Is the name Church of the Brethren discriminatory? Well, yes. It’s easy to say that race isn’t important if your race is the one that’s dominant. It’s easy to say that sex and gender unimportant if yours are the dominant ones.
There is a common question by White people about race. “Why do they always have to make such a big deal about it?” The answer is that they are not the ones that make a big deal about it. They are not the ones who have created systematic oppression of anyone who does not fit a White ideal. They are not the ones who wrote anti-miscegenation laws. The Whites are the ones who have made it a big deal. What the Blacks are doing is pointing out the unfairness, the injustice, even the unrighteousness of the situation.
So, why would women make a big deal about a church name? Why would women object to having their own church called the Church of the Brothers? Well, it might just have something to do with the oppression of women by men for thousands of years. It might even have to do with the oppression of women within Christianity.
Men in the church should not be upset by the discussion of a name change. Instead, they should be glad that the women do not simply abandon this church that does not include them in its name. There may be some who thinks brothers or brethren includes sisters, but this is not the general view of the English speaking world. In Spanish there has not been enough feminist effort into language to force general fairness when it comes to labels. Because of that, hermanos can be thought of as including men and women more than brothers can. Still, when I say Church of the Brethren to someone who has not heard of it the common expectation is a church with no women.
1 response so far ↓
Brethren Priestess // December 4, 2007 at 7:51 pm |
I would be really interested to see what a church would look like with no women. Seeing as women have supported Christianity since its beginning, I wonder how long a church would last with only men….