SBC declares war on feminism

Or, perhaps, re-declares war. From Carlos these two stories from Southern Baptists attacking feminism. Odd, isn't it, with all the other concerns we have, that the basic idea that women are equal would attract such attack?

First, Al MohlerWe Need More Faithful Husbands -- Not 'Passive Nice Guys' quotes from a book he wants us all to buy and read;

"The constant imbibing of feminism, mixing together with man's native sinfulness, has resulted in an epidemic of passive-purple-four-ballism in modern marriages. Men have permitted themselves to be emasculated into a company of wimp eunuchs, who believe it should be their goal to strive toward being passive nice guys in their homes. We've been told, and actually now believe, that 'authority' is a naughty word, that male headship is abusive, and that aggressive leadership is rude. Thus, husbands have abdicated the driver's seat and taken a back seat in their marriages.

Evidently those of us who see marriage as a partnership are wrong. Even though we share our battles and try to be there to back the other one up when they are down, well, we are just nancy-boys.

Adam has become the poster-boy for today's fashionably easy-going husband. Instead of assertively standing at the forefront of his marriage, talking nose to nose with the crafty serpent, he's content to sit back and let Eve to the talking. And when Eve gave her husband the fruit, instead of standing up like a man and boldly refusing to transgress God's Word, he passively caved into the unprincipled and misguided desires of his wife (cf. Genesis 3:1-6). As a result, Adam cursed his family."

Nothing like a literal reading of an ancient myth to justify misogyny.

But that isn't all. Over at BP News we have commentary from the same guy who wroteWhy I'm Raising Violent 4 Year-Olds.

Well, here, he is excoriating feminism. Is there a talking points memo out from the SBC leadership that instructs all talking heads to attack feminism this week? Note, they never attack poverty, or consumerism. Never question the Bush administration. Never question environmental policies. Never. But by God we have to keep women down.

Here, while really attacking John McCain (the republican that all religious right people fear), and calling Susan Estrich a feminist (not even sure that is true anymore), Moore has this to say about feminism: "Let me say that I consider feminism one of the most dangerous, utopian, and ultimately hopeless causes of the 21st century world." Really? Most dangrous utopian idea? That women are equal? You moron. You depraved, knuckle-dragging idiot!

Well, nothing new here. Conservatives have been attacking feminism since it was merely a vehicle for suffrage. In the early 20th century, faced with great uncertainty about the family, women who didn't immediately seek marriage and children were considered deeply flawed, and possibly gay. There never has been room in the conservative evangelical tent for women. Speaking of a utiopia, it is there where men rule the roost, and are treated as conquerers. Promise Keepers, militias, etc., have been mechanisms to assure the fragile male ego that in a small, and dwindling part of society, masculinity still rules.

This is tilting at windmills. I don't see women giving up what they have gained, nor do I see all the progressive men acquiescing to the religious right. This is holding up a mythical past as a way to assuage contemporary fear. But the impact on young men and women is real. And I am sorry for that. I am sorry that this guy has a platform to espouse this crap. But, in the end, equality is right.