Christians Teaching: "The Appropriate Roles for Men and Women" Opens the Sexual Abuse Door


So many times during my life have I heard a sentence start with, "The church teaches there are separate and appropriate roles for men and women..."  Then, the person outlines the more important and dominant role for men. Why would this not tell certain kinds of men they are entitled to rights of sexual abuse over women? Why would certain kinds of men not conclude they are superior to women? Why would not women trained in this belief they are the lesser to men push back?

Like when male Catholic clergy are put in the spotlight as abuses and the Pope plus a choirs of others talk of evil priests and homosexual priests, the Christian press was filled this past week with condemnations of Southern Baptist clergy and others in the denomination who abused women. Both the Catholics and Protestants railed at individuals. We need to purge our ranks of such men, those with halos over heads lamented.

Nowhere in all this was there even the slightest hint the problem starts with the theology, not with "bad individuals." Back in the room were all the money is handled, you will normally find checks and balances. One person alone is not given complete control over piles of cash with the only requirement he/she add it up and tell everyone how much there is. Giving cover and encouragement to do selfish and bad things is a recipe for a few doing those things. Better to go back to the sources of the problem and solve it there. In all the comments about the Southern Baptist sex abuse there is no mention of changing the theology of male dominance and superiority. Neither is there in Catholicism. 

How could this be changed? By men voluntarily giving up power over women. Is this going to happen? No.

It is not possible to change either men or women trained to think men are superior have been given power over women by God. It would require admitting an incorrect understanding of God. This is not possible in the inflated male ego present in branches of Christianity. 

Neither the men of the Southern Baptist Convention nor the Catholic Church are going reduce their power. Men enjoy it, they cannot be forced to change and will not do it. This in spite of evidence both branches of the faith would have more appeal to the modern public following this change. 

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