nycatx on Nostr: To your first inquiry, I would answer that it is impossible to deal with absolutes in ...

To your first inquiry, I would answer that it is impossible to deal with absolutes in life. There will always be some authority of one group of humans over another to some extent. In current western society, the church (majorly influenced by Christianity) has no enforcement body that limits women’s agency. It is the State and individuals representing the State that wield this “authority” and enforce it, many times using religious values as justification of action. In other societies, religious patriarchy IS the State & does directly limit women’s agency. A literal execution of the word of their religion in real, everyday life. Arguably, in this framing, Christianity and the Bible serve as moral guidelines, but not forced behavior in real life. Although the biblical scriptures have content that was considered acceptable at the time of its writing, doesn’t mean these texts need to be interpreted and acted upon in the most literal way. Women factually have more agency under Christian influence than some other religions (not all, but I’m also not educated enough on all religions to opine further). This isn’t me justifying or promoting subjugation of females, but it does hold some weight and points to the more important question of: why do we seek agency from religion or government in the first place?

This leads to addressing your second inquiry. There are Christian apologists and others who try to modernize Christianity (as it is practiced). I think you’d enjoy Rev. Timothy Keller’s vast writing on these types of topics where Christianity and its values/traditions are questioned. I personally gained a interest to his teachings through his book “The Reason For God” which explores skeptics’ hesitations toward accepting the Bible and/or Christian beliefs.