Back of the Bus

Recently I spoke at a Peace Conference at Southwestern University at Georgetown Texas, near Austin. In a workshop discussion I suggested that "I know this may sound 'illiberal' but I beleive that some religious beliefs are better than others." (There were murmers among the liberal listeners). But I then plunged ahead by saying that many religions teach that women are inferior to men, that they must defer to men, that there are roles they are not allowed to fulfill, they are not allowed to talk in public or be in places of authority over men, Etc. Etc. I think this is poor theology compared to other religious teachings that support full participation by women in society, and full equal rights for females. In fact, it is more than poor, it is oppressive.

Response? One liberal woman suggested that this sounded very judgmental to her. We may disagree with other religious beliefs but it is not our place to "judge" these beliefs.

But what do we say when certain beliefs are so hurtful to people. What would you do with those Chrstians who taught that blacks are inferior to white people and should be given second class citizenship. Are we to stand by and say that just because their religion teaches this we should support their being pushed to the back of the bus. Response: Maybe they need to be at the back of the bus. Maybe God has a purpose for thier being at the back of the bus. Maybe God wants them to learn humility or some other lesson by being their."

This is outragious theology to me. That God ordains persecution of people as a means of teaching them lessons. Though I hear it quite often. It reminds me of the predestinarian theology that says some are ordained to be of higher caste in society while others are chosen to be peons. This kind of thought can be used to justify all manner of oppression and there is no way to challenge it because "God said so."

We have a long way to go but one of the challenges is simply accepting that there is good and bad theology. Until we accept that some theological teaching is better than other we will be stuck with the status quo and no way to grow beyond it. The ones who most benefit and have the greatest interest in this approach are the ones who are currently privileged by society. Maybe a start would be taking a hard look at who benefits from a theology that locks in place our current power/class/race/gender structures.