Emerging Women

By Jan Edmiston

When I was in seminary in Boston in the 80s, we heard Mary Daly was on some kind of permanent sabbatical from Boston College although she continued to be on the faculty through the 90s. She died last week at the age of 81.

She was a Roman Catholic feminist who refused to admit men to her women’s studies classes.

But before we write her off as wild and crazy, remember that she introduced to many of us the radical notion that God Is Not a Man. There is no “Big Man in the Sky.”

What was “dangerously radical” was in fact Biblical. It set us free.

Mary Daly was a brave believer. She wrote Church and the Second Sex when Boston College was still all-male, threatening her job and derailing her own tenure track. Eventually she got tenure, which made it hard to get rid of her – although they tried. She was the first woman to preach at Memorial Church on the campus of Harvard.

She delighted in linguistics, criticizing “bore-ocrats” and calling angry men “misterical.” She was angry herself at times – but was also funny and so, so smart. Mainly, she was trying to be true and real. Her wishes for memorial services were merely to have women celebrate her life wherever they lived. No special services.

This is my own little tribute here.

So Saturday, one of my favorite people asked me if I would officiate at his and J’s wedding in 2011. In our sanctuary. In a state where same sex marriage is illegal and probably will be for a while. “Don’t you want to get married in DC when you can actually get a license?” I said. “No, this is our church.” he said.

Mary Daly lives wherever we try to do the radical, Christ-like thing.

This post first appeared at Jan’s blog A Church for Starving Artists.

Tags: Jan Edmiston, Mary Daly