My religious journey- Jessica Hilger
Storified by Jessicahilger12 ·
Sat, Nov 18 2017 21:41:22
Week 9:
While reading Greenstein, I found some connections to our community care project of IVF. This made me continue research and utilize Greenstein more to develop our project. The beginning of our research started with academic web articles. My findings here made me upset. My focus was on Christianity. We split up the work as: Tate researching IVF and Conservative Judaism, Jessica researching Catholicism, Jasper researching Protestantism, and Aiyushi researching Reform and Orthodox Judaism. Through the academic articles, I found that Catholics saw IVF as sinful. Because infertility has become a much more prevalent issue, it made me sad that Catholic couples could not use IVF as a way to start a family. Though I am Catholic, I sadly saw Orthodox Judaism's view on IVF much more appealing. However, I think religion is up to interpretation so my Catholic interpretation is somewhat different. Marriage and sexual relations should be seen as much more than reproducing which conflicted with what I had been taught. I was always under the impression that sexual relations should only be between a husband and wife and that is because reproducing should be the goal. However, the academic articles made a different argument. Sexual relations is much more than just creating a child.
After being disappointed by the academic articles, I chose to look into Greenstein more and find more on Christian views which could relate to our project. To do this, I went to the last chapter, chapter IX: Current Concerns and Future Prospects.
Under the section of "What issues are most hotly debated by followers of the religion?" I found some interesting perspectives on the definition of a Jewish Identity. I found that this connected to our project because the identity of a child is discussed. "An individual can be Jewish by birth only as the child of a Jewish mother" (135). This is where surrogacy becomes problematic. Though the mother raising the child may be Jewish, if the mother actually birthing the child is not Jewish there can be some complications. This may be an opposition the Jewish community has to Surrogacy.
In the next section, "What is the biggest challenge facing the religion today?" technology is discussed. Technology has been advancing rapidly and new technologies have been developed to extend or terminate life. This has been a topic of controversy for Christians because, is this a failure of trusting God? The topic that directly related to IVF was "medical researchers discover new ways to assist the infertile with artificial means of conception and new ways to manipulate DNA", which can become troubling for Christian couples (143). Modifying our genetic makeup and and selecting certain traits parents want their children to have, are we "playing God"? It has been considered immoral by most because discarding embryonic humans and modifying genetics is not trusting God.
November 14th Online Class: Greenstein & Community Care
Because the Greenstein chapters had a focus on relationships between men and women, there was a direct connection between "Faithfully Feminist" and my group's community care project: Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox Judaism, Reform Judaism, and Conservative Judaism's views on the morality of IVF treatment.
The first section of Chapter 7 in Greenstein was, "What does the religion teach us about how members of the community should treat one another?" For Judaism Mitzvah is the word that is used to describe "an act of ethical distinction" (101). This word is the basis of how to rightly treat another person in Judaism. A verse that symbolizes the Judaism message is "you shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Lev 19:18). This is very similar to Christianity. The verse that is the basis for how Christians should act is "In everything do to others as you would have them do to you" (Matthew 7:12). I thought it was interesting that Christianity does not make a distinction between how Christians treat each other vs. how they treat those of other faiths. Christians should instead treat everyone as they would like to be treated. They must follow the golden rule because everyone, even those of other faiths, were made in the image of God. Islam was also similar to Christianity and Judaism. Because almsgiving is one of the five pillars of faith, it is important to give to the poor and assist the needy.
The second section of Chapter 7 in Greenstein was, "What does the religion teach about how men and women should relate to each other?" This section was already mentioned in my Storify for week 8 but one connection I didn't include was the relevance to my community care project. Because IVF is used to provide a child for a married couple most often, this section helped with the understanding of how religious men and women should interact. Because our project is focused on Judaism and Christianity, when I read I was mostly focused on these two religions. Within Judaism, the women has a very domestic role. They raise the children and take care of the family. The Talmud instructs that men should take his wife's advice and the key to a blessed home is being respectful of your wife. This caught my eye because I felt it was empowering to know the Jewish tradition values listening and respecting women. This also related to some of the research I have found for our community care project. IVF is not necessarily considered immoral in Judaism because of the emphasis put on family. Having a family is so sacred that IVF is a measure that can be taken to ensure that. At least this is what I have found so far in Orthodox Judaism. Christianity in this chapter, presented women much differently than I expected. Women were said to be equal to men because both were made in the image of God. Greenstein also mentioned that "historically, Christianity has sometimes succumbed to cultural pressures to reinforce patriarchy" (109). I think this was an interesting detail. Christianity has been wrongly misinterpreted which has resulted in it's sometimes overly conservative reputation.
The third section of Chapter 7 in Greenstein was, "What does the religion teach about people who follow other faiths?" In Judaism, all children are God's children. Therefore, race, religion, gender, and ethnic origin are not important or are not factors to be considered. This is much like Christianity. In Christianity, all people are recognized to be created by God. Therefore, again, each person was made in the image of God. Though most people forget this value, ultimately Jews and Christians should not judge others based on race or religion because all were still created by the same creator- God. Islam on the other hand, recognizes the other two monotheistic religions but also points that they have "some shortcomings" (115).
The first section of Chapter 8 was, "What is the view of the relationship between religion and politics?" This was a very interesting chapter to me. Jews are encouraged to have a "political and social sensitivity to the needs of one's neighbors" (118). Because Jews have experienced oppression, they are encouraged to have compassion for those in similar situations. As stated in the verse Exodus 23:9, "You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt". They have also experienced anti-semitism so they are involved in social issues. Therefore, Jews are less likely to rely on conservative and strict laws. Christianity, on the other hand, has gone through three stages of views of relationships between church and state. These three stages are, Christianized Roman Empire, Protestant Reformation, and Radical Reformers. During Christianized Roman Empire, believed "law of the state is an expression of the law of God" (120). Protestant Reformation depended on the belief developed my Luther that was described as "two kingdoms" (120). One kingdom or city was an earthly city and the other was a heavenly city. Earthly city represents human's time on earth as pilgrimage and the heavenly city as the true home of Christians. Radical Reformers agreed with Luther's definition of the two kingdoms but disagreed that humans should participate in matters of the state (121). Because Islam and Muslims hold religion as an essential part of identity, religion and politics are not separated. Religious values, are then what make political decisions and formats of the state should be ran.
The second section in Chapter 8 was, "What is the view of the relationship between religion and science?" This section also had relation to the community care project of IVF. Judaism views the universe as a "unified whole" (123). Therefore, organic and inorganic and animate between inanimate are one and not total separation. In Judaism, science and religion go hand in hand in understanding our existence. All chromosomes in living things are arranged the same which helped establish that the universe is one whole. Christianity has conflicting views on the relationship of faith and science. Most often, evangelical Christians have a hard time believing biological evolution. The idea that human's evolved from other living things conflicts with the story of the creation of Adam and Eve. This made me wonder how far science can go in caring for a community and still be within the boundaries of faith? IVF is often considered immoral to Christians because it is creating a baby unnaturally just like evolution is considered unnatural because instead God naturally created Adam and Eve. Islam, was much less conservative than I thought. The Prophet Muhammad encourages Muslims to explore and examine the natural world around them. This is encouraged so Muslims can understand the created world and their place in it (126).
The third section of Chapter 8 was, "What are some of the religion's teachings in the area of human sexuality?" Judaism had an interesting interpretation of this. They believe humans are part of the animal kingdom but are also a little lower than angels. Because humans are a higher form of animal, the natural sex drive is complicated. The Talmud identifies sex as "the impulse to evil" (128). But the impulse was also called good. Sexuality within Judaism is then considered healthy and normal not necessarily sinful. This is why IVF is not considered immoral because sex is normal and should produce a family but if not, help should be sought because family is what should be strived for. Christians on the other hand, believe sex should only be had between a man and women in marriage. Marriage is a very high covenant between a man and women that should be cherished. Islam, however, was even more traditional and conservative. Sexual relations are only ever appropriate during marriage. Homosexuality is also not considered a "valid form of sexual expression in Islam" (132). However, sex is considered healthy and given by God within in a marriage.
Week 8:
Once again this week my religious perceptions were changed. Because I am Roman Catholic, I didn't know much about how women in other religions were viewed or how they struggled while being a Feminist. I noticed in the essays from "Faithfully Feminist", many Jewish women had women as a support system to fall back on. They had the opportunity to have progressive women in their journey of finding the balance between religion and women rights. However, I don't think these two are entirely exclusive as many of the essays show. It was interesting that in Judaism there were women to look up to because women could have leadership roles. They could become rabbis and be role models within the religion. This is one of the troubling aspects of Catholicism for me. I want to be a Catholic. I want to continue to be religious. However, it is much harder to understand women's role in religion when women can not be ordained in Christianity.
A confusing factor of Islam was presented in the essay, "Embracing Feminism in Public to Find God in Private" by Jennifer Zobair. In the Qur'an, verse 4:34, "seems to permit the beating of women" (27). In Zobair's religious journey, this was the most distracting and troublesome. As Zobair searched into interpretations of this verse, she found reason to stay. Though Judaism had much more women in leadership roles, Zobair was able to find Muslim women's different interpretations that made it clear men were not able to beat their wives. This is the important part of being empowered in a religion as a woman. I am Catholic. I may not have a woman pope to look up to but I do have the women in my family who are stronger than most people I know. Zobair may not have had support from Muslim leaders, but she found support in interpretations of troubling verses. After writing her story "Painted Hands", she also found that many practicing Muslim women were looking for the same support she was. They are out there, waiting for someone to interpret religion correctly instead of misinterpreting and putting women below.
Another interesting aspect in Zobair's essay was the quote, "I never felt judged for being a Catholic feminist" but her "journey into Islam was much less accepting" (30). I have never felt judged by my church for being a feminist. Instead, I have felt judged by atheists about me being a feminist and still Catholic. However, if I ever said I wouldn't judge if a woman got an abortion, I may scrutinized by the Catholic community. Though I have never directly felt judged by the Catholic church, I know those judgements are out there. I know others deal with these judgements daily. I also know people within the religion aren't the only ones to judge, sometimes people who don't believe are a lot harsher in their judgment.