The Feminists Made Me Do It Says Debbie Maken

Debbie Maken gives us a valuable gift of insight (though a lengthy one!) for Father's Day. Actually she never mentions Father's Day yet talks so much about men and marriage in her posting.

Debbie has endured her share of controversy for speaking out on the "gift of singleness." I haven't read the book but I have read some reviews and commentary.

After reading the posting I linked to in the previous paragraph, I have to say that I certainly agree with much of Debbie's point of view, at least as much as a Catholic could, considering she does not discuss the subject of celibacy. [But as a former evangelical I can still appreciate her much needed correctives, many of which in proper context could apply equally well to priests and Bishops. However, speaking of corrective, I'd probably want to also recommend a book such as this one on chastity and singleness by blogger Dawn Eden.]

The posting is long but these are some of the sections to which I could say "Amen!"

But if you have the time, read the whole posting.

Any woman who writes a book commending marriage for both sexes as God's way and design is anything but a hard core or soft core feminist. New school Feminists (not the old school ones who really advocated educational equality) have been devoted to making marriage irrelevant and blurring the distinction between the two sexes. I, on the other hand, have gone on a crusade in the opposite direction-- to prove that marriage does matter and should matter to singles, and that there are differences between the two sexes and their needs and goals, and because of these differences, females inevitably do not have equal bargaining power in the modern dating game.

If you want to attack me on my own blog, try using some logic, history and good reasoning next time, and perhaps picking an alternative name-calling term that actually applies.

....snip

Men are fleeing churches for the same reasons that they are fleeing from romantic relationships or the advancement of their own children. There is a lack of commitment and a lack of leadership to see something through to a good conclusion. There is a reason that the Lord wants the hearts of the fathers to turn to their children; He knows their weak and feeble frame to wander from the things they should be devoted to the most. There is a reason he reminds husbands to love their wives; it is easy to forget. These traits of leadership and perseverance just have not been fostered in this generation of men; and it is up to the women in this generation, like Judge Deborah, to help the General Baraks back into place by showing men the consequences of a lack of leadership.

....snip

The new order of things in churches shows a shift towards doing things on a (man’s world) business model, with an overwhelming need to see results quickly, as opposed to waiting on the Lord to accomplish the purposes for which His word was sent out. The new order of things to dumb down isn’t the doing of women, it is the doing of men with either liquidated seminary degrees or men who simply have not been well trained to know the value in holding to the older order of worship and good doctrine. The new order of things assumes that grace supersedes the law, when they actually work together. The new order in churches could not come about without men voting these things into being, any more than abortion on demand could come about without an all male judiciary or no fault divorce statutes from predominantly male legislatures. But I’m sure the Feminists made them all do it!

While these troubling trends in the modern church could be laid at the feet of male ministers, the modern state of things should not be the desire of either sex. It should sadden us all equally and the restoration of the bride should be the goal of both sexes. The fact that the women stay in churches despite these present handicaps does not speak to their implied preference for a feminized worship environment; it speaks to their character to endure and it speaks to men's lack of commitment and perhaps even lack of effort. It really is no different than Jesus' male disciples repeatedly falling asleep in the garden during prayer time, abandoning him at the cross, denying associating with him, and leaving our Lord to receive ministry at the hands of women during his most pressing hour. But let us remember that Jesus wanted the men restored to leadership and thrice asked Peter to feed the sheep.