Maybe this should be a new thread, I'm not sure...

I'm a little confused ;). Now, Theta Phi Alpha was founded as a Catholic sorority because Catholic women were not always welcome in the other sororities. Then there are the traditionally Jewish sororities, AEPhi and SDT. And then there are non-sectarian (is that the correct term??) sororities, Phi Sigma Sigma and D Phi E. If I have any of that wrong, please let me know!

So my question is: what religions were "acceptable" (for lack of a better word) back then? What other religions were "excluded?"

(I understand that none of the NPC sororities discriminate based on religion anymore, but I'm just curous as to what religion most of the NPC sororities were founded on. :))

I'm guessing that at one point the majority of them allowed only Protestants, and perhaps a few allowed Catholics as well. I imagine they began allowing Catholics before they allowed Jewish girls. DPhiE and Phi Sigma Sigma allowed Protestants, Catholics and Jews from the beginning, though they were slanted heavily towards the Jewish side at some schools.

I don't know what Tri Delta's original policies were towards allowing Catholics or Jews, but our founders were Protestant.

I would say pretty much all Protestant denominations were OK, although I believe there were (and still might be?) some sororities geared to Lutheran women. (Where the Episcopalians fit in all this, I'm not sure. ;) )

If you've ever read "And Ladies of the Club" it really blows your mind with how much emphasis people put on what denomination you belonged to back in the 1800's & early 1900's. I thought of giving it to my Catholic friend who when I asked her what denom her bf was ("He's Protestant." "Yes, but what denomination?" "Protestant .") but I didn't want to freak her out.

I'm guessing that whatever religion was predominant in the area the sorority was founded in (South, Midwest, North etc) probably was a factor in the makeup of the early chapters.

Our founder's were also protestant.

Yeah, it was that specific, especially with most fraternities prior to the Civil War. It wasn't enough to be Protestant. Some were for Methodists, some for Presbyterians, etc. This was a characteristic of Era I fraternities, those founded prior to the Civil War.

Phi Psi, founded by Presbyterians, is the only fraternity from this period, of which I'm aware, that was non-sectarian. The gentleman who wrote our ritual was studying to become a Presbyterian minister. He was born on a ship in the Indian Ocean to Christian missionaries, and grew up in Indian culture. He had an unusaually broad world view about different religions, and this explains why we weren't just for Presbyterians at the time of our founding.

Both Alpha Delta Pi and Phi Mu were founded prior to the Civil War at Georgia Wesleyan College for Females, so up until the 1900's, all the members were Methodists, or at least comfortable with the Methodist church.



ETA: Needless to say, that was then, and not the gold standard now. Alpha Delta Pi (and I'm sure Phi Mu also) accepts new members in all races and creeds.

I believe it's still *may* be this way... I met someone once who thought Phi Sig was a "Jewish Sorority" I guess our chapter at their school was predominately jewish ... I guess this is because we made them feel welcome and comfortable.. however.. I have to say that I think our founders may be disapointed in the fact that some chpaters don't have some religions represented becuase they were all different religions and were friends and that's why they founded Phi Sig so they could be sisters too...

I was once told by a LC that AGD wasn't based on religion and that it had nothing to do with religion, being that I was a. relatively new to AGD at the time and b. that having had a wonderful LC when we were colonizing, I didn't want to show disrespect to the current LC... I let the matter drop.

Without getting to into it, we have parts of the ritual from all different literary pieces, including the Bible. I can see how she could have said that AGD wasn't based on religion but it was heavily influenced by the Bible.

I have always wondered, but didn't know how to ask... how our Jewish sisters handle parts of the ritual that come from or are influenced by the Bible... PM me if you want to express your thoughts my wonderful Jewish sisters!

As to the demonination of the founders, not sure personally. I know that we had one founding sister who became a missionary. And that as afore mention, the New Testament is used in different aspects of the ritual.... I would say that AGD's founders were Protestant.

Glitter--

Sometimes a chapter remains predominately Jewish because when they were chartered, etc., they were all Jewish due to not being accepted by other sororities. The Jewish tradition continues when legacies and other Jewish women realize that a chapter is predominately Jewish, and they may feel comfortable there. The labels that folks apply aren't often right, as it happens with me and D Phi E all the time, but what can you do :) Phi Sig and D Phi E at my school were both full of all types of women from many different backgrounds :)

I always thought that a reason that DPhiE was considered "Jewish" was because the sorority houses had Kosher Kitchens and observed the Sabbath. I'm talking about the older chapters. Kosher Jews needed a place to live and eat, and they were accomodated at these houses.

Correct me if I am wrong shadokat. :)