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Public radio international valarie kaur1/21/2024 She reached millions through her time as host of her “Precept for Life” program on television and radio, reaching more than 75 million households in over 30 countries each day for more than 20 years. ![]() Or do you choose someone whose work has lasted over several generations and influenced millions of women, even if they’re retired at present? One thinks of Kay Arthur, 89, an evangelical Bible teacher and bestselling author of more than 100 books and Bible study workbooks since co-founding Precept Ministries International in 1970 with her late husband, Jack. I was intrigued by someone who spotlighted how unmarried and divorced Muslim women are treated as cast-offs by co-religionists, and how black Muslim women are especially under the gun because of racist attitudes among Muslim men. I wrote a piece about her work (dating while black, female and Muslim) for Newsweek in the fall of 2021 and she is pictured with this blog post. Should one stick with women who have the largest numbers of books written, most news coverage or most impressive social media standings? How about lesser-known women who represent important constituencies?įor instance, many of you may not know Nailah Dean, 30, a black/Latina California lawyer and Muslim feminist who speaks out on what she calls the “Muslim marriage crisis.” She says the high rate of singleness among educated Muslim women is impacting American Islam in a bad way. I do realize that women in many traditions aren’t allowed into formal religious positions, which is why my list includes activists, bloggers and others who work outside regular boundaries. I am not denigrating their accomplishments, but simply focusing elsewhere. I avoided women who got where they are because of their husbands. I’ve now updated that list to include other religions. Interesting as it is, why are such stories always about the men? For instance, notice the recent New York Times Magazine story on John Onwuchekwa, the former black Southern Baptist pastor. (See my 2012 Washington Post story on Bauer here.)Įach of them were worth a story in the secular media but rarely do such women appear in top publications. In a post titled “ Great Women Who Will Never Be Famous,” I wrote about Miriam Adeney, Nancy Pearcey, Robin Mazyck, Susan Wise Bauer, Sarah Zacharias Davis and Dale Hanson Bourke. The first time I put together such a list was in 2014 when I was so frustrated at how so many gifted evangelical women didn’t get near the top billing in the media that men do. I have spent much of my professional career profiling women in religion. The only two women who made the list on their own merits were televangelist Joyce Meyer and the late Diane Knippers, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy. Most of those named were men if there were women, they were paired with their husbands. Time magazine asked a similar question about evangelicals and the magazine’s list of America’s 25 most influential evangelicals is still referred to 18 years later. In short, who are the most influential women in American religion? ![]() In effect, they have transcended their faith groups. I would have liked to have something more diverse and wider-ranging, such as a list of top women who exert influence not only within their own religions, but who have spoken to needs or issues in the general culture. The Washington Post did a piece on women in Afghanistan (as did the New York Times) Agence France Presse wrote on women who work for the Roman Curia the Jewish Telegraph Agency covered Orthodox women who get around their religion’s prohibition against women chanting Hebrew scriptures to mixed audiences. ![]() International Women’s Day last week led to - naturally - a lot of news features about the female half of the human race.
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