#women and religious traditions

[tellingittash]

Religious Studies Term Of The Day: Theravada

[vintage-russia]

Portrait of Schema-Nun,Kashin (early 20th centery)

[wonder-worker]

"[Elizabeth Woodville's] piety as queen seems to have been broadly conventional for a fifteenth-century royal, encompassing pilgrimages, membership of various fraternities, a particular devotion to her name saint, notable generosity to the Carthusians, and the foundation of a chantry at Westminster after her son was born there. ['On other occasions she supported planned religious foundations in London, […] made generous gifts to Eton College, and petitioned the pope to extend the circumstances in which indulgences could be acquired by observing the feast of the Visitation']. One possible indicator of a more personal, and more sophisticated, thread in her piety is a book of Hours of the Guardian Angel which Sutton and Visser-Fuchs have argued was commissioned for her, very possibly at her request."

-J.L. Laynesmith, "Elizabeth Woodville: The Knight's Widow", Later Plantagenet and Wars of the Roses Consorts: Power, Influence, Dynasty

[yuri-for-businesswomen]

why is it so controversial among feminists to aknowledge that men who come from countries where women have no rights do not like it that we actually do have rights in the west? I'm a social worker in a part of town with a huge arab, turk and romanian-roma population, as immigrants they're more likely to require social services so I mostly have to deal with them. It's grimm what the men have to say about their wifes, daughters and sisters. despite living in a liberal western country the women are not allowed to go outside alone, the girls aren't allowed to join clubs where boys are present (tbh I'm ok with this bc the boys are incredibly sexist and all they do is sexually harass girls when one tries to befriend them, so sex seggregetation IS safer for the girls) they're forced to wear hijab and abaya (if muslim), men proudly proclaim they would divorce their wife and disown their daughter if they stopped wearing hijab. Like, this isn't racism it's reality if you don't preach from your isolated ivory tower but actually work with these people. They come here to reap the spoils of the social care system but want to opress the very people who provide it, since most social workers are women. the entitlement of these men knows no limits, we're all just whores supposed to service them and kiss their feet as feminists we need to stop being tolerant of ideologies and "cultures" that actually want to destroy our autonomy and see us as cattle, it doesn't matter if it's gender ideologues or immigrant men, they aren't poor little victims, they hate western women for stepping out of line and rising above their designated role as servants for men and they hate their daughters whenever they turn out too "western" raised here just as much

right. and white (western) men love women having rights thats why there is no pushback whatsoever. do you know how many white men love andrew tate? „ivory tower“ girl i used to volunteer at a refugee home and homeless shelter. nobody said these men are not misogynistic i dont know what you think you are proving here by listing all the forms their misogyny takes? i know! and this whole „they only come here to smooch of the social security“ is rightwing rhetoric. all i said is that race is no indicator of misogyny. all men are misogynistic and are as blatant about it as they can be without repercussions. also yall seem to heavily confuse race, nationality, culture, and ethnicity. please point me to where i called them poor little victims? racists are so annoying lmao

[anetherealpoetess]

Angela Carter, The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories; from ‘The Company of Wolves’

[alexandriaarchive]

The Virgin of Montserrat

Friar Juan Rizi

c. 1645-1653

[margridarnauds]

Reading Hazbin meta is weird because it's like "Here's a ten paragraph analysis of why Adam secretly drinks Respect Women juice despite telling Charlie that she should stay in her place, fetishizing her relationship with Vaggie, and overall acting like a stereotypical frat bro" and then "Anyway, Lilith's a bitch (and so's Eve)"

[coochiequeens]

Gambia's parliament of 58 lawmakers includes five women. If the bill eventually passes through parliament, President Adama Barrow is expected to sign it into law. He has not spoken publicly about the legislation."

Ladies, this is why "every vote counts" means everywhere elections are held. Vote more women into office

Lawmakers in Gambia have referred a repeal of the 2015 ban on female genital cutting for further committee discussions

By ABDOULIE JOHN Associated Press and JESSICA DONATI Associated Press

March 18, 2024, 8:49 AM

SERREKUNDA, Gambia -- Lawmakers in Gambia referred an attempted repeal of the 2015 ban on female genital cutting for further committee discussions on Monday.

Gambian activists fear a repeal would overturn years of work to better protect girls and women. The legislation was referred to a national committee for further debate and could return to a vote in the weeks and months ahead.

Activists in the largely Muslim country had warned that lifting the ban would hurt years of work against a procedure often performed on girls younger than 5 in the mistaken belief that it would control their sexuality.

The procedure, which also has been called female genital mutilation, includes the partial or full removal of external genitalia, often by traditional community practitioners with tools such as razor blades or at times by health workers. It can cause serious bleeding, death and childbirth complications but remains a widespread practice in parts of Africa.

Jaha Dukureh, the founder of Safe Hands for Girls, a local group that aims to end the practice, told The Associated Press she worried that other laws safeguarding women’s rights could be repealed next. Dukureh underwent the procedure and watched her sister bleed to death.

“If they succeed with this repeal, we know that they might come after the child marriage law and even the domestic violence law. This is not about religion but the cycle of controlling women and their bodies,” she said. The United Nations has estimated that more than half of women and girls ages 15 to 49 in Gambia have undergone the procedure.

The bill is backed by religious conservatives in the nation of less than 3 million people. Its text says that “it seeks to uphold religious purity and safeguard cultural norms and values." The country’s top Islamic body has called the practice “one of the virtues of Islam."

Gambia's former leader, Yahya Jammeh, banned the practice in 2015 in a surprise to activists and with no public explanation. Since the law took effect, enforcement has been weak, with only two cases prosecuted.

On Monday, a crowd of men and women gathered outside Gambia's parliament, some carrying signs protesting the bill. Police in riot gear held them back.

Gambia's parliament of 58 lawmakers includes five women. If the bill eventually passes through parliament, President Adama Barrow is expected to sign it into law. He has not spoken publicly about the legislation.

The United States has supported activists who are trying to stop the practice. Earlier this month, it honored Gambian activist Fatou Baldeh at the White House with an International Women of Courage Award.

The U.S. Embassy in Gambia declined to say whether any high-level U.S. official in Washington had reached out to Gambian leaders over the bill. In its emailed statement, Geeta Rao Gupta, the top U.S. envoy for global women's issues, called it “incredibly important” to listen to the voices of survivors like Baldeh.

The chairperson of the local Center for Women’s Rights and Leadership, Fatou Jagne Senghore said the bill is “aimed at curtailing women’s rights and reversing the little progress made in recent years.” The president of the local Female Lawyers Association, Anna Njie, said the practice “has been proven to cause harm through medical evidence.”

UNICEF said earlier this month that some 30 million women globally have undergone female genital cutting in the past eight years, most of them in Africa but some in Asia and the Middle East.

More than 80 countries have laws prohibiting the procedure or allowing it to be prosecuted, according to a World Bank study cited this year by a United Nations Population Fund Q&A published earlier this year. They include South Africa, Iran, India and Ethiopia.

“No religious text promotes or condones female genital mutilation,” the UNFPA report says, adding there is no benefit to it.

Girls are subjected to the procedure at ages ranging from infancy to adolescence. Long term, it can lead to urinary tract infections, menstrual problems, pain, decreased sexual satisfaction and childbirth complications as well as depression, low self-esteem and post-traumatic stress disorder.

[nirrvana]

1/3 of a triptych i'm cooking

[tellingittash]

Religious Studies Term Of The Day: Ecofeminism

[christshands]

i dont really consider myself to be part of any one denomination for a multitude of reasons, but every so often ill get fixated on a specific denomination/group of christians (christianity, in addition to being my faith, is my special interest. which is the whole reason i made this blog) and their practices. right now im obsessively learning about eastern orthodoxy, before that though i was learning about anglicans, and before that it was quakers. idk the different ways people seek god are just really cool to me

[hauntedbythenarrative]

I need people to stop romanticizing italian men

[laddess-865]

Post of shame for a heckler

The first picture is from a "pro project 2025" post that this guy posted. He then proceeded to come to my page to heckle. Hecklers on my page will receive a post of shame and a block <3

[timeisacephalopod]

Why do right wingers go on and ON about "father's in the home" when fathers are basically useless in the home? Like every year I see posts that go around about "dad finding out about what I got for Christmas" and it's like if fathers are so uninvolved they don't even know what Christmas gifts their kids are getting I don't think them being gone does much?? Like of course there's good and bad parents of all genders, but traditional gender roles- which the aforementioned right wingers ascribe to- mean men do jack fucking squat in the house OR anything with their kids so what the hell do right wingers think men are doing that's so important in the home if it's none of the childrearing or house work??

All I've got in this framework is a paycheque and these days women work so men wouldn't even be contributing something women DON'T, so I have no idea what these people think men are doing that it's so irreplaceable that being gone is damaging to children when by all means under their ideas of gender and family men are less than useless to their family. Women do all that work (and barring that, DAUGHTERS do more parental work than fathers so them being gone does what, exactly, except maybe rid the family of an overgrown child? Men who actually contribute are the ones families would be damaged without, not traditional men who probably don't even know how to do their own laundry OR cook or have any life skills because women have done everything for them their whole lives so???)

[giftofshewbread]

Toxic Traditions

 :: By Edwin Tan  Published on: February 1, 2023

Some of us still have quite a bit of baggage from our heathen past to contend with after giving our lives to the Lord Jesus Christ. Traditions handed down from our ancestors are part and parcel of this unwelcome package. For those who walk in the Living Word, the enabling and empowerment of the Holy Spirit is more than sufficient for an understanding of the significance of these practices. One thing is for sure; we get it in our heads that there are elements of the fallen nature that have no place in our lives – these run counter to what is stated in the Word of God!

“He answered and said to them, ‘Why do you also transgress the Word of God because of your tradition?'” (Matthew 15:3).)

Bear this in mind; once we have surrendered our lives to Christ, there is no room for impartiality – the Lord is displeased with the double-minded! The insistence that there is no big deal where a needless digression is concerned amounts to a fallacious idiosyncrasy. There are those who think that the Lord would not mind a wee bit of stepping back. Absolute hogwash!

It only gets a whole lot worse when this line of argument dictates a lifestyle. No such thing as getting away with a solitary fling. There is that propensity to have another one at some point, and it just goes on with a string of follow-ups. Just like a little leaven that eventually messes the entire loaf!

Peer pressure would be a popular excuse for caving in. Simply for the sake of pleasing the crowd, there is that keeling over. Herein is the problem: these folks see God as someone who lived up in the heavens and half bothered – whereas the people in their immediate social circle mattered more. A blatant lie from the pit of hell! The root of the problem is that they do not have the time to know the Lord and believe wholeheartedly in His Living Word. These folks have the erroneous assumption that all will be lost should they displease their family, friends and colleagues. There are probably a lot of people with this kind of mindset groping around in the dark.

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it'” (Matthew 16:24-25).

On a personal note, the above-said passages from the Gospel have been my bulwark when challenged with peer pressure. This is especially so during the Lunar New Year, which is celebrated by ethnic Chinese. A lot of the traditions reek of worldliness. There is the emphasis on luck which clearly runs counter to believing in the unfailing promises of our Lord. There is a ubiquitous presence of good fortune’s deity during this season, a figurine that purportedly ushers in luck!

I certainly do not entrust my destiny to lady luck but rest wholeheartedly on the grace and mercy of the Lord. I have in the recent past demonstrated this in gatherings that included some practicing Christians. They would enthusiastically participate in the ‘toss’ – a practice that is supposed to herald an endless flow of good luck. The ‘toss’ involves a salad comprised of uncooked vegetables and raw fish. The participants would stir the large plate with their chopsticks for a little over a minute. Then they would have a loud utterance (luck in Mandarin or dialect) before partaking of this concoction. I stayed away from this, but surprisingly, almost all the participants of this ritual respected my position as a workman of Christ!

“For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10).

At the end of the day, we must sincerely believe what we have been taught. We must put the Word of God into practice with all seriousness and diligence. In this manner, many will see the salt and light in us, that we be effective ambassadors for Christ!

We are, without question, living at the cusp of Daniel’s seventieth week. There is heightened demonic activity as the Tribulation draws close. The adversary and his minions are relentless in their onslaught against all of humanity, especially the Body of believers. The malevolent forces will pounce on every crack and crevice that gives them the upper hand. What might appear to be a harmless practice could serve as a springboard for an all-out spiritual assault.

So there is no place for leaving everything to chance. We have to make up our minds right at this moment, jettisoning the things of the fallen nature and putting on Christ in our lives. In so doing, we deny the enemy that opportunity for devastation and destruction. Not even a fraction of a millimeter to be yielded!

Take to heart what is said in 1 Kings 18:21.

“And Elijah came to all the people, and said, ‘How long will you falter between two options? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.’ But the people answered him not a word.”

For those who are caught in that neither here nor there quagmire, it is time to get serious. Time is indeed running out. That quicksand of half-belief is enough to hold you down while the rest of the Body of Christ gets suddenly and mysteriously taken out of the world at an unspecified moment. The deal is not sealed until every element of unbelief is done away with – earthly traditions included!

“Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8).

It is time to forget about the perishable things of this fallen planet. Time to focus on an imperishable eternity with Christ.

[thepanvelite]

The Day Before Ganesh Chaturthi: Celebrating Hartalika Vrat

The Hartalika Vrat: Women's fasting for marital bliss, devotion to deities.

As the vibrant festival of Ganesh Chaturthi approaches, the day before holds a special significance for many, especially women, who observe the Hartalika Vrat. This day is dedicated to the worship of Goddess Parvati and Lord Shiva, celebrating their divine union and the power of devotion. Hartalika Vrat: A Day of Devotion and Fasting Hartalika Vrat, observed on the Tritiya of Shukla Paksha in…