The CBE Scroll

Comment by codepoke

April 11, 2006 @ 8:49 pm

Great question.

I said this in a post a month or so ago (my only venture so far into the egalitarian ring on my site):

Secular feminism was not born of nothing, fully formed and ready to destroy. The church gave the gift of feminism to the world. The church taught women to read, and taught men to respect their wives. The church taught women that they could go to God without the mediation of a husband or priest. If by feminism you mean women’s elevation to the level of men before God, it was Christ Who brought this to earth. The world had to work hard to twist it into the despicable thing it is now. God’s original gift was true and perfect.

Secular and biblical feminism are two very different things, just like secular and biblical science, psychology, music, art, etc.

Count me in on this one.

Comment by Ruud Vermeij

April 12, 2006 @ 9:49 am

In the first post on my egalitarian weblog
I identified myself as a feminist. Note that the blog is in Dutch (as far as I know, until now the only egalitarian weblog in Dutch…)

I see feminism just as the strive for equal rights for women. The label in itself indeed is neutral, connotations are attached by people, but they will vary depending on what kind of people…

Comment by Anne M

April 12, 2006 @ 1:37 pm

My understanding is that feminism originated with Christians, only later on turning into a secular version. I call myself feminist knowingly even if I know it causes ‘bad feelings’. We Christians should not let the secular people steal good words. Feminism means to me an acknowledgement that there is something lagging in terms of equality and I want to work for furthering it.
Let’s be feminists…

Comment by Suzanne McCarthy

April 12, 2006 @ 9:13 pm

I sat down with a friend at the age of 18 and seriously discussed this. We agreed that we would not call ourselves ‘feminists’ because we felt that men also suffer from being on the underside of hierarchy. I still resist the word and have never used it for myself, probably because secular feminists would choke at such a conservative person as myself using the term. It is only with the publication of the recent book by Grudem, “Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth” that the word seems right for me. And being found in such excellent company here.

Comment by Craighton

April 12, 2006 @ 9:21 pm

I personally do not identify with the feminist label and that is why my blog is called Christian Egalitarians. I also tend to be concerned about and write about male issues, as well as female issues. But picking a label for oneself may depend more on who one’s audience is than which label one prefers. On the one hand, CBE’s main audience is the average conservative churchgoer and his or her conservative (probably complementarian) pastor. “Feminism” has extremely negative connotations to those individuals. On the other hand, I’d love it if there were CBE members whose main audience and friends were secular feminists. They need to know what we stand for as well.

Comment by LJR

April 13, 2006 @ 2:36 pm

I struggled for years over whether I could call myself a feminist. Even before I learned about Biblical equality, I was fiercely outspoken about issues affecting women. I agonized over knowing that the secular crowd had more concern for abused women than the church.

When I finally learned about Biblical equality and embraced it, the struggle did not go away. Finally, I had to reject the label because I live in a place (Nashville, TN) where Christians are taught that feminism is a bad thing and against Christian beliefs (never mind feminism’s Christian heritage). Why be any more of a stumbling block to people needing freedom in Christ?

Granted, if I ever live somewhere else, I am free to reconsider… but for this place and time, no. For someone else, claiming the feminist label may be a necessity. Everyone involved knows his or her own audience and intent, and needs to decide what to do accordingly.

Comment by Amyl

April 18, 2006 @ 1:18 pm

One thing that seriously puts me off CBE and makes me loath to recommend it to others is its frequent feminist-bashing.

‘Secular’ feminists have fought, amongst other things, for women’s right to vote, right to own property, right to live without violence, and right to equal opportunity in the workplace. If it were ONLY ‘Christian egalitarians/feminists’ who had fought for those things then I imagine women would have a lot fewer rights than they do now.

CBE members should not call themselves feminists if they are not feminists, certainly. My only wish is that they would lay off perpetuating strawfeminist stereotypes and acting as though self-identified Christian feminists are the only feminists who have ever achieved anything worthwhile.

Comment by Lori Buckle

April 22, 2006 @ 3:56 pm

I participated in a discussion on this topic on another Christian website. Surprisingly, since this was a very conservative site, many women like myself came out and said we identify with the principles of feminism. (Which makes me wonder how many women there are who secretly sympathize with the egalitarian position but are afraid to speak up because of their husband/church.) Most of us agreed, however, that we didn’t like the label “feminist” because it carries way too much baggage in the Christian culture. Somebody made a great point in that discussion: when many non-believers here the word “Christian” they immediately think of all the stereotypes that go with the Religous Right. That can be a stumbling block in talking to them. Likewise, why be a stumbling block to other Christians if you want to try and have an honest discussion about what you believe?