A sad anniversary for the SBC

This year marks a sad anniversary for Southern Baptists. 21-years-ago, on May 7, 2003, the Southern Baptist (SBC) International Missions Board (IMB) lost 43 missionaries in one day, due to pressure to sign the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message, which excluded women from general leadership and demanded submission to husbands excluded women from general leadership and demanded submission to husbands.  

Why not sign?

“Don and Angie Finley, of Brazil, are two of the missionaries whose resignations were accepted by the IMB on that day. They declared they were ‘not resigning because we have a problem with grassroots Southern Baptists’ or ‘because we have done anything wrong or have something to hide. When a Baptist missionary sending agency demands doctrinal accountability on the basis of a man-made document rather than on the basis of Scripture, something is wrong…When unnamed critics are taken seriously when they make vague, generalized, and unsubstantiated accusations against doctrinally sound and spiritually committed missionaries, something is wrong. When denominational politics takes precedence over mission priorities and missionaries themselves are made pawns in a denominational political game, something is wrong."

Group that demanded apology over view of women’s roles still waiting (baptiststandard.com)

 Rick Dill, a missionary who was fired along with his wife, Nancy, clarifies: "‘A small group of really vicious people are the ones who are making policy at the board,’ …The Dills outlined four concerns they have with the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message: Removal of the statement: ‘The criterion by which the Bible is to be interpreted is Jesus Christ,’ from the 1963 version. ‘The center of our faith is Jesus Christ--God who became man, born of a virgin, crucified as atonement for our sin, raised on the third day, ascended to the right hand of the Father…All Scripture comes from him and can only be understood through him,’ Use of the expression ‘priesthood of believers’ instead of ‘priesthood of the believer.’ ‘Each of us stands individually before God,’ Dill said. ‘We are called to be his priests; his Spirit works within us individually as well as corporately, and finally, we will be called to account for our lives as his servants. Loss of that concept, not liberalism, is what killed the Christian movement in Europe…The priesthood of the believer was denied and taken away, and the clergy decided what you believe, what you do and when you believe it. They took the experience with God, that the Bible insists upon, completely away. That's the most dangerous thing that is facing us as Southern Baptists.’" 

Apologies if Baptist Standard deleted some of these stories. The links will remain.

http://www.baptiststandard.com/2003/5_19/pages/terminations.html
http://www.baptiststandard.com/2002/10_21/pages/imb.html 

The Bottom Line

It is suspected that the “small group of really vicious people” making policy at the IMB were more concerned with female subordination than with anything else. Dill continues explaining why he and his wife could not sign the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message: “Insertion of language that a wife should ‘submit herself graciously’ to her husband, while ignoring ‘the injunction of Paul to submit to each other.’ Insertion of a statement that ‘the office of pastor is limited to men.’ In China, women pastor a majority of the churches,’ Dill said. ‘In Germany, we have a number of women who are Baptist pastors and do an exemplary job of service. ... Does this mean all of these women are serving out of God's will?’"

http://www.baptiststandard.com/2002/10_21/pages/imb.html

The Crux of the Matter

If missionary wives did not agree to submit graciously to their husbands and forsake the priesthood of every believer in favor of a priesthood composed of only male believers, then missionary couples would no longer be supported by the Southern Baptist International Missions Board and must either support themselves or come home. 

On May 7, 2003, 30 missionaries resigned. 13 were fired. It was the “largest mass exodus in the history of the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board. 'We've never had anything close to this,’ said Alan Lefever, director of the Texas Baptist Historical Collection.”

http://www.baptiststandard.com/2003/5_19/pages/terminations.html

 What happened at the IBM is an example of why Christians who support the priesthood of all believers –Vs- the priesthood of only some believers need to stand up and be counted. 

This year also marks the fourteenth anniversary of the Seneca Falls-2 Christian Conference held in Orlando, FL on July 24, 2010.

Videos from the conference: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-UfXCUhce1BiitK-kKXFTcrFvRNGYJTC

Again, apologies if Baptist Standard deleted some of these stories. The links will remain.

News from the conference: Group that demanded apology over view of women's roles still waiting (baptiststandard.com)

 After the resignations and firings, the IMB disclosed that the 98% of foreign missionaries who did sign the document were not all in agreement with it. Some missionaries admitted they signed under pressure in order to keep their ministries. "We've talked with numerous missionaries who basically said, 'God called me here, and I'll sign in order to keep doing my ministry.' Additionally, you have 'yes' responses ranging from 'This is a wonderful statement of faith' to 'I can live with it.' … ‘Of the many disappointments and frustrations since the so-called 'conservative resurgence,' the firing of God-called missionaries is far and away the saddest day of all."

 http://www.baptiststandard.com/2003/5_19/pages/terminations.html

... Woman this is WAR! Gender, Slavery & the Evangelical Caste System: Andersen, Jocelyn: 9780979429323: Amazon.com: Books

 

Complementarian Manners

"Jesus had a respectful theological conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well."

When I read this in author Elaine Kelly's newsletter, it brought to mind the time I visited a local congregation and was unexpectedly introduced to an author whose work I admired. I was unaware that he was a member of a fundamentalist Baptist denomination where men did not engage with women as equals. I didn't realize that for him [or any other fundamentalist Baptist male] theological or any other type of conversation with women on an equal basis was out of the question. I really had no idea.

This author never wrote about gender roles, so I was clueless as to where he stood on the issue. Regardless, I never expected to see him that day, much less be introduced to him. I was thrilled to meet him and told him so.

He shook my hand and smiled broadly as I commented on how much I appreciated his work. And then I mentioned that I had also written a book on the same subject...and his eyes glazed over.

Suddenly, he wasn't looking at me. He was staring, quite literally, straight through me. I had suddenly become invisible. He didn't walk away. He didn't move but continued standing square in front of me, completely ignoring me.

I wasn't there anymore.

I'm sure the desired effect was to make me feel uncomfortable or worse. What an incredibly rude tactic! But it worked. I had no reason to feel ashamed, foolish, and uncomfortable. Yet I did.

That was not the first time that had happened to me, nor would it be the last. I've noticed that complementarian [especially "hard-comp"] men tend to do that. It's possible the reaction is a spiritual thing (an oppression brought on by the sin of complementarianism), or it could be intentional rudeness designed to keep woman "in her place." Whatever it is, from my experience it is widespread. It is rude and disrespectful, plain and simple.

Loving our neighbor as ourselves is the second greatest commandment in the entire Bible. Jesus said so. And treating women as if they are invisible, unimportant, and less than men is...well, it is not love. According to Jesus, it is positively un-Christian.

If the majority of complementarian men refuse to learn theology from a woman, they should at least learn better manners from the Captain of Our Faith, who had no problem discussing theology with a woman in an intelligent and respectful manner.

Many Feminists are Pro-Family & Pro-Life

 Equality is a good thing, and I am issuing a call to conservatives who value equality--especially those who have media platforms--to refrain from equating anti-family and pro-death platforms with feminism, to stop calling every anti-family, pro-abortion platform, "feminist" agendas.


Many feminists are pro-family and pro-life, politically conservative people, and do not deserved to be lumped in with groups that contradict their values.

Would it surprise you to know that the very first feminist was a Christian, and that most early feminists were Christians?

Feminism is simply defined as advocating for women full equality with men in all things.

That seems reasonable enough to the modern mind, but historically, the idea was bizarre, outlandish, and to many, utterly evil. 

Most importantly, in understanding the extreme negativity attached to the word, it was a word originally defined by men who were violently opposed the very idea of  equality of the sexes. Women did not write and publish dictionaries at the time, nor did they have a say in defining the language, so naturally the word was coined and defined from a perspective that feminism was a cultish movement and a social evil. 

The oldest dictionary this writer owns is the 1931 Universities Webster Dictionary which does not contain the word feminist at all but does libel feminism as a "cult."  

Regardless of its actual meaning, most people associate the word "cult" with that which is evil, oppressive, dangerous, and false. And that was the bias deliberately infused into the word feminism from the very beginning.

Think about it. Definitions inform public opinion, and dictionaries are likely referenced by Christians even more than the Bible! Webster’s initial labeling of feminism as a cult, was a propagandizing stroke of genius! It was thought control, discrimination, and bias at its most effective finest. 

And it worked.

One pro-family, 19th century, feminist claimed that had she known in advance of the fierce persecution she would endure because of her activism for the full equality of women with men, it is doubtful she would have begun her advocacy in the first place.

1943

  By 1943, in some dictionaries, feminism had been upgraded, somewhat, from a "cult" to a "doctrine." And  in 1955, the word "feminist" finally found its way into a dictionary. It was defined simply as: "One who advocates feminism." 

 Is it any wonder conservatives today, even if they support equality, are terrified of the words feminism and feminists? The propagandists have done their jobs well.

1955 Feminism still called an equality cult

In 1955, the publishers of Webster's Unabridged Dictionary continued their hateful narrative,  discriminating against the very idea of equality of the sexes with their "cult" disinformation. (Webster's Complete Unabridged).

Keeping in mind that the word feminism was originally defined by men who opposed any semblance of equality of the sexes, it must be noted that the word has been deliberately biased, from the very beginning, with a hateful connotation that it did not in reality possess. 

"THE FEMINISTS" narrative is pure propaganda that has been bought into--almost wholesale--even by those who support equality of the sexes.

It is time to stop perpetuating the lie (even unwittingly) that equality is evil. 

An open and objective conversation about equality for women and men is impossible when the  words "FEMINISM" and "FEMINISTS" (words that mean nothing more than advocacy for full equality of men and women) are constantly used as a synonyms for every controversial agenda under the sun.

When speaking of the pro-abortion issue, I implore equality loving, pro-life, media commentators and reporters to call them for what they are, "pro-abortion  or pro-death supporters," and not, "THE FEMINISTS." 

When speaking of transgender and gay marriage issues, I implore conservative, pro-family, advocates with public platforms to please call them for what they are, "transgender and gay marriage supporters," not "THE FEMINISTS." 

The groups that are so often derided as "THE FEMINISTS"  actually do little to nothing in advocating for women. So it is unfair to those who truly advocate for equality to lump them in with those who are not true feminists at all, but simply hitchhikers and hijackers of movement that began as a good thing and at its most basic, is still a good thing.

Equality is always a good thing

Conservatives, especially those of you who have pubic platforms and large followings, as influencers, I implore you to please stop referring to those in the political far left collectively as "THE FEMINISTS." When you do this, you effectively lump all supporters of full equality between women and men together. It is tragic disservice to those of us who are politically conservative, pro-life, pro-human, and pro-family, to lump us in with an anti-life anti-family agenda.

Feminism is not evil. Equality is good.
All feminists are not evil. Equality is good

The practice of conservatives (even by those who support equality) of defining pro-abortion and anti-family far left  political platforms as "FEMINIST agendas," perpetuates an utterly false narrative.  

Equality of the sexes is not evil.  Inequality of the sexes is evil. It is inequality of the sexes, that has been the cause of much human suffering throughout history up to the present time. 

Inequality causes inexpressible human suffering

 Feminism, in its purest definition, is the practice of those who advocate for full equality of men and women. A feminist, is one who supports the full equality of women and men and advocates for the practice of feminism. 

What can possible be wrong with that! 

Equality is a good thing! 

Therefore feminism is a good thing!

And that is why it is wrong to label groups whose primary agendas are not equality of the sexes, as feminist groups. Call them by whatever their primary agenda is. But please stop slandering conservative, pro-life, pro-family advocates of equality by painting all feminists with an outdated, uneducated, and biased, broad brush. 

Woman this is WAR! Gender Slavery and the Evangelical Caste System, (1st Edition) chronicles the Christian roots of the women's rights movements, as well as the role of church leadership in suppression of  both women's rights and the historical record of Christian initiatives in the movements. Many of the same arguments used to support institutionalized slavery are still used today in suppressing the rights of Christian women through the complementarian movement. This book is an excellent resource for all who desire an in-depth study of the history of gender equality from a Christian perspective.

Subscribers on Substack get exclusive preview of the 2nd Edition, with its new cover and title! 

 If the topic of God and Women interests you, read more and join the conversation HERE.

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