Women Are Fleeing Christianity

 

Today I worked from home so that I could get to our annual condo association meeting without having to rush too much. I did join some neighbors for dinner beforehand at Mariner's Inn, and then the meeting went so well that everyone applauded our president at the end. Believe me, people weren't always so happy after our meetings.

I have been concerned for some time that the American Catholic church is getting too masculine in outlook. The leadership seems very concerned with engaging men, and it's become a bro-fest. I mean, there is a lot that is inherently sexist in Catholicism, like that women can't be priests, but that never bothered me because as a child I adored the nuns so much. However, now we have a high-profile convert running for vice president who says childless women shouldn't take part in society. While I still feel like the Church was founded by Christ, so I go to Mass, I have avoided getting more involved than that. It's hard to unsee things like how selfish a lot of people (especially men) were during the pandemic, refusing to wear a mask which is such a little ask. Think of all the things women are routinely asked to sacrifice for others! and you can't wear a piece of cloth over your face?? I thought maybe I was alone in being repulsed by this toxic masculinity in religion, but apparently not, because yesterday I read an article that said the biggest group leaving the church is women. The article noted that women are usually the ones who volunteer in religious organizations, and they have a lot of influence in how children are brought up. (Ignore those ridiculous videos that say, "If you get the father, you get the family." The ancient Jewish people knew kids are whatever their mother is.) It seems churches (not just the Catholic one) took women for granted, running after men as the more important constituents, and then women decided, "You know what? I'm done with this unpaid labor and this inherently sexist religion that insists that God and even all the angels are male." I salute my sisters who are giving Christianity the Sicilian salute. This is not the religion of Jesus, who valued women and made a huge point of engaging those who were considered morally compromised. Let the men try to run the Church without the help of women. This ought to be interesting. Religion without half the population - the more giving half, at that - is untenable.

Famous Hat