We continue to explore the serious obstacles to religious freedom and the intersection of religious freedom and gender inequities.
We equip religious leaders and people of faith to promote religious freedom by countering religious extremism and religion-based oppression, domination, and violence.
In the Summer of 2021, we conducted a series of monthly discussions with scholars, activists, religious leaders and community partners on the topic of Religious Freedom and dismantling the Supremacy of Patriarchy.
We brought together sixty-plus persons from many parts of the world, particularly African countries to explore religious freedom and the lack of it for women and the role women have to play to advance religious freedom.
Dismantling Supremacies, and addressing the question from a variety of perspectives, the group concluded that patriarchy is one of the most widespread and destructive of supremacy impacting the freedom of religion or belief.
I was privileged to be a panelist and also facilitate these discussions between thought leaders, community organizers and activists.
It is our fundamental finding that Patriarchy, is a system in which men hold primary power (excluding women) and predominate in roles of religious leadership and social privilege,has played and continues to play a critical role in the abuse of theologies that impact religious freedom for women of faith.
Our policy recommendations are three-fold -
For centuries we have explored serious obstacles to women's empowerment. Fingers have often and always pointed to patriarchy. Patriarchy is a system in which men hold primary power (excluding women) and predominate in roles of religious leadership and moral authority and social privilege.
Our work is centered around working with the women at the “Margins.” The Margins is where we find the most vibrant of communication, the most diverse of issues and the most alive people are, for change and new possibilities.
Here we LIVE, LISTEN and LEARN from the people impacted.
The religious world has defined the parameters of the female gender, so that almost everything about women can be determined without an opinion or voice of the female.
Our reflection of supremacy highlights intersectionality. Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza coined the term kyriarchy from the Greek term kyrios for a lord, or master extending to other structures of oppression and privilege, such as racism, classism, homophobia, ageism etc.
So the question is, how do we best deconstruct and dismantle such an ancient system that has seemed to have provided the basis for every human system of existence. With a government, religion, education, and all the other parameters of our life, how do we do that?
We've recognized that it's important to build a movement of resistance. As a group the following measures were recommended to promote religious freedom for women:
Robert F. Kennedy said, “Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their peers. The censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society.” He continued, “Moral courage is rare a commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence, yet it is one essential vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change.”
Centuries old functional distinctions imposed on women have become religious laws, depriving them of religious freedoms. Before we go too far thinking that religion does and in fact helps to solve this problem, let us also remember a good part of religion is what causes the problem.
While there is a group of religious leaders who are moving in the right direction, there's a whole other group who’s causing even more problems.
We need new stake holders. Fresh voices that grsp the contextual realities of our times. Understand their religious landscape locally and globally. Giving leadership and scholarship of women due place and authority. One of the main obstacles to collaboration is the mindset of supremacy.
We must focus on religion and the sacred texts associated with each religion. How do we lift up liberative aspects of religion? What do we do with problematic texts and male language? How can we lift up the Sacred Feminine?
By 1922 in Malawi, the Presbyterian Church had already started ordaining women as deacons.
The Church of Scotland, that brought Presbyterianism to Malawi, didn't ordain women as deacons until after that.
Jewish laws and Islamic laws, traditions are very oppressive towards women, but a great deal of change is happening. For example, we now have women who are rabbis in the various streams of Judaism, not only the reform and the liberal but also in the Orthodox world. IN the Muslim world womens mosques are opening up- the first in Los Angeles and I personally led prayer at the Qalbu Maryam Womens mosque in Berkeley in 2017.
In Morocco schools are opened to train Women Imams. We have female rabbis and women scholars who are working on these very issues. Women's participation in the religious spheres ensures and promotes religious freedom.
It is necessary to educate women and girls on their faith based narratives. No religion expressly discriminates against women. It is the interpretation of religion that does so. Women must be included and have control of that narrative. We focused on building Narrative Power for Women in order to ensure religious freedom for all.
Equity and equality is a necessary component of learning that will promote religious freedom across cultures. It is no secret that the United Nations SDG 5 and the international development world puts huge emphasis on educating girls because girls lack the equity to education.
The voices of the people at the margins must be heard. IF we fail we will continue to offer top down solutions from boardrooms and not bottom up solutions from the people who are impacted. This requires us to acknowledge that we don't have the answers, and that they need our answers.
We must create spaces of listening to the voices of women, getting their story out. We can then bring forth their struggles and stories to the international community to impact policy changes. We must build a united front to promote religious freedom for all, particularly women of faith.
Often we talk about societal structures and picture of how to create change. We must talk about what happens to people including women activists internally -- the patriarchy that we carry within us, without even knowing it's there. This is the implicit patriarchy that’s within us.
That sabotages religious freedom.
Self Interest is a critical component of our training. When people are aligned and know their Self Interest they can work cohesively and collaboratively to achieve results. .
What is critical is to bring together women of the same self interest. In the movie “Pray the Devil Back to Hell ,” (The story of Nobel prize winner LG, she demonstrates how to build amovement of women to take action) we see the power of women with one mindset taking decisive action towards the goal of achieving peace for Liberia. These women thereafter called
on Liberians to elect the first woman President of Liberia - President Sirlead 2005)
In Nigeria, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka we continue to mobilize women to take collective action, build grassroots movements and promote Interfaith Solidarity.
What is critical in identifying, recruiting and training these women is to first teach them to recognize their self interest and find others of the same self interest. We cannot build successful movements of women without this foundational ingredient.
Working in the realm of religious freedom can be very challenging and requires very committed work. Understanding each other's self interest is a powerful glue that will propel collective action.
SELF INTEREST - Understanding one's VALUES and VISION and thereafter enabling them to find their PURPOSE in life and their service and contribution to the world and communities they live in.
WE are currently engaged in three major initiatives to promote religious freedom, particularly for women and girls. Some of our successes are -
We believe that some of the most discriminated against in embracing the freedom of religion are women of faith. The discrimination of women in the religious sphere is sutle, complex and often hidden.
We must collectively call upon all our religious traditions to defend religious freedom for women and to secure dignity and human rights for women of faith. We must call out the abuse of our theologies. We end the comfort and moral complacency of our silence if we are to ensure Freedom of Religion or Belief for ALL.