Catching up on some other blogs

Natalie has written some really good posts, so if you don't read her blog, you should. This post on women reminded me of much of my journey. Despite a lot of discussions in SBC circles about women not preaching or about me supposed to assume some "spiritual headship" in my family, those never made sense. In college I was surrounded by strong and bright women who taught me a great deal. This old view of masculinity sounded false. Reading about women's history in grad school cemented that frustration. Reading Nat's post, titled "What happened?" reminded me of that.

panta ta ethne: What happened?: "So, in 1914 members of the SBC were talking about things like racial justice, world peace, improving working conditions, and public health. And even before 1914 until, well, last September, SBC women were calling for gender equality. Interestingly enough, it seems that SBC leaders who want to subordinate women can’t even appeal to their own tradition. I’ve only heard a little about a “fundamentalist takeover” in the SBC—is that what happened? Where have the conversations and concerns about world peace and social justice gone? (Oh, and before I get accused again of making the SBC into a “whipping boy,” let me say that I know from experience that not all SBC churches warrant this criticism. But there’s a whole lot that do, and the SBC has national and international influence, which makes raising this question pretty important, no?)"

It is even worse than that. Many evangelicals (if I remember my Nathan Hatch) were toying with racial and gender equality during the second awakening. But now we have people like Dobson telling women that they are supposed to submit, and that is direct from God (you can trust Dr. Dobson on that!). Sorry. I don't buy it.

Way to go Nat. It is people like you who can break down some of these barriers.