Articles Page 8
Contemporary Issues - The Feminist Movement(Women's Liberation)
There are three topics that can generate a lot of heat and sometimes not much light.
They are the following:-
1. The Catholic Church is a cult!
2. Divorce and Remarriage
3. Wives Submit to your husbands
We will consider the Feminist Movement, because out of this comes a lot of heat when the third point from those above comes in for discussion.
It can be said that the FM started out as a result of a legitimate complaint ie that women were not being treated properly in society.
This is still true in different cultures today.
A side comment is that it is only in societies where Christianity has its proper place that women are truly 'liberated'!
Unfortunately there has been a great over correction in our society as the FM has gained impetous.
The FM is against God. A noted feminist Mary Daly said " As the women's revolution begins to have its effect upon the fabric of society, transforming it from patriarchy into something that never existed before.... it will become thegreatest single potential challenge to Christianity to rid itself of its oppressive tendencise or go out of business." Daly refers to male leadership as " oppressive tendencies".
Brief history of FM
Began July 19, 1848 at a women's conference at Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in Senneca Falls, New York ( about 300 there ).
Elizabeth Stanton wrote the " Declaration on Women's Rights" - signed by 68 women and 32 men.
In 1852 Stanton joined with Susan B Anthony and they worked together for nearly 50 years.
The FM is against the Bible because it teaches different roles for men and women.
Stanton and other women wrote "The Woman's Bible" to neutralise the Bible ( God's Word ) - it is not a translation but rather a commentary on texts referring to women.
The following are some quotes from the Women's Bible:-
"The Bible always has been, and is at present, one of the greatest obstacles in the way of the emancipation and the advancement of the sex....
This book has been of more injury to (woman) than has ever been written in the history of the world" E. M. The Woman's Bible, ll:201,203
" No institution in modern civilisation is so tyrannical and so unjust to woman as in the Christian Church." Josephine Henry,
The Woman's Bible ll:201
" But when women learn the higher duty of self-development, they will not so readily expend all their forces in serving others..........
'Self-development is a higher duty than self-sacrifice,' should be woman's motto hence forward" Elizabeth Stanton, The Woman's Bible, ll:131
The final statement in the Woman's Bible :- " The real difficulty in woman's case is that the whole foundation of the Christian religion rests on her temptation and man's fall, hence the necessity of a Redeemer and a plan of salvation.
As the chief cause of this dire calamity, woman's degradation and subordination were made a necessity.
If, however, we accept the Darwinian theory, that the race has been a gradual growth from the lower to a higher form of life, and that the story of the fall is a myth, we can exonerate the snake, emancipate the woman, and reconstruct a more rational religion for the nineteenth century, and thus escape all the perplexities of the Jewish mythology as of no more importance than those of the Greek, Persian and Egyptian." Elizabeth Stanton, The Woman's Bible , ll:214
In the 1960's there the "Second Wave" of Feminism began and continues on into the 21st century.
The two most influential leaders of this new movement are Betty Friedman ( she has been called the "Mother Superior to Women's Lib" ) and Gloria Steinem.
Gloria Steinem said in Saturday Review of Education - "By the year 2000 we will, I hope, raise our children to believe in human potential not God."
OBJECTIVE of the movement - to destroy male leadership in the home, the church, and the government.
COMMENTS.
The Apostle Paul is called a chauvinist because of the teachings concerning women in his letters; that being the case then God is also because He inspired Paul to write those letters!
There are those who say that Paul was only dealing with a problem in his day; it was a cultural problem!
NOTE; The Bible is to interpret the culture (it is independent of any culture) NOT vice versa!
The FM ignores the fact that there are differences between men and women. They loudly procalim 'EQUALITY!' It reminds of a book which I read many years ago when going to school called Animal Farm, written by George Orwell.
The farm was run by the animals and in particular the pigs who had this motto or slogan, " We are all equal but some are more equal than others!"
The Bible teaches both equality AND a distinction in roles between men and women
1. equality in salvation - Gal 3:28
2. distinction in roles - ICor 11:1-3; Eph 5:22-24
We read in the book of Genesis what happens when the roles are reversed - Adam followed Eve's lead - and we are still "enjoying " the results today!!
NOTE:
Many in the FM admit to promoting witchcraft and also goddess worship.
Merlin Stone wrote in "When God was a woman" as her search for the goddess this way; 'In the beginning, people prayed to the Creatress of Life, the Mistress of heaven.
At the very dawn of religion, God was a woman.
Do you remember? ...For years, something has magnetically lured me into exploring the legends, the temple sites, the statues, and the ancient rituals of the female deities, drawing me back in time to an age when the Goddess was omnipotent, and women acted as Her clergy, controlling the form and rites of religion.'
May our Lord help us to have a true biblical balance of equality and difference between men and women and their respective roles.
This is available in pdf format
Contemporary Issues - The Feminist Movement"Contemporary Issues - Sports
IS SPORT RIGHT OR WRONG?Sport is one of the great Australian gods! We as a nation are sports crazy! ( as indeed is in the case in many countries).
I Tim 4:7,8 '.....and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.
For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable
unto all things, having promise of the life that now is and of
that which is to come.'
NOTE - the goal is GODLINESS!
QUOTES : " I once heard a godly man say that modern Christianity has
accepted a counterfeit version of joyand peace by looking
to Hollywood and professional sports." (emphasis added)
Set apart Femininity p 73 by Leslie Ludy
People watch to get excitement and pleasure!
" Yale Divinity school professor Miroslaw Volf has observed
that today 'the idea of flourishing as an human being has
shriveled to mean no more than leading an experientially
satisfying life.'
The quest for personal and community
improvement has been repleted with the pursuit of
pleasurable experiences."
Essential Virtues p 152 by Jim Berg
IS SPORT RIGHT OR WRONG?
Firstly note that there are what is called both competitive sports and recreational activities.
Why do people play sport? Primarily for these reasons - pleasure, excitement, relaxation, get fit.
Some things to consider :-
1. Money spent on sport ( playing and watching )
2. Amounts of money paid to sports 'stars'
!
3. Time spent playing/practising cf time with and serving the Lord.
4. Time spent watching.
5. Physical contact sports cf I Cor 13
Think about this - a young boy will be disciplined for knocking
down his brother BUT will be applauded for knocking down
an opposition player during a game!!
6. Competitors dress - running, swimming, boxing, gymnastics etc
Do they qualify for Biblical modesty?
7. Unequal yoke in teams etc - I Cor 6:12-
8. Can I glorify God while playing sport?
Some principles to consider:-
1. Profitable v's Pleasurable
Sport is all about winning!
Vince Lombardi ( Green Bay Packers ) said - " If it is not
important to win, then why do they keep the score?"
Does it promote preferring others? Rom 12:10; Phil 2:3,4
2. Temporal v's Eternal
Even if win a medal, cup, flag etc
SO WHAT!!!!
God's measure of greatness can be found in Mark 10:42-45
3. Lawful v's Expedient
How is it helpjng me spiritually? - I Cor 10:23
4. Edifying v's Enslaving
Time spent watching game, replays, discussions etc I Cor 6:12
5. From Above or From Beneath
Where does it come from? - I John 2;15-17
This is available in pdf format
Contemporary Issues - Sports"Contemporary Issues - Animal Rights Movement
The following are some quotes from some leaders in this movement:-
1. "It can no longer be maintained by anyone but a religious fanatic that man is the darling of the whole universe, or that animals were created to provide us with food, or that we have divine authority over them, and divine permission to kill them."
Peter Singer ( "Earth Day 1990," The Christian News, Apr, 9, 1990).
2. " Human beings, as a species, have no more value than slugs." - Uni of Calif professor Kenneth Watt ( Cited by Gary Benoit, 'The Greatest Sham on Earth,' The New American Mar, 26,1990
3. "There really is no rational reason for saying an human being has special rights. ....A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy"
She compares the killing of chickens with the Nazi Holocaust. "
Six million people died in concentration camps" she told the Washington Post, " but six billion broiler chickens will die this year in slaughterhouses."
- Ingrid Newkirk, PETA ( People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals )founder, Reader's Digest, June 1990.
Animals are being bought to a place where they have precedence over people and their needs.
We must 'save the whales' and not allow a dam because it may leave some snails without an home etc!
We are seeing Rom 1:22,23 being lived out in our day.
At one time that used to be confined to countries like India and Burma who believe in reincarnation.
One of the things that helps drive this movement is the support of the teaching of evolution - single cell to man ie man is just an higher animal!
Animals in cartoons etc help to show their similarity and perhaps equality with humans!
The Word of God declares that man is unique in God's creation because we are made in His image.
There is no 'missing link'!!
The first reason for animals ( indeed alll of creation) is found in Rev 4:11 - they were created for God's pleasure.
The second reason for animals is for man to have dominion Ps 8:4-8 - we are to exercise good stewardship over what God has given unto us.
- eg domestic animals - give them food, water, protection, care etc ( God feeds them in the wild, Matt 6:26 )
The Animal Rights people tell us that animals should not be killed for food and clothing etc
NOTE:
(1) God clothed Adam and Eve with animal skins - Gen 3:21
(2) God commanded animal sacrifices to be made in the OT
- Lev 1-5 ( to point to the Lamb of God John 1:29 )
- parts were for the priests to eat.
(3) Animals are to be eaten:-
In OT - Lev 11:1-47 - clean/unclean; teaching them to be
different to the other nations and also that they were to be holy
people
In NT - All meat acceptable to eat - ITim 4:1-5
- The Lord Jesus ate fish Luke 24:42,43;
the passover lamb Matt 26
There is another reason that God created the animals and birds etc - to teach us lessons eg Job 40:15 - 41:34; Prov 6:6-; Prov 30:24-28
All animals and birds and other creatures were created for God's pleasure and we are to be good stewards over that which God has given unto us.
This is available in pdf format
Contemporary Issues - Animal Rights Movement"
