By Carole
This discussion arose from an excellent dialogue I’ve had with a good friend. We discussed the implications of Feminism, and questioned it’s role in the church, and whether or not Christianity and Feminism should “coexist” as it so often does in our churches. The first part of this discussion deals with a comparison of the Feminist worldview and the Christian worldview. (Please note that this barely scratches the surface of the differences; I included what I consider the most important distinctions)
(Feminism- the rejection of gender differences, and the pursuit of role equality in domestic, social, political and economic settings.)
Feminism (F) vs. Christianity (C)
F: Self-actualization
"Choice has always been the power of feminism...to create a society where women can live a full, self-determined life." (Ali P. Crown, choice is the power of feminism)
C: Self-denial
“"Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." (Matt 16:24) "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it." (Luke 9:24)
F: Anti-Family
“the women who ‘adjust’ as housewives, who grow up wanting to be ‘just a housewife,’ are in as much danger as the millions who walked to their own death in the concentration camps…” (Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique)
C: Pro-family
But did He not make them one, having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. ( Mal 2:15 ) "...that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed." (Titus 2:4-5)
F: Against submission to husbands
"Feminists agree that male dominance within the families is part of a wider system of male power, is neither natural nor inevitable, and occurs at women's cost." (Myra Marx Ferree, Beyond Separate Spheres: Feminism and family research)
C: Submission is God ordained and His order
"Wives submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is the head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything." (Ephesians 5:22) Also see: Col 3:18.
F: Identity in Self-fulfillment
"...women are victims of a false belief system that requires them to find identity and meaning in their lives through their husbands and children. Such a system causes women to completely lose their identity in that of their family." (Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique)
C: Identity in Christ
"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Gal 2:20)
