Still Forgiving...

Today, I came across several posts on fem-blogs which discussed Xianity and feminism.

The question people asked, repeatedly, is whether or not feminism and Xitianity could coexist since Xianity seems overwhelmingly patriarchal.

Some outright denied that one could hold both to feminist belief and the Bible with intellectual veracity.

Of course, I personally believe working for the equality for women is an integral part of "loosening the bonds of oppression" and "loving your neighbor" spoken of in the Bible.

My first thought was that we Christian feminists aren't Easter bunnies. We do exist.

For the briefest of moments, I felt the sting of being "othered" because of Christianity.

Then, like a spray of cold water to the face, it occurred to me that this is what it's like to be someone of another religion in America. For a second, my privilege was stripped away and it hurt.

My next thought was, oh, dear God, what have we done to people? Even when we can boast 77% of Americans identify as Christian and/or Catholic, we feel ourselves to be a persecuted minority.

We're not. I'm not.

And, I even still conflate the Kingdom of God with "Christendom."

The Kingdom of God?

I'll file this under "forgiving pertinent individuals" (myself) and move on for now.

But it really was eye-opening