I doubt there is a more telling piece of evidence that the authors of the Bible were men than the manner in which women are treated. Seriously, just read the Bible with an objective eye. It’s great if you’re a progressive Christian and you don’t take the Bible literally, and you believe that since God is just and loving, He meant for men and women to be equal.
But this is clearly not what the God of the Bible intended. I used to ask question like, “How could any self-respecting woman subject herself to the misogynistic bullshit of the Bible?” Then last night I saw an episode of ABC’s Wife Swap, in which a fundamentalist Christian housewife switched households with a liberal Christian mom – and I realized that it’s easy if you just subtract the “self-respecting” adjective.
The fundamentalist mom’s existence was an affront on credulity. I don’t just mean the fact that she considered her proper role to be a housewife. She stated up-front that she follows the will of God, which for her included the notion that women are the weaker vessel, women are only fit to serve their husbands, and that a woman’s role as “helpmate” to a man included an obligation to make him happy and do her duties with a smile. Having read Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, I was struck by the similarities to a proper Muslim woman’s place in a traditional Islamic household. I would never call this man and his wife “radical” Christians. On the contrary, they’re doing exactly what the Bible recommends, from the first few pages when the woman was created to be Adam’s helper.
Hey, this woman has a right to live her life however she chooses. I’m not saying she’s a slave or that she needs to be liberated. I’m not even saying she’s necessarily unhappy. She appeared genuinely content in her role. Perhaps she’s the happiest person on earth. She has a choice, and she chose this life for herself.
But in my view, it’s pathetic. I don’t look at it from a feminist’s perspective. I just wonder how a human being could think so poorly of themselves, why they would submit to a God who considers them the weaker gender, the helpmate of men, and the vessel for all sin. In what universe is this fair and loving? Even if that God is real and He’s your creator, why would you worship such a piece of garbage? It’s time we decided for ourselves that this type of fundamentalist, discriminatory thinking is evil, and every freethinking person should reject it.
But what’s truly sad about this is the kids. These people are raising a boy and four girls. For the girls, this “parenting” includes home-schooling, a literal interpretation of the Bible, training them to do their chores so they can one day serve their husbands dutifully and happily, and inundating them with the fact that this role is the only one for them. One of the girls is eighteen and had never been on a date. She’s following her mother and father’s credo that God will present her with a husband one day when He’s ready, so there’s no sense in dating if it’s destined to happen anyway.
Again I am reminded of the sexually stunted Muslims of traditional Islamic families, where the excuse is always the same: remain “pure” for the deity. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to remain a virgin until marriage, but the girl is eighteen freaking years old! How can she have a healthy relationship if she can’t even interactwith the opposite sex? But the, her chances of having a healthy relationship are pretty low already since she’s been indoctrinated with the idea that her only place in life is to serve her eventual husband. This is how faith hurts people.
These peoples’ focus on their family, on virtue, and on a good stable home is great. I’ve said that before. But why can’t they teach their kids this message without demeaning them? Why can’t they impress this way of life upon them, but still give them tools to make decisions for themselves? Those little girls should understand that motherhood and servility is not predetermined for them, and that any god (or parent) that says so is unjust. If they decide to take that route, good for them but at least give them the choice to begin with.
