A group of conservative Christian women is seeking 100,000 signatures on a "True Woman Manifesto" aimed at sparking a counter-revolution to the feminist movement of the 1960s. -- that's the lead-in to the news article.
[T]he document calls not for equal rights, but instead proclaims
that men and women are created to reflect God's image in "complementary and distinct ways" . . .
that women are called "to honor and support God-ordained male leadership in the home and in the church" . . .
that men are to be the heads of the homes . . .
that [female submission] is taught in Scripture -- that's the skinny.
Never mind that the very first American feminists, women and men, were Bible-reading, church-going Christians.
Never mind that their "Declaration of Sentiments" was that "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights." Never mind that they wrote a commentary on the Bible called The Woman's Bible. Never mind that the most-recent feminist manifesto (a third-wave document), Manifesta, invokes the Sentiments of that first-wave.
Never mind that many "Bible believing church going" Christians today (men and women, feminists and uncommitted) are as egalitarian as the God of Genesis and Jesus is.
Never mind that the Bible, as sexist and pro-slavery as it is, never says even once anywhere that "men are to be the heads of the homes."
[HT Polycarp]
2 comments:
I am sometimes perplexed at the complementarian's "Women must submit" obsession. I was raised in a very traditional Pentecostal church in which my mother often served as the pastor between other pastors. I am sure if you dug deep in that situation paternalism was assumed, but it was passive to the more prominent, "I will pour my Spirit out upon all flesh" emphasis. I feel saddened now when a woman wanting to be a spiritual leader is not condemned as a feminist. I guess if you tell the lie to women that they will be happier and fulfilled only if they submit to men, a number of them actually start to believe it.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and even more than that for sharing your experiences! I do believe interpretations of the bible run deep and are often conserved with "obsession." We hear sad stories of African slaves to Europeans in this land called America in which there was "happiness" and "fulfillment" in a that hierarchical relationship sanctioned, supposedly, by the "correct" reading of the scriptures. Thank you again for your comment. If we can't and don't talk about the "women must submit to men" mandate, then what gives?
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