle Chiese cristiane, #ChurchToo, che sta portando a un profondo ripensamento non solo del ruolo e della dignità delle donne ma anche di dogmi e interpretazioni. Come l’idea della purità. Una forma, mi viene da dire, di cultura patriarcale e sessista: era ora che la coscienza venisse presa, soprattutto all’interno delle Chiese. Si potrebbe aprire una nuova stagione culturale della quale stiamo vedendo solo i primi bagliori?
Money quote: “I eventually learned to embrace different ways of interpreting the Bible that considered and centered the viewpoint of women. I focused on Ruth’s loyalty and solidarity with her mother-in-law. I wondered if John the Revelator was misogynistic in his choice to classify women as objects of purity or destruction, and learned how to contrast him with Jesus, who valued all sorts of complicated women in his life and ministry. I sought out churches that let women minister and lead without depending on male models of leadership, and I called out injustices when I saw them, by trusting my God-given body and believing what it felt, instead of trying to transcend it to escape ugly realities.
When I recently gathered on Zoom with Asian American female leaders in the Christian world to mourn the deaths of the women in Atlanta, I felt soothed as they sang the songs of our ancestors and prayed. I am thankful that the #MeToo movement prompted #ChurchToo and a whole new canon of resources for Christian women seeking to flourish outside the harmful effects of purity culture. By disentangling myself from the ideals of purity, I am creating new ways of being with others in my community. I feel much closer to God already.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/03/purity-culture-evangelical-church-harms-women/618438/
Money quote: “I eventually learned to embrace different ways of interpreting the Bible that considered and centered the viewpoint of women. I focused on Ruth’s loyalty and solidarity with her mother-in-law. I wondered if John the Revelator was misogynistic in his choice to classify women as objects of purity or destruction, and learned how to contrast him with Jesus, who valued all sorts of complicated women in his life and ministry. I sought out churches that let women minister and lead without depending on male models of leadership, and I called out injustices when I saw them, by trusting my God-given body and believing what it felt, instead of trying to transcend it to escape ugly realities.
When I recently gathered on Zoom with Asian American female leaders in the Christian world to mourn the deaths of the women in Atlanta, I felt soothed as they sang the songs of our ancestors and prayed. I am thankful that the #MeToo movement prompted #ChurchToo and a whole new canon of resources for Christian women seeking to flourish outside the harmful effects of purity culture. By disentangling myself from the ideals of purity, I am creating new ways of being with others in my community. I feel much closer to God already.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/03/purity-culture-evangelical-church-harms-women/618438/
The Atlantic
The Flaw at the Center of Purity Culture
The rules don’t apply equally to everyone.