The media does a great job covering the women's march. From the big one in Washington to the many smaller ones around the country and across the world. They give a lot of air time and consideration to feminists and it's not surprising considering that most of the media leans left.
It's also not surprising that the march for life gets almost no attention and when it does its reported as negative. They'll say it's an anti abortion march, or an anti women's rights march, instead of reporting honestly and objectively that the march for life is jam packed full of women who march for the rights of unborn children, both male and female.
Media bias is so blatant these days that I don't know how they can call themselves journalists with a straight face. The media is agenda driven and not truth driven and as a father who wants to teach his kids the truth, I often find myself at a loss as to how I'm going to explain to my kids what's going on in the world.
There was a time when I could've ignored the goings on of our civilization, but with the kids being glued to their iPads and video games I can't really get away with that anymore. As they grow older they start to ask questions. Questions about what is going on, what they saw on an ad in one of their iPad apps, or about what they see on TV. I simply can't ignore it anymore, I have to begin to muddle my way through the answers and if you have kids that you're trying to raise Christian, so do you.
As always the Bible is where we begin when we have questions. So what does the Bible say about women's rights? We need to know because the world today has a very different idea of what those rights are. So let's compare shall we.
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT THE RIGHTS OF A WOMAN?
In the very beginning God made them male and female "When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and blessed them. And when they were created, he called them "man." (NIV, Genesis 5:1-2) There is no indication that God intended that one be less than the other. There is every indication that God wanted them to be together, equal and created in His image. The only reference we might have in terms of rights is that God created them to rule over nature, together. "God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." (NRSV, Genesis 2:27-28)
Their shared equality went downhill after they sinned due to the influence the culture had but right after they sinned they were both punished by God for doing what they did "To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return." (NIV, Genesis 3:16-19) Some scholars go as far as to say that in those punishments Eve got off easier because her pain was limited to childbirth but Adam's pain was the daily grind of hard labor producing for his family. It's not my point but interesting to think about nonetheless. I need to address the part about the woman being ruled over by man because that's where the whole argument about the Bible being sexist begins. Notice how it does not say that he is to treat her like anything less than human. It does not say that he is to treat her badly or that she is inferior or subservient. The Bible does say later on in the book of Deuteronomy where the commandments are given that children are to honor their father AND their mother (Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 5:16). If the man was of a higher value, God would not have commanded honor for them both.
Later on in the New Testament the status of women had decreased significantly, they were secondary citizens whose testimony held no weight in court. In many cultures at the time they were considered property, a thing that could be thrown out with the trash. This isn't because God wanted it that way, it was that way as a direct result of sin. Sceptics often point out that the Bible talks about how badly women were treated and it's true, the Bible does record it. But there's a difference between something being recorded as it happened and something being condoned. The Bible records bad things, but that doesn't mean we are taught to do those bad things.
When Jesus showed up He upset the apple cart in more than one way. His teachings upset the religious leaders, the governmental leaders, and even the everyday folks who were just trying to live their lives. One of the first things we see in the New Testament are two women of virtue and faithfulness - Elizabeth and Mary. Both are excellent examples of how all people should behave, even today (Luke 1:26-38, Luke 1:39-45).
In Luke 8:1-3 we see that Jesus allowed women to travel with Him and to learn from Him. A radically different approach than that used by other influential people at the time. In fact, women literally were at home, cooking and cleaning and having babies, that was their role in that culture. Not according to Jesus, if actions speak louder than words, Jesus' action of including women speaks volumes about how He saw them and we should see the women in our lives.
Later on the Apostle Paul wrote "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." (NIV, Galatians 3:26-29) Paul left no room for inequality between the sexes, he says that according to Christ we are all the same, we all belong to Him.
In short, the idea that the Bible says men are a step higher on the ladder to heaven is just wrong. Men and women are created equal according to the Bible, we are all of the same value.
WHAT DOES THE WORLD SAY ABOUT WOMEN'S RIGHTS?
The world on the other hand is at odds about what rights a woman should have. Women in middle Eastern countries fight for the right to drive, or to go shopping without a male chaperone. Some fight for freedom from arranged and forced marriages. Some fight for the right to vote or to just be considered equal in the eyes of the law. Some are enslaved in the world of sex trafficking and yes, men are the perpetrators behind all of that. These men are wrong, they are sinning against almighty God and His children. What they are doing when they participate in any of it is demonic and should be treated as such.
Women here in the western world do have the rights that many around the world don't. They can vote, work in government and make their own decisions, including what to do with the unborn child living inside of them when they become pregnant. They don't have to fight for this "right" because they already have it. They do however have to fight to keep that right because many, myself included, are fighting to take that away. Not because we are against women's rights, but because we are for the rights of the human being living inside of them. Pro lifers like me are often called barbaric and sexist, we're accused of wanting to keep our women at home cooking and cleaning, or barefoot and pregnant, like back in biblical times. The irony is that the real barbarism comes from the people who actually kill the unborn while they are in their most vulnerable state.
Women today also fight against the abuse and the harassment perpetrated by powerful men both in Hollywood and politics. This they should continue to do, for far too long powerful people have used that power to enslave and mistreat. However, the fight is often thrust onto innocent men who've never done anything to mistreat women and yet they are lumped in with all the bad men who used, abused, raped and enslaved women in various ways. The modern day feminist movement often screams from the rooftops that all men are bad, that women are smarter and can do it better. Often times the movement sounds more like a KKK rally where it's not equality they fight for but supremacy.
Let me be clear, I am FOR women's rights. Women should have every freedom a man has. But, I do not think they should have more rights. Men do not have the right to terminate a pregnancy simply because they don't want to be a dad, but women do. I don't want that right and I do not think we should have it, but neither should women. As much as I would love to go on talking about abortion that's not what this post was supposed to be.
HOW DO WE TALK TO THE KIDS ABOUT IT?
Truthfully? I have no idea. I have no idea how I am going to explain to my kids that babies are killed because their very own mommy doesn't want them. I do not know how I am going to tell them what rape is and why men do it. I have no clue what to say about other cultures around the world that actually own their women, and that they mutilate young girls. Honor killings, sex trafficking, forced marriages and any of the other major issues facing women this day in age are going to be hard to talk about. But I do think we need to, somehow, someway, we need to figure it out.
There are rights that women should not have, and neither should men. The right to take life is one of them. But we should all have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We should all have the right to worship, to practice our religion. We should all have the right to raise our families the way we see fit, the right to work and to love and to live. I believe in women's rights as much as I believe in the rights of children and of men.
With that as our foundation, I think we should tell our kids that there are bad people out there, there are people that want to hurt them, there are people that do not believe in God and do not want to do what the Bible says is right. There are people that do believe in God and still don't do what is right and there are people who don't believe but still do what is right. It can be confusing but I think we should teach our kids to love God, obey Him, follow Jesus, learn right and wrong according to the Bible and everything else will fall into place. I believe that if our kids truly believe and intentionally follow Him, we won't have to worry about them becoming the kind of people that hurt other people.
The long and short of it is this, the world has bad people in it, just like the Bible says. The answer to the world's problems isn't in playing the blame game or fighting for our rights, it's in forgiveness, repentance, acceptance of Jesus and obeying God's commandments. If we want our kids to become good people we don't do it by showing them what not to do, we do it by showing them what or rather, Who to follow.
Jesus is the answer.
I know it was long, thanks for reading.
see ya next time.