Women's roles in religion

Are interpretations of sexuality and gender differences creating a struggle for women's equality in religious roles?

"Women and Religion," part of the "Conversations and Controversy" series sponsored by the Catholic Newman Center, was held last Tuesday in room 313 of the Millennium Student Center at 1 p.m.

The event was a conversation with religious leaders from the Catholic, Lutheran and Muslim faiths during which the leaders discussed the role of women in their religion.

M. Waheed Rana, professor of the Center for Anatomical Science and Education at St. Louis University's School of Medicine, said Muslims follow the scripture of the Koran "without any question."

However, he said the equality of the genders in the Islamic religion is not represented properly by what is seen on television."Whatever they show you on TV is totally cultural," he said.

Rana said, according to the Koran, all mankind needs to equally be conscious of their "lord, be conscious of Allah," and demand their rights from one another. He said women who are seen being mistreated in the public eye are not aware of their rights.

"These people doing these things don't let the women know what their rights are," he said.

According to Rana, the treatment of women was that of equality when he was growing up in India.

"The women were all the same," he said, which came from local traditions. Although the Muslim cultures differ greatly in their followers' treatment of women, he said, "the people take these [traditions] very rigidly."

"The local traditions sometimes overshadow the religious factors," Rana said.

Local traditions and interpretations of scripture have also plagued the roles of women in the Catholic and Lutheran religions."It's not easy, God speaks through scriptures and also through community," said Rev. Karen Scherer of Unity Lutheran Church in Bel-Nor.

Scherer said interpretations can "all get mixed up" and from a Lutheran perspective, the scriptures of the Bible are not taken literally.

"We do not interpret it literally. We interpret it culturally," she said.

Teresa Roberson-Mullins, Chaplain of Pastoral Care for SSM DePaul Heath Center in Bridgeton, said the Catholic theory of "in persona Christi" which teaches "that Christ is the groom and the church is his bride" is a stumbling block for women's roles in her religion.

"This is where the church struggles. Do we take this literally or figuratively?" Roberson-Mullins said. "If we do [take it literally], does that mean the congregation should be all women?"

Roberson-Mullins said new Catholic teachings on the theology of the body will help followers understand how to interpret the scriptures through discussion of gender differences and sexuality.

"We've got to come out of the closet and admit that we are sexual beings," she said.

"Dealing with sexuality, we don't know what to do with that," Scherer said. When men and women are around each other, she said, "there is that desire to touch one another," it can take the focus off prayer.

Desire and loss of focus on prayer accounts for the only time a woman cannot perform a religious rite in Islam. Rana said when men are present during a prayer, a woman should not lead it.

"When [a man is] standing in the front, the woman would bend over and this will distract [him]," he said.

Aside from this one condition, Rana said "women can excel anywhere they want" in Islamic religious responsibilities, careers and life in general.

Roberson-Mullins said women's roles in religions can become "unstuck" if we simply learn from each other's religions and cultures.