Women in the Christian Church

I was watching an episode of Cold Case the other day, in which the topic was the fight of American women for the right to vote. Being a non-American and having been born about 40 years after it all happened, I completely ignored the sacrifice and persecution the activists underwent to win the fight.

According to the TV drama portraying a 1919 murder, women back then were considered incapable of intelligent opinions, unworthy of an education, and unable to make major decisions—like who to marry.

The saddest part of the show was that, according to my experience, women may have won the right to vote—worldwide—but none of the major religions have upgraded the status of their female devotees.

Nearly 100 years after a few strong-minded feminists won an essential battle, women in the Christian church are still relegated to positions as church administrators, janitors, Children’s ministry leaders, or care takers in roles where the use of their brain takes a back seat to long suffering and hard physical work.

Time and again, husbands are depicted as the heroes and wives are touted as supportive, behind-the-scenes, quiet care takers who are excellent cooks and awesome mothers. Their intelligence, ability to solve problems, education, and capability to hold positions of great responsibility are often ignored and trampled on. All dreams of a career tend to be discouraged and frowned upon.

Because a mentally ill, women hating first-century man named first Saul and later Paul said that women should be submissive to men, now millions of ladies around the earth must be subservient to their male counterparts—regardless of who has the greater I.Q. or who contributes more to the family’s well being.

Christian books usually recommend that strong, intelligent, well-educated females tame down or hide their talents, lest their man’s self-esteem be threatened. The same advice is given about authorities in the church. Women are encouraged to be quiet and pray for what they want. Expressing wishes and working toward making one’s initiatives a reality is a man’s thing—unless, of course, we are talking about a Sunday school for very young children or the kitchen ministry.

And if they happen to lead the church’s music program, female musicians are “Directors of Music.” Heaven forbid they should be called pastors. Talent, dedication, leadership skills, and ability to work in a team are all irrelevant. Insane Saul of Tarsus wrote that women “should be quiet in the congregation,” and now they’re second-class citizens in church—for ever, apparently.

But there are a few women, such as yours truly, who naively believed that they would be heard or recognized. And we, unfortunately, kept at it for years, pointing out mistakes, suggesting improvements, trying to express theological opinions, attempting to innovate, or just trying to be noticed. We saw male morons being highly regarded leaders and failed to understand why they were heard and we were not. As smart as we were, we were unable to comprehend that in church females must check their brain at the door and come in child-like, ready to be led by men who, often, earned the right just for having been born with a greater supply of testosterone—their lack of intelligence notwithstanding.

During the week, we went to work, earned a lot of money, and held positions of great responsibility. Although being a woman in the workforce was, as is even today, challenging and often discouraging. At least at the office our efforts made the boss money, so if our work was good, we got some recognition.

And although it may be hard to believe it, that is the reality today in most Christian churches, especially in the fundamentalist types.

In spite of “earthly” success and sometimes big salaries, on Sunday a woman must go back to her jail cell and become submissive and teachable. Because, we are told, that’s what God wants from us. Highly unintelligent, under evolved males think they have the right to overwrite our opinions, put us down, and give us advice on menial issues. All we are allowed to do is bow our heads and thank them for their kindness. If we dare to tell them that we already know that or if we disagree with their “great” advice, then we are deemed non-spiritual, demon possessed, unfit for leadership of even women’s groups, and—especially—bad company for their sweat wives. We are pariahs, bitches who are unable to control our tongues. How do we dare to challenge their “holy” authority?

The worst part of it all—at leas for me—is that I believed it. I bought it that I was supposed to be submissive, and the fact that I failed at it produced untold guilt. I felt culpable for standing up for myself. I would go home and cry because I had failed God. Then on Monday, I would put my smart-woman hat on and go to work to earn, perhaps, more money than the morons I offended. After all, I was a computer geek. They were blue-collar workers and old-fashioned, retired senior citizens.

To be sure, the issue of female inferiority is one that society at large must face. Being a smart woman is like a curse that one must suffer the consequences of in and outside the church. But infidels aren’t nearly as bad as the religious. At least we see attempts of improvement in the secular world. In the religious world, the push is for going back to the old ways. Dogma is the antonym of progress, it appears.