The Christian community in Israel is a minority within the Muslim Arab minority. Christian women constitute an additional minority within Christian-Arab minority. In their early years, the Christian individuals receive their education mostly through church schools scattered in the various villages and cities in Israel. This study examines an interesting new phenomenon in which Christian young women abandon the religious value system in church schools and move to a non-religious system of education in search of individualism embodied mainly in freedom and equality. This education is not secular, but is devoid of religion.
The current study is interested in the question of what is the experience of young Christian women in the transition from a religious system to a non-religious system, from the aspect of their perception of their identity, religion and society.
Methodology: The study is qualitative in nature; semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants. Participants: 14 Christian young women at ages of 18-25 whom left church schools and moved to non-religious education. The findings of the study reveal the need for equality and freedom as a factor to abandon religious educational system, it also reveals the individualistic perception of the identity by the young women, on a personal and social level, and the prices involved in this transition. The significant contribution of the study lies in bringing in the voices of young Christian women as minority who are barely heard especially at the research level. In addition, the study sheds light on the perception of intra-group identity within this minority.