A 16-yr-old created this art project for high school. It had to be made out of a book and relevant to the book. She chose the Bible, and made this piece as a commentary on how it has been used to persecute women.
As a survivor of a fundamentalist cult and now an advocate for spiritual abuse survivors, I have experienced and seen first hand just how much God’s Word can be twisted and turned into a weapon against women.
When I hear people claim that God or the Bible is misogynistic, I completely understand where they are coming from, and yet, I whole heartedly disagree. God isn’t misogynistic, nor is His Word. But for millennia now, misogynistic men — wolves in sheep’s clothing — have turned Jesus’s own words, His own character, into something that is the direct opposite of Him and they have used it against women.
We see it in the scriptures — tales of women being used, abused, and abandoned. They are helpless and hopeless, having no rights and little respect.
We see it in modern churches today. We are told to that our job is to submit and to respect (truth bomb, those commands in scripture are actually mutual) and that we are to be meek and quiet and if we do all those things then the man in our life will automatically love us and love God.
Do you know what happens when an abusive man is not confronted by his wife or the church? What happens when the wife follows the advice given to her to remain quiet and sweet and to just pray for God to miraculously change her husband? Her husband becomes more abusive.
Is this really what scripture teaches? Were women really created only as a subordinate partner to help a man achieve his God-given mission? Or does Jesus see them as equally valuable, equally responsible, equally influential for His purposes.
Here’s what I see….
“Jesus protected women.
Empowered women.
Honored women publicly.
Released the voices of women.
Confided in women.
Was funded by women.
Celebrated women by name.
Learned from women.
Respected women.
And spoke of women as examples to follow.
It’s the churches turn.”
~ Author Unknown
0 Comments