Women and Religion

I was raised as a fairly normal, practicing Jew. My family belonged to the Reform synagogue in our area because my parents are inter-faith. Being born of a gentile mother, my sister and I are "technically" not Jewish. However, my step-father saw fit to make me a good Jew, schlepping me to and from Hebrew School, Sunday School, Bat Mitzvah preparation and overnight, Jewish camp (an institution in existence for years, where parents send their children, for eight glorious weeks, to a remote location outside the confines of a city/urban area).

I consider myself a Jew. I have a mezuzah on my door. I do not eat ham (although...I have discovered that other pork products are actually quite yummy). I'm neurotic. I say daily prayers as often as I can remember to do so. I'm not the poster child for Judaism, but I try.

There are a lot of things with my faith I do not agree with. I do not like the "pay to pray" concept of having to belong to a specific synagogue and pay membership dues. Perhaps it is my interpretation of the rules, but my interpretation does not like that.

I do not care for Kosher laws. If I want to eat a cheeseburger, I'm going to eat a cheeseburger. The same applies for bacon, sausage and Carolina barbecue. We have refrigeration in the modern era. Tradition is nice but I think there can be some evolution in a faith that is 5,700+ years old. We kept Kosher at camp. I still will not eat a Kosher hot dog. I want to eat cloven-hoofed animals.

My biggest gripe about my faith is the treatment of women. While the Reform and Conservative branches of Judaism allow for the ordination of women, the Orthodox movement does not. Women are not allowed to be leaders of a congregation. A quote on beliefnet.com states the following, "[Ordaining women] shakes the boundaries of tradition, and I would never allow it," says Modern Orthodox leader Norman Lamm.

It is important to note that I am not a religious scholar. I would never be upset if the truly devout looked upon me as an un-Jew because I no longer practice routinely. Whilst I am spiritual in nature, I am not devoted.

Newsweek has an interesting article about women in clergy (in general). In so far as most major religions are concerned, women are not in positions of leadership. They are not represented. Some religions do not even look upon women as members. I have a big problem with this.

Some people complain that our world is turning too secular. People are "falling from grace" and not participating as they once did. Outreach programs are springing up everywhere, trying to attract new members to a flock.

I cannot see how formalised religion expects to survive if women are treated like second class citizens. Women should be allowed to be members. They should be encouraged to take leadership roles, regardless of faith.

I do not care if the Old Testament, New Testament or whatever scripture is referenced says that women should not be in positions of leadership. I cannot accept that tradition would allow for disparate representation or participation. It is sad to know that institutions cannot evolve and allow women to assume active roles in their faith.

Tradition is nice. It's comforting. It's also a crippling paradigm that will not allow evolution of any sort. It is hard to be holy when scripture says that you are a lesser being because you have uterus.

How does one reconcile being faithful and true to a particular religion when you know that you're not a valued member?

*ducks from impending lightning bolt of doom coming from the heavens above to smite me