Eleanor Rae

Last updated

Eleanor Rae (born 1934) is an American author and proponent of eco-feminism.

Contents

Family

Rae was born in Meriden, Connecticut on January 31, 1934. Eleanor was the youngest of four children, her parents Stella Sandj and Jon Pracon immigrated to the United States from Poland. Her parents named here after First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt with the thought that her family would survive the Great Depression. Eleanor Rae is married to Giles Rae and they together have two daughters, a son, and eight grandchildren. [1]

Education

Rae first earned a Mathematics degree from the College of New Rochelle. She received a Master's degree from Southern Connecticut State University in early childhood education and a Masters in parish ministry and adult education from Fordham University. Rae earned her doctoral degree from Fordham in contemporary systematic theology. . [2]

Work Life

After her youngest child entered school, Rae worked as a day care worker, parent cooperative nursery school director, in church ministries, and a public school teacher. In her most recent position as Director of Office of the Laity for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport CT, she developed an interest in women's issues and the environment. [3] After seventeen years her controversial and abrupt dismissal from the Diocese led to her founding of the Centre for Women, the Earth, the Divine (CWED). Eleanor also became increasingly involved in The North American Coalition for Christianity and Ecology (NACCE), [4] one of the early organizations in the United States founded to motivate Christians toward eco-logical action, [5] where she was elected president and served as such for several terms.

Major works

Rae co-authored the book Created in Her Image: Models of the Feminine Divine. Beginning in 1995, Rae has published a quarterly newsletter Weaving the Connections on various women's issues. [6]

Created in Her Image: Models of the Feminine Divine (Summary)

Eleanor Rae uses her feminist perspective, spirituality, and her social concerns to put forth a book that explains the powers of the feminist divine. The book outlines the role that psychology has played in feminism and how it will also play a role going forward. [7]

Women, the Earth, the Divine (Summary)

Rae puts together three topics of concern in this 1994 novel. The novel focuses on rediscovering feminine principle that is a not a result of male view. Instead, Rae uses real world experiences from women. She ties together eco feminism with religion and relates them to real world issues. The novel examines western tendencies to ignore women's voices and peoples ability to overlook women's capabilities across various subjects. Rae compares the feminine principle with four major religions, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism.

Philosophical contributions

Rae is considered a staple in eco feminist theology. She has had a focus on women's oppression and issues around this subject her entire career. Rae is part of a group of eco feminists that contribute to social in justice and attacks philosophical theories that contribute to injustices. Eco feminism as a whole aims to connect, historically and philosophically, the idea of women's oppression and nature's exploitation. 'Rae is credited as one of these eco feminists. [8]

Present

Rae has worked with Amazon river dolphins in Peru and leatherback turtles in Suriname.

Accomplishments

Rae was awarded the Ursula Lauris citation for her leadership achievements. [9]

Related Research Articles

Feminist theology is a movement found in several religions, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Sikhism, Jainism,Neopaganism, Baháʼí Faith, Judaism, Islam, Christianity, and New Thought, to reconsider the traditions, practices, scriptures, and theologies of those religions from a feminist perspective. Some of the goals of feminist theology include increasing the role of women among clergy and religious authorities, reinterpreting patriarchal (male-dominated) imagery and language about God, determining women's place in relation to career and motherhood, studying images of women in the religions' sacred texts, and matriarchal religion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thealogy</span> The study and reflection upon the feminine divine from a feminist perspective

Thealogy views divine matters through feminine perspectives including but not limited to feminism. Valerie Saiving, Isaac Bonewits (1976) and Naomi Goldenberg (1979) introduced the concept as a neologism. Its use then widened to mean all feminine ideas of the sacred, which Charlotte Caron usefully explained in 1993: "reflection on the divine in feminine or feminist terms". By 1996, when Melissa Raphael published Thealogy and Embodiment, the term was well established.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Daly</span> American feminist philosopher and theologian (1928–2010)

Mary Daly was an American radical feminist philosopher and theologian. Daly, who described herself as a "radical lesbian feminist", taught at the Jesuit-run Boston College for 33 years. Once a practicing Roman Catholic, she had disavowed Christianity by the early 1970s. Daly retired from Boston College in 1999, after violating university policy by refusing to allow male students in her advanced women's studies classes. She allowed male students in her introductory class and privately tutored those who wanted to take advanced classes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goddess movement</span> Modern revival of divine feminine or female-centered spirituality

The Goddess movement is a revivalistic Neopagan religious movement which includes spiritual beliefs and practices that emerged primarily in the United States in the late 1960s and predominantly in the Western world during the 1970s. The movement grew as a reaction both against Abrahamic religions, which exclusively have gods who are referred to using masculine grammatical articles and pronouns, and secularism. It revolves around Goddess worship and the veneration for the divine feminine, and may include a focus on women or on one or more understandings of gender or femininity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daphne Hampson</span> English theologian

Margaret Daphne Hampson is an English theologian. Educated at Oxford and at Harvard, she held a personal Chair in "Post-Christian Thought" at the University of St Andrews. Hampson's distinctive theological position has both gained her notoriety and been widely influential. Holding that Christianity is neither true nor moral, she believes the overcoming of patriarchal religion to be fundamental to human emancipation. As a theologian Hampson has always held to a "realist" position, in which the understanding of "that which is God" is based in human religious experience.

Ecospirituality connects the science of ecology with spirituality. It brings together religion and environmental activism. Ecospirituality has been defined as "a manifestation of the spiritual connection between human beings and the environment." The new millennium and the modern ecological crisis has created a need for environmentally based religion and spirituality. Ecospirituality is understood by some practitioners and scholars as one result of people wanting to free themselves from a consumeristic and materialistic society. Ecospirituality has been critiqued for being an umbrella term for concepts such as deep ecology, ecofeminism, and nature religion.

Ecotheology is a form of constructive theology that focuses on the interrelationships of religion and nature, particularly in the light of environmental concerns. Ecotheology generally starts from the premise that a relationship exists between human religious/spiritual worldviews and the degradation or restoration and preservation of nature. It explores the interaction between ecological values, such as sustainability, and the human domination of nature. The movement has produced numerous religious-environmental projects around the world.

Christian feminism is a school of Christian theology which uses the viewpoint of a Christian to promote and understand morally, socially, and spiritually the equality of men and women. Christian theologians argue that contributions by women and acknowledging women's value are necessary for a complete understanding of Christianity. Christian feminists are driven by the belief that God does not discriminate on the basis of biologically determined characteristics such as sex and race, but created all humans to exist in harmony and equality regardless of those factors. On the other hand, Christian egalitarianism is used for those advocating gender equality and equity among Christians but do not wish to associate themselves with the feminist movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosemary Radford Ruether</span> American theologian (1936–2022)

Rosemary Radford Ruether was an American Catholic feminist theologian known for her significant contributions to the fields of feminist theology and ecofeminist theology. Her teaching and her writings helped establish these areas of theology as distinct fields of study; she is recognized as one of the first scholars to bring women's perspectives on Christian theology into mainstream academic discourse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian egalitarianism</span> Belief in gender equality based in Christianity

Christian egalitarianism, also known as biblical equality, is egalitarianism based in Christianity. Christian egalitarians believe that the Bible advocates for gender equality and equal responsibilities for the family unit and the ability for women to exercise spiritual authority as clergy. In contrast to Christian complementarianists and Christian patriarchists, proponents of Christian egalitarianism argue that Bible verses often used to justify patriarchal domination in gender roles are misinterpreted. Egalitarians believe in a form of mutual submission in which all people submit to each other in relationships and institutions as a code of conduct without a need for hierarchical authority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia Ramey Mollenkott</span> American feminist (1932–2020)

Virginia Ramey Mollenkott, was an American feminist writer. She is known for her "God of the Breasts" interpretation of El Shaddai. She spent her 44-year professional career teaching college level English literature and language, but developed specializations in feminist theology and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender theology during the second half of that career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matriarchal religion</span> Religion that focuses on a goddess or goddesses

A matriarchal religion is a religion that emphasizes a goddess or multiple goddesses as central figures of worship and spiritual authority. The term is most often used to refer to theories of prehistoric matriarchal religions that were proposed by scholars such as Johann Jakob Bachofen, Jane Ellen Harrison, and Marija Gimbutas, and later popularized by second-wave feminism. These scholars speculated that early human societies may have been organized around female deities and matrilineal social structures. In the 20th century, a movement to revive these practices resulted in the Goddess movement.

Atheist feminism is a branch of feminism that also advocates atheism. Atheist feminists hold that religion is a prominent source of female oppression and inequality, believing that the majority of the religions are sexist and oppressive towards women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ecofeminism</span> Approach to feminism influenced by ecologist movement

Ecofeminism integrates feminism and political ecology. Ecofeminist thinkers draw on the concept of gender to analyse relationships between humans and the natural world. The term was coined by the French writer Françoise d'Eaubonne in her book Le Féminisme ou la Mort (1974). Ecofeminist theory introduces a feminist perspective to Green politics and calls for an egalitarian, collaborative society in which there is no one dominant group. Today, there are several branches of ecofeminism, with varying approaches and analyses, including liberal ecofeminism, spiritual/cultural ecofeminism, and social/socialist ecofeminism. Interpretations of ecofeminism and how it might be applied to social thought include ecofeminist art, social justice and political philosophy, religion, economics, contemporary feminism, and literature.

Ivone Gebara is a Brazilian Catholic nun, philosopher, environmentalist and feminist theologian. She is notable for her writing on ecofeminism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kwok Pui-lan</span> Hong Kong feminist theologian specializing in Asian feminism and postcolonial theology

Kwok Pui-lan is a Hong Kong-born feminist theologian known for her work on Asian feminist theology and postcolonial theology.

Virginia Burrus is an American scholar of Late Antiquity and expert on gender, sexuality and religion. She is currently the Bishop W. Earl Ledden Professor of Religion and director of graduate studies at Syracuse University.

Grace Marion Jantzen was a Canadian feminist philosopher and theologian. She was professor of religion, culture and gender at Manchester University from 1996 until her death from cancer at the age of 57.

Glenys Livingstone is an Australian author and teacher who has made significant contributions to the feminist pagan community and is the creator of the earth-based goddess movement known as PaGaian Cosmology.

Anne Primavesi was an Irish Catholic theologian, with a focus on ecological and feminist theology.

References

  1. "Eleanor Rae , Women, the Earth, the Divine". Eleanor Rae - Women, Earth, the Divine. Archived from the original on 2014-01-08. Retrieved 2013-07-26.
  2. "Eleanor Rae - Women, Earth, the Divine". Women-Philosophers.com. Archived from the original on 2014-01-08. Retrieved 2013-07-26.
  3. "Eleanor Rae - Women, Earth, the Divine". Women-philosophers.com. Archived from the original on 2014-01-08. Retrieved 2013-07-26.
  4. "North American Coalition for Christianity and Ecology (NACCE) | Engaged Projects | Christianity | Religion". fore.yale.edu. Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology.
  5. "North American Conference on Christianity and Ecology North American Coalition on Religion and Ecology - Oxford Reference".
  6. "Eleanor Rae - Women, Earth, the Divine". Women-Philosophers.com. Archived from the original on 2014-01-08. Retrieved 2013-07-26.
  7. Women, the Earth, the Divine . Orbis Books. 1994. ISBN   0-88344-952-8.
  8. "An Orthodox Christian Response to Ecofeminist Theological Claims" . Retrieved 2013-07-26.
  9. "Eleanor Rae , Women, the Earth, the Divine". Eleanor Rae - Women, Earth, the Divine. Archived from the original on 2014-01-08. Retrieved 2013-07-26.