Comments on: Women Protest Exclusion at the Vatican

By: nutcracker

nutcracker — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:19:12 +0000

nutcracker…

Great info. I like your site…

By: Tes

Tes — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 19:12:06 +0000

I would reccommend to anyone truly interested in feminism and the Catholic Church reading Pope John Paul II’ s apostolic letter Mulieris Dignitatem (Latin for the Dignity of Women).

By: Juliette

Juliette — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 06:28:25 +0000

No offence taken Amy and thanks for the responce.
“Still a big fan of the New Agenda.
Just wanted to add to my defence of the Catholic Church:
The dinner that was held in Honor of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by the American Friends Service Committee, The Mennonite Central Committee, Quaker United Nations Office, Religions for peace and the World Council of Churchs, was strongly opposed and protested by the Catholic League. The Catholic League orginized a rally to protest the dinner honoring Ahmadinejad while other Christian orginizations honored the man who has aided and supported torture and murder of women, Christians, Jews and homo sexuals for any or no reason at all.

By: Amy Siskind

Amy Siskind — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 04:41:42 +0000

Juliette,

What we try to do (in addition to speaking out about sexism and promoting our platform of women’s issues) is to write about “current events” surrounding women’s issues. When we read in the popular press about news or events impacting women, we try to report on as many as we can. This does not mean in every case that we have a point of view. We just want to be a place for our members to stop by each day to get a current event synopsis on some issues impacting women. This post is mostly a synopsis of a NYT article – sorry for any offense.

Amy

By: Juliette

Juliette — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 03:55:10 +0000

Great comment Kit,
I was a surprised to see The New Agenda participating in the popular American pass time of Catholic bashing. The Catholic faith is one that holds women in the highest esteem. Walk through any Roman Catholic neighborhood and you will see statues of the Blessed Mother in the picture windows, far more even than any representation of Jesus. How many religions pray to a woman?
Anyone ever heard of the Hail Mary? One of the worlds most beloved and revered women of the last century was Mother Teressa. I believe that the spiritual fulfilment she enjoyed as a nun far exeeded that which see would have experienced as a priest or even a pope. Women are respected and protected in Catholic countrys. They are the very conner stone of the family. No honor killings exist in catholic country’s and a women is not valued as half a person like she is in any country with an Islamic judicial system. Catholic country’s have elevated women to higher levels of their governments than most non Catholic countrys. And I really doubt the the outragious attacks that Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin endured and are still enduring would ever exist, far less be so popular, in a Catholic country. But what does that have to do with the Catholic church? Everything. Values and tradition that create a safe and hospitipal environment for women have been spread globally by the Catholic church. Anyone can question insult or blaspheme the Catholic church with out fearing for their life. So lets not be as reckessly naive as the Obamabots.
There is aways room for improvement in the Catholic church and always opportunity for it to take place. It just takes time. Tradition is a hard rock to break. But the tradition and the protection of a powerful Catholic church is what stands between us free women and the Burka.

By: Dawn C

Dawn C — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 03:29:55 +0000

And one woman that I know of is planning to vote for McKinney, and one woman (who happens to be the blog editor), who will vote for none of the above, who has in fact already voted in her own federal election which was held Oct. 14th. I’m thrilled to tell you that her candidate is the most radically feminist candidate she’s ever known, that she is House Leader for her party, the New Democrats, which is identified as Canada’s “labour party”, and which ran 33 percent female candidates in winnable ridings (more than any other party) in this election.

By: The New Agenda

The New Agenda — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 03:22:09 +0000

I THOUGHT The New Agenda was for all women. Guess I was mistaken, no practicing non-dissenting Catholics need apply.

Kit, non-dissenting Catholic women are welcome here. But so are dissenting Catholic women. The New Agenda is a coalition of women, and it’s inevitable that we will disagree with each other at times. Within our own Founders’ group, there are women planning to vote for Obama and women who are planning to vote for McCain.

By: Kit

Kit — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 23:12:25 +0000

I THOUGHT The New Agenda was for all women. Guess I was mistaken, no practicing non-dissenting Catholics need apply.

By: Dawn C

Dawn C — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 20:34:09 +0000

I was raised Catholic, too. My mom went to convent school, and then studied to be a nurse (from age 17) in a Catholic hospital. At 71, she’s attends church regularly, and tithes, and feels guilty if she misses a “Holy Day of Obligation.” I stopped being Catholic in my little heart when a priest told me that animals can’t go to Heaven because they don’t have souls. This idea was both profoundly distressing and highly illogical to me. It’s been a long, slow march to atheism ever since.

Any institution that excludes anyone on the basis of race or gender is a worthy target of disdain and reproach.

By: samanthasmom

samanthasmom — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 16:32:43 +0000

If Barak Obama only puts men into cabinet positions, that’s OK because only men signed the Declaration of Independence and there were no women present at the Constitutional Congress? The role of women in society has changed since 1 BC. I don’t think it’s “bashing” a church to criticize them for not reflecting those changes.