Periagoge
Concept
1 min read

Intersectional Faith: Race, Gender, and Belief

The understanding that religious identity cannot be separated from race, gender, sexuality, and colonial history—and that these intersections shape faith journeys.

Juana
Why It Matters

Sor Juana's religious experience was inseparable from her gender (restricted intellectual life available to men), her probable Indigenous heritage (in a colonial Christian system), and her social position (she entered a convent partly because women had few other paths to education and autonomy). Her faith was not abstracted from these realities but constituted by them. Contemporary religious transitions rarely happen in isolation from identity. A queer person's faith crisis may relate directly to religious homophobia. A person of color may see historical Christian complicity in colonialism or slavery. A woman may recognize how theology has justified her subordination. This concept insists that examining your religious identity requires examining its intersection with all your identities. Faith cannot be separated from justice; spiritual authenticity requires acknowledging how power operates within belief systems.

Helpful guides
Juana
Identity & Justice
Peri
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