Feminism & The Problem Of Evil (Theses Research)

Vancouver-September 1, 2013

Vancouver-September 1, 2013

Vancouver-September 1, 2013

'Totally original', well-done Mr. Matt

The way it 'was' by Mr. Matt...

In my European/United Kingdom Wales theses work, within the British academic system a Feminism Theodicy was desired to be researched but this did not appear at the time to exist, at least significantly. There was enough material to research how the problem of evil impacted women and this was expected work in order to pass the PhD especially. I also had dealt with the issue somewhat in my MPhil work.

2003 The Problem of Evil: Anglican and Baptist Perspectives: MPhil thesis, Bangor University 

MONTMARQUET, J.A. (1996) Hedonism, in The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

WOODS, B.W. (1974) Christians in Pain, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House.

James A. Montmarquet defined Hedonism in the following way: "the view that pleasure (including the absence of pain) is the sole intrinsic good in life." Montmarquet (1996: 311). Woods provided a similar definition: "Hedonism is a broad term used to encompass all theories that see pleasure as the ultimate goal of life and criterion for conduct. Anything that is fun is good. Anything that is not fun is bad and should be avoided." Woods (1974)(1982: 18). Basically, Hedonism sees pleasure as the most important thing in reality. Interestingly, Woods mentioned Playboyism, and stated of Hugh Hefner, Publisher of Playboy Magazine: "Hefner rejects any philosophy that holds a man must deny himself for others. The Playboy outlook says a man should love himself preeminently and pursue only his own pleasure." Woods (1974)(1982: 108).

Woods noted that happiness should be a result of a responsible life. Hedonism is not responsible since ones pleasure often exists at the expense of someone else’s pain. For example, considering Playboy, where women are viewed as objects sexually by both Hefner and the willing women participating, this magazine brings its participants money, fame and sexual gratification, but the Playboy philosophy represented in the magazine, through mass media influence, also causes women in society to be viewed as objects by many men. This can cause many women to be overlooked for their intellect, and looked upon more for their sexual beauty. So, in a subtle fashion, the Playboy philosophy can bring pain to many people in society because Playboy Magazine exploits sexuality when, in reality, sexuality belongs in the context of marriage/committed relationship where the inner beauty of the person is more important than their outer image. With the Playboy philosophy, the outer beauty is far more important than the inner beauty.

It must be admitted that Hedonism is pleasurable to people. For example, as a pastor of a local church recently stated, most men struggle with pornography at some time. An advocate of the Playboy philosophy may state that its critics secretly desire that lifestyle. There can be an element of truth in this, but a wiser person, and certainly a Christ-centred person, should see that sexual conduct outside of a healthy marriage can lead to many destructive things such as divorce, abortion, venereal disease, HIV, and public disgrace. Only sexuality in commitment leads to something fulfilling over a long period. The Hedonism represented with Playboy is irresponsible in that it hurts people and puts short term pleasure before long term fulfilment. Thus, it escapes the struggle of a serious relationship leading to long term fulfilment and instead seeks easier, shorter relationships. This, in no way, avoids evil. It simply promotes more evil in that extreme human selfishness just leads to more people being hurt.

2010 Theodicy and Practical Theology: PhD thesis, the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David, Lampeter

GEBARA, IVONE (2002) Out of the Depths, Translated by Ann Patrick Ware, Minneapolis, Fortress Press.

SWARTLEY, WILLARD M. (1983) Slavery Sabbath War Women, Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania.

Question 25: Scripture describes women as more evil than men

One hundred and thirty-four (62.9%) respondents selected ‘DS’ and fifty-one (23.9%) chose ‘D’. So 86.8% of completed questionnaires contain the view that Scripture does not describe women as more evil than men.

This proposition was soundly rejected. Only 11 (5.2%) persons chose ‘AS/A’. Gebara offers a different perspective stating that within Christian tradition, only male sacrifice is valuable. She also notes that women symbolically have often been represented as weak and ‘evil.’ Biblically, although Christ was male, he died for both genders within Christian tradition. Additionally, within Gebara’s own Roman Catholic tradition, Mary is known as the ‘Mother of God.’ Within this view, Mary is recognized and praised as Jesus was born of a truly ‘human mother.’ This is a key example of a woman being highly esteemed within Gebara’s tradition, and therefore, although I do not dismiss her comments, they should be considered cautiously.

Question 29: God desires that women’s sufferings be understood

Many respondents, 140 (65.7%) supported this idea while only 16 (7.5%) opposed it with a choice of ‘D/DS’. Fifty-seven (26.7%) were ‘NC’. Gebara writes that Biblical Scripture, which emphasizes differences between male and female, has led to a ‘hierarchical dualism’ that is used to exclude women. Gebara reasons evils experienced by women are often linked with the idea they are considered a second, less valuable sex. Gebara’s comments demonstrate that her particular feminist views are not supported by the majority of my respondents.

Question 33: God desires women to have influence in the Church

One hundred and ninety-five (91.6%) persons supported this proposition; 101 (47.4%) agreed strongly with the question. This question was not dealing with thorny issues of women leadership such as being elders and pastors, but was simply dealing with the broader idea of general influence. Therefore, in my estimation, this strong support for the proposition is because the idea of female influence will not cause disagreement between conservative and liberal wings in the Christian Church.

Mennonite New Testament scholar, Willard M. Swartley (1983) reasons ‘the concept of equality’ for women is present in the New Testament, but he asks what these concepts mean in regard to ‘social, political and economic’ contexts. Swartley also ponders on what equality for women means within the Biblical ancient texts, and what it should mean today. Individual churches need to consider concepts of equality for women with men, when deciding where women should have greater influence.

Question 37: God dislikes women being viewed as sex objects

One hundred and eighty-nine (88.7%) respondents supported this proposition; 136 (63.8%) chose ‘AS’. Only 8 (3.8%) persons, four from each category, disagreed. Gebara notes some women have high value as objects of ‘enjoyment’ and ‘pleasure’ or on the flip side, ‘revenge’ and ‘hate.’ She lists prostitution as an example of women being viewed as ‘merchandise.’

Question 41: Christian thought has been dominated by men

One hundred and forty-four (67.6%) respondents chose ‘AS/A’, 44 (20.7%) persons chose ‘D/DS’. This question can be related back to my earlier comments regarding how difficult it is for women to become senior pastors. The concept of ‘Christian thought’ within this question is not necessarily regarding professional leadership alone, but is presented in the context of both professional leadership and lay teaching.

Question 45: Women need freedom from male authority

Seventy-one (33.3%) persons chose ‘AS/A’, while over twenty percent of respondents were ‘NC’ (21.2%). Over forty-five percent (45.5%) of persons were not in support of this idea. Admittedly, this is a strongly worded statement, but two denominations were in support of this idea with a majority. Anglican respondents with 10 out of 18 (55.5%) supported it, as did United Church of Canada respondents with 8 out of 8 (100%). Twenty-nine of forty-eight persons (60.4%) surveyed in my non-denominational group choose ‘D/DS’ for this question. As alluded to earlier, this non-denominational group is not an actual denomination, but some of these persons were from independent, fundamentalist Baptist churches in the United States that have very conservative views that would minimally preclude women from elder and clergy positions. 

Question 52: Churches should assist exploited women

One hundred and forty-one (66.2%) chose ‘5’ as an option. With adding another 36 (16.9%) that chose ‘4’, this brings the total to 177 persons (83%) that supported this idea. Gebara explains that the Church should understand the physical, psychological, and social suffering of women in regard to the cross. The community suffering of women needs to be understood, and this obviously should include those persons that need extra assistance.

Question 29

Question 33

Question 37

Question 41

Question 45

Question 52