Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Words from a True Feminist

I once thought that a feminist was a radical political activist that would obliterate gender differences all together if it was possible. Since then I’ve been seeing that feminism is not near as radical as my presuppositions. In reality, feminism champions the elimination of oppression from the world on the female half of our race. Feminism stands up against only some of the traditions of the past. Traditions such as the attitude of treating women as property, the hypocrisy of expecting women to practice fidelity and yet their husbands were not condemned for their lack of fidelity themselves, the refusal to allow women the same rights as men, the underpayment of women who hold the same job as men that get paid more, and the denial of leadership positions based on gender.

Some would tell you that the Bible and feminism are diametrically opposed; those people haven’t read the Bible, or at least not the Bible I know. Some cite the patriarchal system in the Old Testament, the issues of women having head coverings in worship in the New Testament, and even the purity laws in Leviticus. But when you step back and look at the whole picture—the way that God treats women—it’s evident that the Bible doesn’t esteem women as less than men. For instance, a woman named Deborah was a judge, or leader, at one point in Israel’s history. She was gifted and called by God to lead his nation spiritually and domestically, and when the time arose and a man refused to lead Israel in war she became Israel’s leader militarily and politically—AND SHE WAS MARRIED!

If you read Genesis carefully you’ll see that women were meant to be helpers to their men, not slaves to them. Since women are our helpers and not our slaves, we have a responsibility to them: to take care of them and treasure them. This means that we have a responsibility to be faithful to our wives, especially if we require faithfulness from them. This reciprocal relationship exists because we are equal in all of our distinctly human capacities. However, we are still different, embodying God’s image in two different ways: revealing two different sets of the characteristics of God. Women were created to be men’s counterparts, the other half; not subjects or unimportant additions. That makes me a feminist I suppose.

1 comment:

Chuck Bryce said...

Not a bad post for a yung'un. Still, the word "feminist" has been defined in this country by the radical left. Hence, almost anytime one uses it they do in fact get identified with the radical end of the movement.

I also think that somewhere back there the women told us you had to be a woman to be a feminist so you are probably an egalitarian, not a feminist.

Last, don't forget the other admonition from one of those Disney movies: "We men have to stick together or women will rule the world!" :>)