December 22, 2004

I didn't know him, but I am sorry

Welcome to Ethics Daily.com!: "Roy Honeycutt, who championed women in ministry as president of Southern Baptists’ oldest seminary, died Tuesday at age 78."

I didn't know his name, but heard a lot about this controversy during my slow move away from the church. Ultimately, this was the biggest thing for me. I am not sure where I got the feminist impulse. This was before grad school and my exposure to the great issues that feminists worked for. My family was adamant on this issue, as were so many that I admired, and they would have nothing to do with women in ministry. I even remember holding sexist views. I thought I was supposed to be that head of the family. Somewhere along the way, however, I realized that at 5-7, 130 pounds, I was hardly some prototypical male defender. I also had the luxury of spending time with smart women. I eventually married one of them. Ideas of male superiority just became less and less logical until they became offensive.

I am sorry that Roy Honeycutt was pushed aside by the likes of Al Mohler. The SBC has turned into an object of ridicule. It ignores and rejects the intellect, and now has its own Mullah as head. It didn't have to be this way.

1 comment:

Natalie said...

Amen! As a woman in the SBC, when I felt "called" to the ministry at age 15, I got the implicit and explicit message that I would be relegated to marrying a pastor, becoming a church accompanist, or becoming a missionary...or if I'm lucky, maybe even someone like Beth Moore. Arg.