Inclusivity and Identity: A Perspective from Simpson College

683 Words2 Pages

The Who Tells Our Story forum event was a necessary reminder of Simpson College’s stance on inclusivity that students so often forget. The administration and professors are often reminded of the community inclusivity, but without constant dialogue, students are not always an agent in this ideal. As Mikki said in class, we are often placed into groups based on our social location and that is how we are viewed, but we all have our own unique story, and that is how people connect with each other.
The first story shared was about a white, heterosexual, Christian, conservative male. This student experienced criticism from both professors and students on their political beliefs which led that student to feel like he was in a hostile learning …show more content…

The discussion led to questioning if it is okay to call out bigotry and ignorance, which everyone at my table agreed was okay. This question relates to the many females we have learned about in class who have called out the ignorance and bigotry of others. Mary Daly is one example of a female who did not simply accept oppressive beliefs. Daly described the patriarchal structure of Christianity as “a problem” in her sermon, “The Women’s Movement: An Exodus Community” (Clark and Richardson, 312). She did not simply agree to disagree, she called it problem. The Church’s patriarchal structure is not just an opinion; it is a tool of oppression and …show more content…

Female ordination has been a controversy for hundreds of years. Pope Francis, recently announced the females will never, ever, ever be ordained. The Catholic Church’s stance against female ordination is centered around the idea that Jesus was male and therefore only males can be ordained. Thomas Aquinas emphasized that Eve’s sin was greater than Adam’s. Eve’s sin showed that females are subordinate to males because females lack wisdom and are mentally weak. Aquinas went as far as to say that ordination does not take if performed on a female (Clark and Richardson, 70-71). Aquinas’s writings have been influential in both the Catholic Church and Protestant denominations. The debate of female ordination gets back to the question raised in the forum event yesterday. Christianity is largely patriarchal and allowing females to have equality allows males to lose their superiority; this is threatening. There are also many denominations who do not ordain members of the LGBTQ community, which also is a step towards

Open Document