I originally posted this on someone's water lily, but I also wanted to file it here:
Feminism is not about saying, "I don't want to submit." It's about saying, "I take full responsibility for myself as a thinking adult."
Sometimes, oftentimes, it baffles me that the fight for gender equality in the church is still going on. Women are educated, willing to take on leadership roles outside the church, and responsible for themselves. Daniel recently stumbled upon the Baptist Women for Equality blog. I am so happy he found it; it's nice to know women in conservative denominations are taking a stand. It enlightened me to some of the hateful things people are saying. "They've Stolen Jesus! Will you help us find him?" is particularly enraging. In it, John Piper is quoted as saying: "You are just like the homosexual; right desire, wrong gender." I'm not going to get into the church's view on homosexuality in this post, but it hits particularly hard to insult two groups of persecuted people in one sentence by using them against each other.
I know no one who thinks women shouldn't be leaders in the church considers this argument valid, likely because it actually makes sense, but there are a number of things that are considered culturally and historically contextual in the Bible. Examples include polygamy and slavery. Cultural norms change over time. Social relationships grow and develop. Whether you like it or not, you are interpreting the Bible through layers of contexts, conversations, and narratives.
Plus, the New Testament says that under the banner of Christ, societal barriers are disbanded. If all are equal in his eyes, they should be equal in his church's - his body on earth - eyes. Jesus' life, death, and resurrection were transformative. They were meant to bring about positive change. Women have, for centuries, been at the forefront of positive change in the church and elsewhere by sneaking into leadership roles and joining forces. Why are we still arguing about whether women can be leaders when they clearly have the inborn qualities to be movers and shakers, when they clearly already are?
I know more about religious history, comparative religions, and ethics than most pastors who have taught over me. Am I supposed to share it with only other women? Am I not called to share my knowledge with everyone in the church? That's the whole point of a community.
I am a Christian and I am a feminist. Feminism isn't man hating. It isn't anti-femininity. It isn't naive or stubborn or prideful. It is the acknowledgement that I have a voice that should be heard, that I have a brain that should be exercised, that I have responsibilities to call my own, that God made me equal.
Separate but equal is a falsehood. If that were the way God intended it to be, I would have to find a different God.
