The Fundamentals are the Same

Although much of the modern church believes that feminism is leading to the demise in America, I personally believe that my feminism makes me a better Christian. This is because both belief systems are founded on the premise of advocating for others. Feminism is about fighting for the rights of marginalized groups and unapologetically proclaiming equality.

Feminism is about handing the microphone that our privileged lives have granted us with and passing it to our neighbor, who by sheer dumb luck, wasn't afforded that same right. Christianity is about loving people without first inquiring whether or not they are worthy of that love.

Jesus did not question if we were worthy of love. He decided, on the cross, that every single soul that would ever be born into existence was inherently worthy. We are not worthy because we go to church on Sundays, pay our tithe diligently, or any other box that legalistic Christianity demands that we check in order to be deemed good enough.

Jesus decided that we are inherently valuable, intrinsically worthy, and that is enough. And that is the exact belief that feminism holds; that all people should be afforded equality regardless of any label that the world has placed on them; that all people are equal.

Jesus Would Be a Feminist

I truly believe that Jesus would be the posterboard for feminism. Jesus would be waiting, arms open, to his beloved children fleeing their homeland as refugees. Jesus would listen to the survivor of a sexual assault with an open heart and hear her story without a shred of condemnation or shame.

Jesus would proclaim that, yes, black lives do matter; just as much as white lives, blue lives, and brown lives, like his. Jesus would want women to be treated with the equity and respect of our male counterparts. Jesus would fight for a living wage for millions of families across the globe.

Jesus would fight the stigma that disabled people are somehow less than because they are abled differently. Jesus would love his observant, Muslim neighbor just as much as his white, Christian neighbor. Jesus would be absolutely appalled at the treatment of the LGBTQ+ community at the hands of the church.

Jesus would fight to protect our earthly home because only he knows how long we will be here. Jesus would hold the hand of the woman getting an abortion and affirm her valid emotions and meet her with nothing but love. That is the Lord we serve; one of grace and mercy and non-condemnation.

The bottom line is that Jesus would love, and he certainly wouldn't be complacent with injustice so neither should we.

Jesus showed up and showed out, just like feminists

During his brief time on earth, Jesus was a trailblazer; he was the Messiah. Jesus did not adhere to the rules of the religious culture at the time. Many times, Jesus openly defied the church and was ridiculed heavily for doing so.

The Pharisees didn't like Jesus. I see so much behavior of the evangelical church mimicking that of the group that literally persecuted the savior that we claim to love so much a mere two-thousand years ago.

But Jesus knew that the persecution was worth it; he knew that people's lives were worth his discomfort. As a feminist, I know that any discomfort that I feel is worth it.

Conversations about racism, ableism, inclusivity, and sexism are not easy, but they're not supposed to be. As a feminist, and a white, cis-gendered, straight feminist at that, I only get a minuscule percentage of the persecution that Jesus got and that my fellow brothers and sisters still get to this very day.

As an immensely privileged person, it is my job to create and promote equality; not because it is easy but because it is vital to the fabric of our democracy. And if that's not Jesus's whole message than I don't know what is.