The Attitudes toward the role of women from a religious standpoint - Research Paper Example

The Attitudes Toward the Role of Women from a Religious Standpoint Since time in memorial, humans have been worshiping or showing loyalty to a higher being. A multitude of higher beings have been embraced by the communities. In the case of Buddhism, emancipation through individual effort has been adopted (Dewaraja 6). This presents Buddhism with a unique characteristic of being able to trace through history the dealings of men, and for the purposes of this essay those of women. The paper takes a brief look at how the roles have changed within the past century for Buddhism & Christianity from a women standpoint.

The basic doctrine of Buddhism, salvation by one’s own effort, presupposes the spiritual equality of all beings, male and female (Dewaraja 6). This alludes to the fact that women in Buddhist Asia were, from quite early on, treated much better than their counterparts in other parts of Asia. Most observations on Buddhist women in the late 19th and early 20th century are made by Europeans who found themselves in Asia around this period. The most remarkable feature about Buddhist women to these early writers was their privilege.

Sir Charles Bell a British Political Representative in Tibet, Bhutan and Sikkim, wrote in 1928 that travelling to Tibet from India and China presents the visitor with an impression that Tibetan women are not kept in isolation as their Indian counterparts. In fact, the Tibetan women mingle with the opposite sex and are consequently at ease with men (Dewaraja 4). The most important thing to note is that the statement women in the world is a reference to European women at that time in history. These women are still struggling to walk shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts.

In Buddhism, subordination of women is given a religious sanction. According to the Law of Karma, one’s actions in the past will determine one’s position of wealth, power, talent and even sex in future births. One is reborn a woman because of one’s bad Karma. Because of such religious laws, attitudes towards women are not easily changed. Today women in Buddhism much like their predecessors 100 years ago struggle with such challenges. At the forefront of this campaign is Sakyadhita or daughters of Buddha.

This is a global network of Buddhist women aimed at improving their status through conferences, dinners and discussion groups. At the turn of the 20th century, the attitude towards the role of women in Christianity was much like that in Buddhism as observed by European Asian settlers. However, women in Christianity during this period were associated with education. This involved primary education for children, high school education for girls and teaching and nursing to ladies. In the Catholic Church, this work was conducted primarily by nuns.

The fact that women only dealt with children or other women points towards gender restrictions. On the other hand, the protestant Christians were the first to ordain women. The first of whom, was Evangeline Booth of the Salvation Army in 1934 (Menning 6). Another significant event is that of Penny Jemieson becoming the first female Anglican Bishop in 1990. The ordination of women is a significant change in Christian attitude towards women. The Bible and indeed early Christians relegated women to worshipers with no chance at priesthood.

Today ordained women ministers, are a common sight. The advent of Christian feminism has also changed the landscape in terms of Christian religious attitudes towards women. Christian feminism draws its roots from the 1960s after the women’s movements began in America. (Kohara 83) This relatively new brand of Christians back for more theologically liberal views and tend to promote homosexuality and abortion. In conclusion, although women still have a lot to fight for to be viewed as religious equals to men in both Buddhism and Christianity, a lot has been achieved in the last century.

With continued efforts in this direction, it is expected that even more can be accomplished in the near future.Works CitedDewaraja, L. S. The Position of Women in Buddhism. Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society, 1981. Print.Kohara, Katsuhiro. “Women in the World of Christianity: From the Religious Right to Feminist Theology”. The Journal of Oriental Studies. 13 (2003): 80-93. Print.Menning, Meta. Booth, Evangeline. Web. 9 Aug. 2012.