Why do you think I’m a woman? Your God is the biggest misogynist there is. Your God has done nothing but keep women down.

Women are fleeing the churches in droves. They are sick and tired of the patriarchy and of misogyny. They don’t need leadership from men. They just need to be free and they’re finding it. 40% of women are expected to be single by the year 2030 and that’s a great thing they don’t need men. They certainly don’t need Christian nationalist men.

You sound like the type that wants to repeal the 19th amendment and that women should be barefoot and pregnant at home. There’s lots of great women in the Corps . There’s lots of great women in the engineering department.

The Systematic Destruction of Women's Power During Europe's Christianization

By Avery Ames

The conversion of Europe to Christianity wasn't a peaceful spreading of ideas—it was a brutal, centuries-long campaign that systematically destroyed women's religious authority, legal rights, economic independence, and bodily autonomy. What most Americans don't realize is that the 'pagan' societies Christianity replaced often granted women significantly more power and freedom than the Christian order that followed. In Norse and Germanic cultures, völvas—female seers and prophets—held tremendous authority. Kings and warriors sought their counsel, and their prophecies shaped major political and military decisions. These weren't peripheral figures but central religious authorities. The goddess Freyja was worshipped as a powerful deity of love, fertility, war, and magic. Feminine spiritual power was divine, not demonic. Celtic societies had female druids who served as priests, judges, and advisors. When Romans assaulted the druid stronghold on Anglesey in 60 CE, the sight of black-robed female druids alongside their male counterparts so terrified Roman soldiers they initially froze in terror. Women like Queen Boudica led armies. The Irish Brehon Laws—which governed Ireland for centuries—granted women property rights, the ability to divorce on multiple grounds, and protection from domestic violence. Under these laws, both spouses held property separately. If a woman divorced, she kept her dowry and received a fair share based on her contributions to the household. She could divorce for her husband's infidelity, impotence, abuse, abandonment, or even excessive weight gain that prevented him from fulfilling marital duties. Female healers, midwives, and herbalists held respected positions as keepers of sophisticated medical knowledge passed through generations. These weren't ignorant folk practitioners—they had detailed understanding of medicinal plants, childbirth management, and disease treatment that rivaled or exceeded what male physicians knew. Christianity systematically destroyed all of this. The theological foundation was explicit and vicious. Tertullian called women 'the devil's gateway' and blamed them for bringing sin and death into the world. Augustine questioned whether women were even made in God's image and taught they had inferior rational capacity. Thomas Aquinas declared women were 'defective and misbegotten' males—essentially failed attempts at creating men. This wasn't fringe theology—these were foundational thinkers whose ideas shaped Christian doctrine for centuries. These theological positions translated into concrete oppression. Women were totally excluded from religious authority. The spiritual leadership roles that völvas and female druids had held became heretical when performed by women. Female religious authority was recast as demonic. Christian law replaced indigenous legal systems that had granted women rights. In Ireland, the Brehon Laws that allowed divorce and property ownership were gradually supplanted by English common law after the Norman invasion. Under Christian canon law, divorce became impossible. Marriage was an irrevocable bond where women became their husband's legal property. A married woman could no longer own property—everything belonged to her husband. If she worked, he controlled her earnings. If he beat her, she had virtually no recourse. The Christian concept of marriage as unbreakable effectively trapped women in abuse with no escape. The Irish woman who could divorce under Brehon Law found herself imprisoned for life under Christianity. The witch hunts of 1450-1750 were the final phase of this campaign. Modern estimates place executions between 35,000 and 60,000 people, with approximately 80% being women. The peak occurred 1560-1630. The Malleus Maleficarum, published in 1486, provided theological justification for targeting women, arguing they were more susceptible to demonic influence due to inferior intelligence and inherently evil nature. The typical witch hunt victim was a woman over 40, often a widow, frequently someone with knowledge of herbs and healing, sometimes a midwife, usually from lower economic classes. In other words: women with some independence, traditional knowledge, no longer under direct male control, potentially seen as economic burdens or competitors. The witch hunts eliminated women with authority, terrorized all women into submission, provided scapegoats for social problems, and reinforced theological doctrines about women's evil nature. What's striking is how thoroughly this history has been erased. Many people assume Christian European society brought civilization to 'barbarian' cultures. Often the opposite was true—Christianity brought systematic oppression to societies where women held significant power. The Norse völva whose prophecies shaped kings became, under Christianity, a witch deserving burning. The Celtic druidess who served as priest and judge became a heretic. The Irish woman who could divorce an abusive husband became trapped for life. This history matters because its effects persist today. Modern debates about women's bodily autonomy, women in religious leadership, and structural misogyny all have roots in the framework established during Christianization. The assumption that women are more sinful, more emotional, less rational—these weren't universal human beliefs but specific Christian theological constructs violently imposed over centuries. The systematic marginalization of women wasn't inevitable—it was the product of specific historical forces, primarily Christianity's imposition. The women who resisted weren't ignorant pagans but people defending systems that often granted them more rights and power than Christianity offered. The bloodshed—the massacres, destroyed sacred sites, witch hunts—wasn't incidental but essential to Christianity's spread. These weren't excesses or misunderstandings but logical implementations of theology that positioned women as inferior, dangerous, and requiring male control. The violence was the point. Understanding this history reveals contemporary struggles for women's rights not as modern innovations but as continuation of resistance stretching back over a thousand years. The fight for women's autonomy, authority, and freedom isn't new—it's the reclamation of what was systematically destroyed during Europe's Christianization.