I often listen to the BBC when I am driving, and yesterday they reported on a man named Andrew Tate. I had never heard of him, and I am glad for that; he is an American-born man who was raised in England. He is a former kickboxing champion and is now a social media phenomenon. He was just charged with multiple counts of rape, human trafficking, and forming a crime organization focused on the sexual exploitation of women. He is a self-avowed misogynist and has been banned from a number of social media sites for what they call hate speech. He also has millions of followers who agree with him that women are inherently inferior to men. He is not, as far as I can tell, religious.
I have a hard time understanding misogyny, even though it has always run rampant in society. It is partly rooted in religion, which is the point of this thought. There are other reasons that I am not expert enough to discern, but the religious roots of this antipathy towards women are deep. And it isn’t that all religions practice this kind of deviant behavior anymore, but that is also not the point. We see misogyny in everything, and it is a cancer that eats away at our humanity. Think about the many examples still present: pay discrepancies, refusal to ordain women, voters who won’t consider a woman for president, and justice systems that blame women when they are abused. And while these problems are getting better (in some places), we still see this bizarre way of thinking at work everywhere. Even the wedding vows: I now pronounce you man and wife – are rooted in misogyny.
Millions of people attend worship services that extol the virtues of women while, at the same time, treating them as inferior. From Genesis 2 to Revelation, women are portrayed as deceivers, whores, and handmaids. 1 Corinthians 14 tells the church that women should keep silent in church and ask their husbands about things they don’t understand. The writer (we aren’t sure Paul wrote this part) tells us that it is shameful for a woman to speak in church. And sure, there are other places where it says the opposite, but those passages are often ignored by men. 1 Timothy 2 tells us that women will be saved through bearing children – as long as they behave themselves after giving birth. What does that even mean? I was raised to believe that men and women were equal in every way except one; giving birth. I don’t see that as a negative.
Misogyny is a mental illness that, like racism, destroys the soul. It is at the root of many of the social ills we have always faced, and if we allow it to fester, it will continue to support a culture of inequality. If you are a misogynist, please get help. Only an utterly confused and misguided person can believe that women and men are not of equal sacred worth. That’s the way God made us, and I think God did a pretty good job. God isn’t the problem; we are. Men, that is. We can also be part of the solution.
Prayer – Holy God, You made each of us as fully blessed and capable people. May we learn to accept each person’s sacred worth as they accept ours. Amen.