IWD: How Jesus Brings Equity to a World of Inequity

‘Christianity is and always has been antithetical to women’s freedom and equality, but it’s certainly not alone in this. Whether it’s one of the world’s major faiths or an off-the-wall cult, religion means one thing and one thing only for those women unfortunate enough to get caught up in it: oppression. It’s the patriarchy made manifest, male-dominated, set up by men to protect and perpetuate their power.’

‘I’m not praying’ by Cath Elliott in The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/aug/19/gender.religion)

Cath Elliot wrote these words for the Guardian 15 years ago, but they are words that still resonate with many in our society. Religion in general, and Christianity in particular is presumed to be the epitome of misogyny, of oppression, of inequality, of ‘patriarchy made manifest’. If we want to pursue the International Women’s Day 2023 call to ‘embrace equity’, surely that means tearing down religion in all its forms. Right?

But is Elliot actually correct? Is Christianity now and forever opposed to the freedom and equality of women?

Certainly, in societies, cultures and spaces that are Christian, women have been treated badly: from dismissal and disrespect to violence and oppression, and everything in between. But that is also true of societies, cultures and spaces that would claim allegiance to other faiths or religions, as well as those that would call themselves secular.

The problem, it seems, is not religion, but people.

People do terrible things to each other. Sometimes we dress it up in religion, and use that as an excuse or justification, but at heart it’s about something deeper and more fundamental. Something at the centre of every human heart and mind. The darkness, brokenness, sin that runs through each of us and drives us to selfishness, cruelty, inequality and injustice. In some instances we will be the victims of that injustice, and in others we will be the perpetrators. We know this to be true in our experience, but what is the reason?

The answer that Christianity gives comes down to our relationship with God - the one who created this universe and each of us. He made us, but we have turned away from him, and in doing so, we have twisted and turned in on ourselves. Turning in to selfishness and cruelty, turning in to inequality and injustice. Each one of us is caught up in this. Each human who has ever taken breath is entrenched in the darkness and brokenness of sin. Each human but one.

The central claim of the Christian faith is that one man - one person - in all of human history was exempt from that because he wasn’t just human, he was also God.

That man’s name is Jesus, and one of the many ways that we see his exemption from this dreadful human sin condition, is found in the way that he treated women. Up and against a culture that treated women with suspicion and brutality and disdain, Jesus treated women as human. He engaged them in intelligent, spiritual conversations, and encouraged them as they sought to learn, he travelled with them, ate with them, treated them as friends, challenged them, comforted them, healed them, relied on them, praised them, honoured them and cared for them. In a society that continually treated them as dangerous and ‘other’ he welcomed their presence, and treated them as human.

In a culture that objectified them, he treated them with dignity. And in a world where they, and we, and every person who has ever taken breath has had to deal with the terrible consequences and corruption of sin, he came to offer a solution.

A solution for the brokenness of the world then, and the world now. A world where sexism exists and equity doesn’t. A world where women are mistreated in a myriad of different ways. And a world where women mistreat others too.

Jesus - the same God who made this world and each of us - stepped into human flesh and human history. But he didn’t just do that to set a good example of how to live. He did it to perform a rescue mission - to deal with the source of all of the brokenness and oppression and violence and inequality. To take the sin of the world on his own shoulders and to die in our place. He took all that was broken and corrupt and put it to death, so that we might be set free from it. And in order that he might offer us hope of a new world to come - one where oppression and injustice and violence are swept aside, where death is swallowed up, where tears are wiped away, and where justice rolls down like water.

Jesus isn’t anti-women, but this world is. I wonder, would you be open to finding out more about Jesus’ solution? Why not read a gospel for yourself?

Come and meet Jesus and see what you make of him and whether what he promises might be the answer to all of our hopes and longings.

~ By Ellidh Cook