Mary Daly
Daly is a radical post-Christian feminist theologian who argued that Christianity lay the foundation of
a sexist culture which supports the subordination of and violence against women. She argues that
Christianity should be abandoned entirely.
Sexism and patriarchy in Christianity, as it has developed in the mainstream Churches
The traditional, biblical image and thus the commonly accepted image of God is this great patriarch
in heaven, an all-powerful father figure, and as Daly points out “If God is male, then male is God.”
Furthermore, the belief that Jesus is the perfect or ideal person seems to indicate that men are
superior in some way so men begin to see themselves as more God-like than women, and believe
they too should reflect the dominance of this “divine patriarch”, both within the family and greater
society.
The entire notion of Christianity, its scripture, theology and ethics have all been written by men who
used religion as a tool of oppression. All the key founders of the Church, Daly points out, were
deeply sexist from Tertullian who claimed that women were ‘the devil’s gateway’ responsible for the
Fall, to Augustine who claims that women are not made in God’s image, and Luther who felt that
women had single-handedly spoiled God’s creation. Male superiority reinforces male superiority,
and as Christianity is the sole product of male hands, it only serves the interest of a patriarchal
society and the overt oppression of women.
The focus on Jesus’ maleness has led to a Church which justifies male control and leadership and
even now women are not allowed to hold positions of authority with ordination in the Catholic
Church only open to men – a notion that Daly criticises heavily. Through this, women are taught that
it is only through male leadership and subservience that they can achieve salvation.
Women are encouraged to be submissive mothers in the background, and further religious teachings
perpetuate these sexist roles, describing them as natural.
She believed that God needs to be castrated as the maleness of God has to be removed. Religious
language in the Bible and wider society is too androcentric, male-centred, so we need to begin using
language in a new way.
Christianity’s ‘Unholy Trinity’ of rape, genocide and war
Daly claimed that nearly all female oppression in the West could be traced back to Christianity. The
depiction of the Virgin Mary, for example, as a symbol of purity and motherhood had legitimised the
silencing of women, encouraging them to become passive objects with no real voice or will of their
own. Mary is the ‘total Rape Victim’ and the way the Catholic Church reverences Mary has made it
acceptable to see women in this way.
Daly noted three key symbols of male dominance that were a product of Christianity. She dubbed
them ‘the Unholy Trinity’ of rape, genocide and war.
The Bible is supposed to be the direct word of God and yet it is filled with stories of rape. Daly argues
that this has set the foundations for a religion which oppresses women with sexual dominance and
violence. For example in Judges 19, when scoundrels begin abusing a guest at a man’s house, he
offers his virgin daughter and his concubine for them instead, the latter of whom is raped to death
during the night. Deuteronomy 22 puts a monetary price on rape: “If a man is caught raping a young
woman who is not engaged, he is to pay the father fifty pieces of silver” and Numbers even explicitly
states “kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has not.”
Daly is a radical post-Christian feminist theologian who argued that Christianity lay the foundation of
a sexist culture which supports the subordination of and violence against women. She argues that
Christianity should be abandoned entirely.
Sexism and patriarchy in Christianity, as it has developed in the mainstream Churches
The traditional, biblical image and thus the commonly accepted image of God is this great patriarch
in heaven, an all-powerful father figure, and as Daly points out “If God is male, then male is God.”
Furthermore, the belief that Jesus is the perfect or ideal person seems to indicate that men are
superior in some way so men begin to see themselves as more God-like than women, and believe
they too should reflect the dominance of this “divine patriarch”, both within the family and greater
society.
The entire notion of Christianity, its scripture, theology and ethics have all been written by men who
used religion as a tool of oppression. All the key founders of the Church, Daly points out, were
deeply sexist from Tertullian who claimed that women were ‘the devil’s gateway’ responsible for the
Fall, to Augustine who claims that women are not made in God’s image, and Luther who felt that
women had single-handedly spoiled God’s creation. Male superiority reinforces male superiority,
and as Christianity is the sole product of male hands, it only serves the interest of a patriarchal
society and the overt oppression of women.
The focus on Jesus’ maleness has led to a Church which justifies male control and leadership and
even now women are not allowed to hold positions of authority with ordination in the Catholic
Church only open to men – a notion that Daly criticises heavily. Through this, women are taught that
it is only through male leadership and subservience that they can achieve salvation.
Women are encouraged to be submissive mothers in the background, and further religious teachings
perpetuate these sexist roles, describing them as natural.
She believed that God needs to be castrated as the maleness of God has to be removed. Religious
language in the Bible and wider society is too androcentric, male-centred, so we need to begin using
language in a new way.
Christianity’s ‘Unholy Trinity’ of rape, genocide and war
Daly claimed that nearly all female oppression in the West could be traced back to Christianity. The
depiction of the Virgin Mary, for example, as a symbol of purity and motherhood had legitimised the
silencing of women, encouraging them to become passive objects with no real voice or will of their
own. Mary is the ‘total Rape Victim’ and the way the Catholic Church reverences Mary has made it
acceptable to see women in this way.
Daly noted three key symbols of male dominance that were a product of Christianity. She dubbed
them ‘the Unholy Trinity’ of rape, genocide and war.
The Bible is supposed to be the direct word of God and yet it is filled with stories of rape. Daly argues
that this has set the foundations for a religion which oppresses women with sexual dominance and
violence. For example in Judges 19, when scoundrels begin abusing a guest at a man’s house, he
offers his virgin daughter and his concubine for them instead, the latter of whom is raped to death
during the night. Deuteronomy 22 puts a monetary price on rape: “If a man is caught raping a young
woman who is not engaged, he is to pay the father fifty pieces of silver” and Numbers even explicitly
states “kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has not.”
