Snippet: Christianity is Not as Bad as You Might Think (Part 4)
Snip·pet | ˈsnipit | noun a small piece or brief extract.
This is the last snippet in this series. As before, be sure to check out the caveat from first post in this series.
But here’s one more from an article called “No, Christianity Is Not as Bad as You Think.”
“Cultural narrative #5: Christianity is gender-oppressive, a tool of the abusive patriarchy, and creates toxic relationships for women.
“In the #MeToo era, it’s critical for us to admit that churches have not always been exempt from the category of the many institutions that have failed to protect women. #ChurchToo is real and shouldn’t be explained away. What I want to argue, though, is that our failures in this area are failures to live up to our theology, not failures inherent in our theology.
“…Contrary to the narrative, theologically conservative, gender-traditional, church-attending women are in the category of the happiest relationships with the least abuse in the country.”
The chart in the article is fascinating.
There’s a lot being written these days on the damaging and unbiblical patriarchy found in so much of conservative, evangelical Christianity. Although some of it draws overly broad conclusions and makes too many unsubstantiated correlations (in my opinion), I’ve seen and experienced what these authors and studies point out way too often. There is cause for much repenting.
I agree with the author when he says, “our failures in this area are failures to live up to our theology, not failures inherent in our theology.” But there’s also a fair amount of bad theology mixed into what may otherwise be a perfectly solid overall theological stance.
All that said, I feel there’s way too much of the proverbial “throwing the baby out with the bathwater” in current conversations on this topic. And I’ve seen studies over the years that show that religiously conservative men with traditional gender role perspectives contribute much more to housework than their egalitarian counterparts (consider the information in this article as just one example).
If that is correct, why is that?