30 Things I Want The Church To Know About Christian Feminism.

Today I am over at Sarah McCarten's blog as part of her "30 Things" series to celebrate her 30th birthday.  I am thrilled to be sharing 30 things I want to the church to know about Christian feminism.   Here's a portion of that piece:  

 I am honoured that Sarah has invited me to pen my words on this page today.   To commemorate Sarah’s 30^th birthday I’ll be sharing 30 things I want the church to know about Christian feminism.
 I will be using the word “we” as I talk about Christian feminists.  I want to be clear that “we” are a diverse group of people.  Just like not all Christians agree on every doctrinal matter, not all Christian feminists agree on every feminist issue, or every theological tenant.  I use the word “we”, but I do not speak for all Christians who are feminists, just as I do not speak for all Canadians who blog, or all brunettes who own dogs.

  1.   Feminism is the belief in the “political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.”*  Seriously.  That’s it.  Do you believe that women should have political, economic, and social equality with men?  Then, congratulations!  You’re a feminist. 

2.   Christianity is “the religion derived from Jesus Christ, based on the bible as sacred scripture.”*  Do you believe that women should have political, economic, and social equality with men AND identify as a follower of Christ?  Well, golly gee!  You just might be a Christian feminist!  (Don’t worry, we’ll teach you the secret handshake later.)
 *Yes, I broke out my Merriam-Webster Dictionary.  Yes, I am nerd.  

3.   Okay, so I might be oversimplifying things a bit.  But that’s the point.  We often paint those with whom we disagree, or don’t understand, as evil villains out to destroy our carefully constructed castles of Christendom.  We create foils of those who may believe differently than we do, or have slightly different hermeneutical approaches.  This is about engaging, about turning on the lights and realizing that those who looked so menacing in the shadows are actually more similar to us than we originally thought.

You can read the rest of the 30 things on my list here at Sarah's blog.

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