Critics blamed church institutions, not Christianity itself, for women’s oppression.

Evidence

Speaking of Robert Ingersoll’s and Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s views toward women and religion, Willard wrote: “Whether they perceive it or not, it is chiefly ecclesiasticism and not Christianity that Robert Ingersoll and Elizabeth Cady Stanton have been fighting; it is the burdens grievous to be borne that men have laid upon weak shoulders, but which they themselves would not touch with one of their fingers.” — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent, 1391

Categorization

• XREF: Distinguishing ecclesiasticism from the faith itself parallels struggles on how to critique the Church institutional apparatus as opposed to the gospel—echoes the broader respectability literature’s tension of reforming institutions from within. — connects to: Black Baptist feminists blamed sexism, not Christianity, for blocking women’s development. — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent: The Women’s…, 659; Feminist theology sought to reform religion rather than reject it. — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent: The Women’s…, 640; Religious racism stems from group identification and conformity values, not theology itself. — Deborah L. Hall and David C. Matz and Wendy Wood, Why Don’t We Practice What We Preach? A…, 76

Broader Connections

• Feminist theology sought to reform religion rather than reject it. #exemplifies (0.85) — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent, 640
• Religious racism stems from group identification and conformity values, not theology itself. #corroborates (0.78) — Deborah L. Hall and David C. Matz and Wendy Wood, Why Don’t We Practice What We Preach? A…, 76