Faith and Feminism: They Go Together

Faith and Feminism: They Go Together
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I identify as both a Catholic and a feminist. And more than that, I believe in both my faith and my feminism wholeheartedly...I grew up involved in my church - altar serving, lectoring, volunteering at my church's camp, attending mass, etc. I also grew up reading traditional feminist literature... including books like The Feminine Mystique, The Beauty Myth, A Room of One’s Own, and more.

This involvement with both seemingly (and often times truthfully) contrasting set of values typically makes people confused...I’ve even been told that it’s actually not possible to ‘be both’. And this confusion does make sense - feminism and faith, Catholicism especially, have manifested historically in extremely conflicting ways. (That being stated, it should be noted that each has manifested oftentimes in ways that aren’t representative of what they should be or actually are. In other words, what feminism is ‘supposed’ to look like hasn’t always been, and same with religion.)

I am not here to tell you that faith and feminism ALWAYS go together - they don’t necessarily. But what I am saying is that in my own personal experience, faith and feminism DO go together. And quite beautifully, at that :)

Me wearing my feminism shirt, speaking at a conference doing the work God gave me

Me wearing my feminism shirt, speaking at a conference doing the work God gave me

Interestingly enough, I found God the same time I became a feminist.

Let me explain: When I was a little girl, I was captivated by religious stories from the Bible and would pray every evening long, thorough prayers. And then as I started to get older, I started to have doubts and especially questioned my faith when my friends started coming out as gay. Confused, and not ‘feeling anything’ but uncertainty when I went to mass, I started to believe that religion wasn’t for me. Despite feeling disconnected from God though, I did pray for one thing consistently: that I would form a connection with God again. I prayed this prayer for YEARS - probably from about maybe 6th or 7th grade to Sophomore year of high school - and God (as He always does) listened.

When I was a Sophomore, I had a crazy God moment. I talk about this a lot, but basically God informed me that continuing to work with young girls on issues like body image, media, self-esteem, mental health and more was my God-given purpose, and that I had to continue doing my work. This work would later become MOVE, Survival of the Prettiest, a TEDx on media diversity, conversations with young girls on how to reach out for help, and much more. Additionally, God told me that He would be on my side, and that he would help me and provide opportunities for me to carry out His work….His work for me, yes, being inherently feminist in nature. I know that it may seem silly, but I know that God WANTS me to do the feminist work that I do. After all, that’s why he put me here on this Earth with the specific skill sets I have!

I re-discovered God that day. For the first time in years, I I started wearing my cross necklace again. I started reading biblical stories again. I started talking openly about my faith. And for the first time in years, I started to feel totally whole and comforted and confident in my purpose and work….all thanks to my faith in God.

From my journal, on the day I re-discovered God

From my journal, on the day I re-discovered God

I also started reading the New Testament. And this is the point where I started becoming more convinced of my feminist ideals about the importance of equality and respecting others. More than this, this is where I learned about one of my largest social justice heros: Jesus Christ.

I know. It probably sounds a little bit laughable. But it’s totally true - While reading the Bible, the one thing that consistently struck me is how unbelievably kind Jesus is. Seriously! This man had a kind, loving heart and spent his time with people who often don’t receive love in our society - prostitutes, refugees, and more. He lived his life in such an exemplary way, and there are a lot of reasons why I admire him, but two of the biggest are because he was committed to justice and loved so unbelievably radically.

Going off of that, I always think it’s ridiculous when the Bible is used to justify hate or homophobia or intolerance, because, the overwhelmingly overarching theme of the Bible is on the importance of loving others in a RADICAL way. Mark 12:31 states, “The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” And again in Peter 4:8, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins”. Reading the Bible pushed me to be kinder, more loving, and interestingly enough, more liberal with my political beliefs (though, that’s definitely a piece for another time when I become more definite with what I believe in). Regardless, the Bible introduced me to a kind of mindset that was kind, forgiving, and loving.

And this is why I believe that social justice and faith can and do go together: at the core of each is love. In fact, I believe that social justice is an expression of love.

My friend Gina introduced me to this quote about social justice, by Cornel West: “Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public”. In this quote, West equates social justice with being an expression of love. This has been true in my personal experience; social justice is the way I express love...love that has been motivated by God. The reason why I do what I do is because I am motivated by God and pushed forward by His help. The reason why I believe that ALL individuals deserve respect and an equal starting point, and more than that, why I am going to devote my entire life to fighting for social justice is BECAUSE of God. In my own life, faith and feminism have individually strengthened my beliefs for each other.

Faith and feminism can and do contrast each other, absolutely - pick up any history book - but I argue that they don’t have to. I argue that the two can be deeply intertwined and work off of each other.

Thank you.

To reach out to me or explore my work, click here: http://www.ashleyolafsen.com

My friend Gina, a fellow feminist of faith who inspires me to follow God and fight for justice

My friend Gina, a fellow feminist of faith who inspires me to follow God and fight for justice

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