Jimmy Carter speaks out about sexism in the church.

12 posts / 0 new
Last post
jrose
Jimmy Carter speaks out about sexism in the church.

Losing my religion for equality: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/losing-my-religion-for-equality-20090714-dk0v.html?page=-1

He says:

"My decision to sever my ties with the Southern Baptist Convention, after six decades, was painful and difficult. It was, however, an unavoidable decision when the convention's leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that women must be "subservient" to their husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service.

This view that women are somehow inferior to men is not restricted to one religion or belief. Women are prevented from playing a full and equal role in many faiths. Nor, tragically, does its influence stop at the walls of the church, mosque, synagogue or temple. This discrimination, unjustifiably attributed to a Higher Authority, has provided a reason or excuse for the deprivation of women's equal rights across the world for centuries."

remind remind's picture

A man who has courage.

Thank you Jimmy Carter.

Unionist

Wonderful, inspiring. Thanks jrose. How very different from Obama's split with his church.

 

N.Beltov N.Beltov's picture

No wonder the (fundamentalist) right dislikes this guy so much. But then, Jimmy Carter had a scientific education in nuclear physics. That's in marked contrast to the President that followed him ... who likely suffered from Alzheimer's ... while in office and whose scientific education was, AFAIK, nil.

BTW, it's a very well written and moving piece. It's just too bad Jimmy Carter didn't make this discovery while he was in office.

KeyStone

Jimmy is just figuring this out now?
Convenient that he didn't discover this before he ran for President. There are plenty of damning passages in Corinithians and second Timothy. No coincidence that they were both written by Paul, who also rants about homosexuals.

Caissa

 Thread drift/ Many scholars  (Borg and Crossan for instance) do not believe Paul wrote other of the Timothy's or Titus. They just published a book called The First Paul which addresses these questions and argues Paul was a revolutionary progressive in his time (See Philemon) and has been co-opted by ythe evangelical right/ end thread drift.

Way to go Jimmy.

remind remind's picture

Sometimes it takes a long time for white males to figure out how destructive their privileged hegemony is to the majority of the world, keystone.

jrose

You know, I thought the same thing at first -- How can you not realize such things, especially after six decades in the church. However, I truly believe it's never too late, and I think it took great courage for him to write an article that he really didn't have to write. He could have quietly left, but he didn't.

Snert Snert's picture

No matter when you learn something, there's always the day prior to then, when you hadn't yet.

 

And of course someone to cluck their tongue and point that out as a shortcoming.

KeyStone

"No matter when you learn something, there's always the day prior to then, when you hadn't yet."

He just learned that the Southern Baptists don't treat women equally? Puhh...lease.

Unionist

Obama leaves his church because it says racism is endemic to America and his Pastor condemns U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and elsewhere. Obama is still a hero to some on this board.

Carter leaves his church because it's misogynist. He also writes a book condemning "apartheid" policies in the occupied territories.

I have no hesitation in proclaiming Carter a hero.

 

remind remind's picture

KeyStone wrote:
"No matter when you learn something, there's always the day prior to then, when you hadn't yet."

He just learned that the Southern Baptists don't treat women equally? Puhh...lease.

To me the realization was, that men do not have the god given right to treat women as less than themselves. They all know they do treat women as less than, but they believe it is their right to do so, dispensed to them from the Bible as the Divine Right of Kings was.

My Baptist SIL goes to great lengths, repeatedly,  to explain to me why women are less than men and should be treated that way.