Women, Ordination, and a Buddhist Perspective

A Violation of Rights?

Authors

  • Carola Roloff University of Hamburg Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/rsth.35158

Keywords:

Buddhism, women’s ordination, women’s human rights, gender equality, gender justice

Abstract

Taking women’s ordination—a main gender issue debated in Buddhism—as an example, I reason why discrimination against women in religion not only violates women’s human rights but also basic Buddhist principles such as non-violence. I question whether from a Buddhist perspective religion and rights are two mutually exclusive terms, and then discuss two areas of tension: a tension between religious and secular law, on the one hand, and a tension between religious freedom and gender equality, on the other. Based on this, I analyse how the dynamics of these areas of tension and gender issues could become a driving force for interreligious dialogue and for dialogue between religions and secular societies.

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Published

2017-12-20

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Roloff, C. (2017). Women, Ordination, and a Buddhist Perspective: A Violation of Rights?. Religious Studies and Theology, 36(2), 187-210. https://doi.org/10.1558/rsth.35158