Growing up in the Greek Orthodox Church, I was aware early that women and men were not treated equally. One day, I was helping a male friend of mine organize Christmas ornaments in the church. We were accidentally locked inside when our parents went to the church hall for coffee. I knew that there was a back door behind the altar that we could open, but my friend told me that I couldn’t walk through the altar to get there because I was female. So, he had to exit out the back, go around to the front, and open the door for
me. I was a teenager at the time and I was infuriated that I wasn’t allowed to do something so simple as walk through a door.
I immediately consulted my mother, who confirmed the rule. Apparently the church doesn’t consider women to be “clean” enough to enter the altar. Knowing I couldn’t take on a belief that had existed in the church for millenia, I just decided that the church was not for me. I knew that was one battle I was not going to win.
2 comments
Tyler
thats not right. god created men and woman to balance each other out not to do that. that is very sad to know
gretchen
I was just thinking about this the other day after seeing some women from an obvious religious group in a local grocery store.
Reminds me of this quote by Lucretia Mott “It is not Christianity, but priestcraft that has subjected woman as we find her.”