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Review Summary: Update needed |
Date: 2007-12-10 |
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Details: When I first read this book, I was fascinated and horrified, but in the intervening years much has happened in the Catholic Church, and the generation of feminists about whom Ms Steichen writes is aging and dying. They have not been replaced, as far as I can tell; younger people with similar views simply leave the Church, and there is a new orthodoxy abroad.
If Ms Steichen were to produce an updated version, I would be one of the first to buy it. I would love to know what the current situation really is. |
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Review Summary: Want to hear the VOICES of conservative Catholic women.... then don't read this book. |
Date: 2006-01-24 |
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Details: First of all, this is good book for Catholic feminists to understand what our conservative opposition believes and says about us, but it can also be masochistic to spend time reading this. (And don't buy it... once you've read it... you've read it so go to the library instead)
Second of all, there are very real tensions, especially for women, between traditional Catholic faith and Catholic feminist faith. These tensions deserve attention but I do not think this book presents them in a constructive way, it is more reactionary.
Third, feminists care about women, women's lives, women's choices, and women's opinions. If people are looking for a book that is more level headed and actually presents the VOICES of conservative Catholic women a book that I believe would appeal to feminists and non-feminists is "God Gave Us the Right: Conservatove Catholic, Evangelical Protestant, and Orthodox Jewish Women Grapple with Feminism" by Christel Manning. It is full of case studies and interviews with women who are strong, full of faith, and are attempting to navigate the space between patriarchal abuse and a feminism that is perceived as threatening. |
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Review Summary: Roman Catholic Reactionism |
Date: 2005-10-15 |
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Details: As a former Tridentine Catholic and for a short time a member of the Vatican II Roman Catholic Church, I found this book interesting and definitely a good statement of what the anti-feminists in the church are thinking.
There are definite boundaries to the definition of "catholic" and the reactionary wing of the church is unwilling to go beyond them--in fact, they don't even intend to get near them. After years of thought and prayer and struggle, both in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox faiths, I decided to "take it outside the Church", i.e., to quit banging my head against the wall and to become a Christo-Pagan. This is one place where I do agree with Ms. Steichen: I think that the feminist and progressive elements within the Church would do better to leave and start their own faith communities. I have friends who do nothing but complain about the Church, along with the former Pope as well as the current one, yet when I have suggested leaving, they refuse to do so.
Ms. Steichen takes issue with Wiccan ceremonies being practised in religious houses. She also mentions those who are at the forefront of the drive to modernise and liberalise the Church--and many of those are in religious orders, so I would expect change to start within those communities. However, I have met religious who are definitely a part of the drive to modernise things, yet are comfortable using the prayers and ceremonies of the church.
Ironically, I recommend this book to feminists and budding feminists within the church to show them that they are not alone, that there others out there like them. |
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Review Summary: Means well, but could have used more polish |
Date: 2004-11-17 |
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Details: UNGODLY RAGE is an examination of feminist movements in the Roman Catholic Church by journalist Donna Steichen. A devout Catholic herself, Steichen sees feminism as a malevolent force destroying the Church, and her book intends to alert the laity to this growing but little-understood movement. My opinion on the book is mixed.
The book consists of a series of case studies in which Steichen examines an event in the Church, such as a problematic seminar, heterodox publishing, or public statements by clergy contrary to the Magisterium. The chapters are loosely linked, and figures well-known from the previous chapter are reintroduced entirely, leading to some rather annoying repetition. Some of the themes Steichen discusses are very serious indeed, and need to be countered by the Church to a great degree. She gives numerous examples of conferences being called to further involvement of women in the Church, but participants hear nary a mention of Jesus Christ and lots of talk about Wicca, Hinduism, and other Nicene Creed-denying spirituality. People who have long since lost all belief in orthodox Christianty remain in churches instead of going over to more appropriate venues such as Unitarian Universalism, with disastrous consequences. Many of the personalities mentioned in the book are still active today, remaining in the Roman Catholic Church and, by their own admission, hoping to dismantle it from within.
Unfortunately, the book is more a screed than an effective uncovering of Roman Catholic sexual issues. Often the author's criticisms seem unfocused, and while she insists on obedience to the bishops of the Church, she calls Vatican II undertaken by these same bishops a grave mistake. The book is written in a slightly sensationalistic journalistic style instead of adhering to more appropriate academic standards, though footnotes are abundant.
It is a pity that in the thirteen years since UNGODLY RAGE was published, no writers have accepted the challenge of writing a book on the same theme but in a more academic fashion and with a look at what's happening in other orthodox denominations besides the Roman Catholic Church. Though this book has its faults, it is one of the few resources available on the topic. |
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Review Summary: Half journalism, half inflammatory |
Date: 2004-05-02 |
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Details: Though I daresay that Mrs Steichen and I would vary greatly in both approach and emphasis, there are certain points she sets forth which are valid and basically well reported - for example, the use of Wiccan rituals by women religious being detrimental to the spiritual life, and the distortion in values that can arise from exagerrated feminism. I would agree, as well, with some (emphasis on 'some') of her assessments of particular feminist 'voices' to which she refers. Yet the journalist, who I have no doubt accurately reported some of the rituals she observed, takes a back seat to one whose highly conservative agenda brands everyone with whom she agrees with the 'demonic' iron. For example, Steichen refers to various theologians (among them Raymond Brown and Joseph Fitzmyer, who were amongst the 20th century's best RC scripture scholars, and Karl Rahner) in the same breath as those with Wiccan emphases - and the result is so inaccurate as to be nearly laughable. Raymond Brown wrote an entire book affirming the virginal conception and bodily resurrection of Christ, with footnotes to Vatican documents on many a page, yet Steichen makes it appear that he is one of a crowd who denies these doctrines. One wonders if Steichen has actually read the works of these theologians - and, if so, if she has the sophistication to understand their analyses. I am acquainted with the writings of some of the women with whom Steichen takes issue, and, in many cases, find them equally exasperating. Yet there is no distinction here as well. I have little patience with the feminism of Joan Chittister, for example, yet have heard her speak of the importance of the Benedictine tradition of liturgical prayer - a far cry from pagan rituals. Steichen repeatedly refers to the collapse of the "North American" Church, and is quick to note when one who is a citizen of another land, or even foreign born, is propagating the errors she sees. It becomes highly annoying, with an effect of such a narrow view that the thesis seems to be 'the US Church would be fine were it not for these European influences' (John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger apparently being exceptions.) In my observation, a great many liturgical abuses and much of the deterioration in women's communities stemmed precisely from a distorted view of 'acculturation,' and an attitude that emphasis (for example) on nuns' professional achievement rather than the life of prayer was 'more American.' It is unfortunate that she does not treat of this, for it has had far more devastating effects than New Age gnosticism. For one so devout, Steichen seems to give undue credit to the powers of evil. The idea that a curse by women who worship some sort of wicked goddess caused the defeat of a proposal by Jesse Helms (who, I believe, holds some views which would not be in accord with RC positions...) was bizarre. Steichen goes far beyond pointing out errors, to a worldview where nuns seem to be descending into witchcraft and thereby summoning evil powers. Steichen's writing style is professional and engaging, which makes this book all the more dangerous. It seems such thorough reporting that, taken at face value, unsuspecting readers may view the works of notable theologians as heretical. There is no balance. One receives the erroneous impression that nuns would remain loyal daughters of the Church had they not obtained theological education. |
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out of 16 Reviews
