De waarheid zal U vrijmaken. Over het emancipatoire liturgische taalgebruik zoals voorgestaan door Marjorie Procter-Smith

Abstract

Since several decades women’s studies liturgics have been making a plea in order to change the male God-language in the christian liturgy. In this article attention is focussed on the contribution of Marjorie Procter-Smith in this matter. In order to achieve this change she pleads for a different understanding of the liturgical commemoration. She is an advocate of a commemoration of women according to the Jewish tradition and with more attention than before for women’s everyday reality. From the various possibilities mentioned to undermine one-sidedness in the use of the male God-language she chooses the use of emancipatory language in liturgy. She talks about a concrete, specific liturgical language which reveals the injustice against women, stresses the cultural diversity and expresses the harsh reality of women. At the same time she doesn’t neglect the prophetic language of the theological ‘not yet’, which instigates liberating social action and gives room to celebrate liberating experiences of women. The writer of this article expects that through this approach women and their speaking to God will be made visible, and in time will contribute to women to be full acting participants in the whole liturgy.