A Heavy Yoke by Selina Stone
The Feminist Killjoy Book Club had its third meeting recently and thank you to everyone who came.
Our book was A HEAVY YOKE by Dr Selina Stone, a theologian and lecturer in Theology and Ethics at the University of Edinburgh.
Members described the book as powerfully written and accessible. It addresses power dynamics in the Church of England and highlights the common and dangerous coupling of power with little or no accountability. One said she was not shocked by the book’s reference to abusive power dynamics in the Church, as this was ‘recognised behaviour’ and rang true. Others agreed, saying that sadly they were neither shocked nor surprised. Stone says, ‘There are certain theological ideas that, in my view, leave the door open (or even roll out a red carpet) for domination, abuse, bullying, violence – even death.’
The book talks about preferment by elites, that can be dressed up with spiritual justification. Stone says, ‘We see a person elevated to a position and we immediately speak as if God has chosen to put that person in that position. But what if we made a more honest assessment of how this success has actually happened? What if we admitted that this church movement is expanded because of wealthy donors dedicated to committing huge sums of money to pushing a particular brand of Christianity?’ We were impressed by brutally honest and challenging comments like this. Stone says, ‘It is increasingly the case that those who are used to saying and doing whatever they like now regard themselves as “oppressed” whenever they are held to account.’
Stone also talks about the Church’s call to ‘unity’ being employed to silence and coerce. She talks about how scripture is sometimes used to justify abuse. She says, ‘The rush to a false unity is helped along by the politeness we know all too well as part of English culture. But this gets in the way of actual Christian unity, which requires confrontation and much of what we would call awkwardness. Though this might be controversial for some, I am convinced that we cannot create unity.’ She laments that, ‘Unity can mean that a person or group of people must give up their hopes and dreams and accept whatever crumbs they are given by those who have more money, or power or resources… In many stories of spiritual abuse, unity is used to censor, control or coerce people.’
She says that women in the Church of England need protection in a church where men have all the power, theology is weaponised and scripture misused. One member of the book club referenced the Gospel passage about Jesus washing his disciples’ feet and how she had experienced this being misused to control.
In summary, A Heavy Yoke calls for a more rigorous and critical understanding of the theology of power and how it is shaping Christian leaders, churches and organisations. Book club members were glad to have read the book. It was a sobering read, but it was also inspiring, calling us to find our voices and refuse to accept the harm that bad theology and power abuses create. As Stone says, ‘As long as we have breath, the power really is in our hands to pull down the thrones we have created.’
Join us next time for The Making of Biblical Womanhood by Beth Allison-Barr at 7.30pm on Monday 20 July online here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85115438840