I honestly don’t know why some things show up on my X feed. The other day, I got tagged on a video of a preacher explaining that female submission to men isn’t about inequality, but about God’s plan of equal distribution of spiritual gifts. 😨This is about as close to the face I made as I can find. I scrolled through the comments (always a big mistake) and saw, among the first 25 or so, only one other comment challenging this assertion. Men and women posting “Amen!” or “Our God is a mighty God!”; stuff like that. I commented that God is about equality and no man has “headship” (yes, that’s the word often used by conservative Christian men) over anyone else. One person responded to me, claiming that while women are supposed to submit to men (God’s plan, he wrote), that didn’t mean men were more equal than women. The term “submit” means exactly that; one person dominates the other. One person has control over the other.
I was reminded of what I have been telling people for 40 years, that most so-called christians in America believe that men are closer to God than women. They base it on Paul’s claim in 1 Corinthians 11 that men should not cover their heads, because they are the glory and image of God, but women are in the image and glory of men and should cover their heads because of the angels (see Genesis 6). They also point to 1 Timothy 2 which claims that women should keep silent submission and be happy that they will be saved by giving birth to children. I’m not kidding – this is what they believe is the reason no woman should be president. That should give us some insight into why they were so opposed to Hillary Clinton running for president. They also ignore Paul’s assertion in Romans that Adam was the sinner who caused the fall, choosing instead 1 Timothy. They, like the rest of us, pick and choose the Scriptures they believe in. We just admit it.
This is why I presented the program “The Cancer of Fundamentalism” 10 years ago at Spirit on Tap. Many people were shocked by the claims I made then; that Fundamentalism in any form is a danger to our existence as a nation and as a world. Christian Fundamentalists don’t care if the world is destroyed by nuclear war or environmental death; they want Jesus to come back now. They believe that Israel must be back to biblical borders so Jesus can return; this is why they have pumped huge amounts of money into Israel’s conservative factions. They believe that America should be run on Christian (the male-dominated version) values so that it can return to its former greatness. Which means, I think, when white men were in charge of everything. And if they can’t get women to submit voluntarily, they will do it by force. Hence the need to reverse Roe v. Wade.
This is why this country needs to continue to be a nation governed by the rule of law. A nation where all religions, shades, genders, and sexes are equal. Where no group is forced to submit to another. Fundamentalist and ultra-conservative Evangelicals believe that God is on their side, and if we allow them to rule, the rest of us will be forced into submission. That isn’t God’s plan – that’s demonic.
Prayer – Holy God, help us find the middle way; to learn to live together and accept difference and diversity. To embrace freedom for all. Amen.
Today’s art is “Submission” by Eric Robinson. Disturbing.