Encouraging Critical
Thinking Online
Unit 2
Gauging and Examining
Popular Opinion
Women Clergy

Women Clergy - Overview
• Traditionally, women could not serve as
ordained clergy
• The Church of England now has women
deacons and priests, and has voted to
allow women bishops
• The Catholic Church does not ordain
women
• Other denominations vary

Women Clergy
• Find and browse websites that
address this issue
• Note the range of views you
encounter, and the key site(s) for
each view
• Note how prevalent each view is

Women Clergy - Key Views
• The ordination of women is contrary
to Scripture and church tradition, so
should not occur
• Some roles within the church are
suitable for women, but not all
• Women should be permitted to take
on any role within the church

Women Clergy - Key Sites
• Religious Tolerance.org aims to
give an overview of the arguments
on both sides. However, the
author’s sympathies are fairly clear.

Women Clergy - Key Sites
• In favour of women’s ordination:
– Catholic Women’s Ordination
– Women Priests
– A collection of articles from
Christians for Biblical Equality

Women Clergy - Key Sites
• Against women’s ordination:
– Forward in Faith
– Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth
(especially this page (PDF))
– The Council on Biblical Manhood and Woma

Women Clergy - Key Sites
• This discussion forum thread on the
Sydney Anglican Network site
reflects the ongoing debate in the
Sydney Diocese

Women Clergy - Key Sites
• The Church of England website
offers a
three hundred page document
discussing the arguments for and
against the ordination of women
bishops in detail
– Chapter 5 includes the key discussion
– A brief reader’s guide is also offered

Women Clergy –
Discussion Questions
• Which views are most widespread?
– How significant is this?
• Are there any discernable patterns
in who holds each view?
– Among experts and lay people?
– In the UK and elsewhere in the world?
– Among religious and secular groups?

Women Clergy –
Discussion Questions
• How representative do you think the
views you encountered are of wider
society?
– What might make people more or less
likely to express their views publicly?
– What might make them more or less
likely to do so online?

Women Clergy - Examining the Sites
• Look at some of the websites again,
and consider:
– How various views are expressed
– What techniques sites use to promote
their views
– What you find persuasive – and why

Women Clergy –
Discussion Questions
• What techniques are used to
promote each view?
– Are arguments given? Do they work?
– Is evidence presented? Is it
convincing?
– Are appeals to emotion or shock
tactics used? Are these effective?

Women Clergy –
Discussion Questions
• Do any of the sites examined
feature:
– Evidence of bias or prejudice?
– Ad hominem arguments?
– Sweeping generalisations about
opponents or opposing views?
– Statements you know to be false?
• How does this affect your reaction?

Women Clergy –
Discussion Questions
• What do you personally find
persuasive? Why is this?
• Was there anything you found off-
putting, or that had the opposite
effect from that intended by the
author?
• Did anything cause you to question
views you’d held previously?

This slideshow is part of
Encouraging Critical Thinking Online,
a set of free teaching resources
designed to develop
students’ analytic abilities,
using the Web as source material.
For the full set, please visit
Intute Training:
http://www.intute.ac.uk/training/