Quote:
Originally Posted by kerry
It's not that simple. Look at the 'Wives submit to your husbands' opiate. It kept women happy in subordinate positions for thousands of years, thinking they were doing god's will. Was it good for society as a whole? Are we better as a species educating women and allowing them equal power in the family, society, politics and industry? Seems to me we are. It's a tremendous waste of human capital to limit women to household tasks who could be soldiers, biologists, presidents, factory workers etc.
Same could be said of the opiate, "The Bible says it, I believe it, end of discussion." It keeps people secure, it makes life easier, and keeps in place a social order which has been around for a few thousand years. Are we better as a species because of it? Certainly not if your gay or a woman or Native American, an atheist etc.
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Thw " Wives submit..." passage is one of the most misunderstood passages in the entire Bible--not only by skeptics, but by many purported believers.
As I have said in the past "Any (biblical) text without its context is a pretext."
This one is the same. The context puts a very different light on it. The context includes the command, " Husbands, love your wife, as Christ loved the Church". Christ's love for the Church led him to die for it. How many husbands love their wives in the same selfless way? Not many.
The "submission" is often portrayed as arbitrary as Capt. Bligh from Mutiny on the Bounty fame--where his word is never to be questioned.
The Biblical is far more balanced than critics want to accept.