Students learn about sexism and religion during spiritual week
0Written by Cody Riddle and Allie Chaney
Dr. Miguel de la Torre, professor of social ethics and Latina studies at Iliff School of Theology in Denver, gave a lecture on sexism and language at the University of Pikeville during spiritual emphasis week in honor of Dr. Carol Browning, a former religion professor. Torre started his lecture saying “Sex is great.” This came from a lecture on religious beliefs, so it caught several people off guard. He then explained how Christian beliefs have twisted sex into something evil. He touched on churches being split by sexual beliefs rather than actual theology.
He said, that society tends to make all other “isms” feminine so that one can gain control and power, which has created a pattern of oppression since the beginning of time.
“All forms of oppression are rooted in the oppression of women. The process of liberation should begin through the liberation of women,” Torre said.
This is how he brought up the fact that gender is taken far too seriously in not only religious beliefs today, but also, society. This led him into the idea that assigning God a gender is blasphemy, because it is limiting God to a small spectrum.
“If God is male, then all males are Gods,” said Torre.
Torre concluded how he began. “Sex is great.”
“I think having guest speakers like him are great for our school because it is great to hear new opinions and new ways of thinking. I believe that is what UPIKE is all about,” said Hunter Swindall, sophomore.