I hope you all had a lovely Easter. Mine was lovely as far as family days go, but it wasn't very spiritual. That was my fault. I didn't go to church, not because I didn't want to - I did - but because I have been having a hard time getting myself to do things lately. I suppose it's laziness but depression will do that. Best Friend wanted to see me, so I made her come spend the weekend because I didn't want to leave the house. I'm lucky she's Best Friend, otherwise she might not have catered to that request.
Anyway, Future Priest gave me "The Passion" as an Easter present. I haven't watched it yet. I have never seen it because I didn't think I could stomach it. I'm not one for gore, even when it's meaningful gore. I suppose I will watch it sometime this week. A review will be forthcoming.
Easter weekend brought forth a ton of History Channel programs on Christianity (Christmas did that too). Mother and I skimmed a documentary on hell. Gee, that was fun. It provoked some good conversation, though. After that, we were flipping channels and we came upon a woman preaching. I said, "A woman preaching? That's disgraceful," and smirked. That raised the whole Paul misogyny issue once again. She said that I have a lot of pride because I act like, "Paul's not going to talk about me, a woman, like that!" I said, "If those verses said that both men and women should or shouldn't do something and I complained, you could call that pride. It doesn't say anything derogatory about men. It's unfair." She also argued, "It's not sexist. Paul felt that way because he was raised during that time." I replied, "That's like reading KKK literature and saying that it's not racist because they couldn't help being raised like that. It's still racist."
Mother and I have a very close relationship, and I'm not asking her to break down and agree with me. At the very least, I just hope she understands where I'm coming from. I feel like the heathen of the house sometimes.
And okay, fine, it was the time. I have a feeling I'm going to have to just accept that argument because no one seems to come up with anything better! I can deal with contextualization. However, the whole wife submitting to her husband thing is still prevalent. I don't see how I could marry a Christian man who expects to be the spiritual leader of the home who I will submit to and bear children for. I mean, what year is this? I tried to get involved in a debate at a Christian message board, but even women argued that this is our role and we need to fulfill it. I asked them what was wrong with an equal partnership where both submit to each other and God, and no one answered me.
Maybe I should marry a Buddhist.
4 comments:
I don't see how it's a matter of perspective. If one party has the final say in decisions and the other party has to go along with everything and constantly yield to another's beliefs - how can anyone argue the fairness of that? I don't see much of a difference between submission and sacrifice, but Biblical submission is forced and one-sided.
But that analogy in itself is stinging. Christ is head of the church and clearly superior. The church obeys all that Christ says. To compare the relationship between a man and a woman to that of God and man says a lot.
Just my $0.02...
I believe Paul elevated women. It's evident that women were in leadership positions in the early church, since Paul wrote about them and he spoke highly of the women who busted their humps to serve God.
If I knew the old languages I would be qualified to go into detail about how "head" really means "source" and all that, but I'm not so I won't. But I will recommend an excellent book, 'Paul, Women & Wives' by Craig S. Keener. Ancient customs are explained, language is closely examined, and old stereotypes are smashed to bits. I've read a lot of books about women and their "proper place" in church and family, and this one is the most scholarly. If you want something lighter and a quicker read, just look at the Amazon.com page for Keener's book and see what other customers have bought.
It's so nice when you come to know that a horrible and restricting "truth" is really a fat lie. How nice when the clouds break and the sun comes out. Submission is for all Christians, and when properly applied is a beautiful thing. Women's subordination to men is a damned lie from Satan. Widespread acceptance of it in the church brings nothing but heartache and repression of talents. Ask God to show you the truth and He will.
You rock Brooke!
I will check out that book when I can. I have read a couple on the issue, but that was years ago when I was a teenager wanting to be a pastor :)
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