Fell's Argument

Chris Villa's most recent blog talks about the validity of Fell’s argument today; I would like to speak about the validity of her argument in her own time. In his blog post, The Validity of Fell’s Argument in Today’s Society, Chris asserts that Fell’s argument is enhanced by her personal interpretation of Biblical quotes. Chris mentions that Fell uses Biblical quotes to support her position; however, the same quotations could be manipulated to support the opposing view. Fell interprets specific sections figuratively, so that the Bible, which has extreme influence in this period in history, supports her attitude. However, she ignores the majority of sections where her viewpoint is opposed. While I certainly feel that women should have an equal place not only in the church, but also in all of society, I do feel that by picking and choosing the Biblical quotes that support her opinion, Fell’s argument is weakened. Chris mentions the effect that the Bible had on the society of the time, and he also brings up the fact that society at her time would have interpreted the Bible more literally than today. She does use Biblical quotes to support her argument; however, she is interpreting the Bible figuratively to further her cause, while most others interpreted literally. This may be too radical of a gesture at the time to alter the public opinion of women’s rights. In addition, while today, the majority of people believe that women should have equal rights, in Fell’s time, this belief was not as commonly thought. Therefore, even if her use of Biblical references caught attention, her argument would most likely still not be taken seriously due to the mindset of the time. Chris asserts that Fell’s argument would not take hold in today’s society, but I also believe that Fell’s argument probably did not sit well with the society of her own time either.