Nuance 28

The Church does have a lot to answer for their treatment of women. By the same token, the Church has a lot to answer for their treatment of everybody. The Church has a lot to answer for. So does the state. So does history. And so do each one of us. It's all interwoven, intertwined, intertangled. Church, state and society, from the Fourth Century have made for a very odd and messy threesome, and no one seemed to want to take responsibility for changing the sheets. Now, let me make a few things perfectly clear, before I go on. I am a Christian. Despite my issues and disagreements with the Church, I am part of the Church, by fiat of being a Christian. No one gets a get out of jail free card. The Church has also played such a pivotal and foundational role in developing and building what is called Western Civilization, that even the most dogged and die-hard atheist must at some level accept being part of the Church, or at least of Christianity, regardless of how loud and shrill their protests to the contrary. Many of the so-called secular values of equality and respect for human rights come from, guess where? The Church. Guess who were the primary activists and vectors for the abolition of slavery? That's right, boys and girls. Christians. Advances in health and patient care and hospitals? Christians. Advances in public education? Christians. Anti-racism? You bet. Christians. Ever hear of Martin Luther King Jr? Baptist preacher. And if not actual professing or confessing Christians, still they have been people bred and nurtured on the Christian influence and underpinnings of society, even with the Inquisition, the Crusades, the witch-burnings and all the other horrible things that were also done by purported Christians. But all the purported Christians, rather than showing to be flawless saints, perfect and impeccable in every way, have always been flawed human beings. Some have most eloquently lived and exemplified the way of the Cross. Others, not so much. Many more fail miserably at this and just further bring disrepute on the Church and the Christian Gospel. Not because Christianity has failed, but because we have. And all of you smug armchair critics of the faith would do well to take stock and consider how well (or abysmally), you would do if you tried to walk and live in the way of Jesus Christ. But this is why I refuse to accept this nonsense that the church has always been anti-women, and, as some really addled feminists have claimed, actually had a planned and institutionalized plan of misogyny not too far off from genocide. Rather, that impenetrable entwining of church, state and society had had all parties trumpeting champing at the bit to maintain the status quo and the understood and accepted social order, using both scripture and tradition to justify keeping not just women, but everyone in their place and within their strict and prescribed roles. Women were really given the short end of the stick, but so was everyone. Men still were expected to go out and fight the kings' wars, and the punishments for infraction were swift and always lethal. Men and women both were expected to work themselves or be worked to death within their roles. No one lived to a ripe old age, without extreme luck. Women still had it particularly bad. And so also did slaves and indentured serfs and servants. Still, women had also to deal with the oppression of men, pregnancy, childbirth and childrearing, and anyone who tried to practice or help other women with birth control or abortions, or with health remedies were suspected and often tried and burned as witches, so, yes, there are here some very legitimate grievances. But this was not simply done by the church, but the whole monolithic hydra of Western Civilization. Has the Church done anything at all to address these wrongs? Yes. Lots. But the atheists and other nonbelievers who thrive on making armchair judgements are also woefully out of touch with what especially the Anglican, Lutheran, United and Presbyterian churches, among others, have been doing to publicly repent and address gender inequality, homophobia, and racism, especially against First Nations People. And I suspect that the reason why they haven't bothered to find any of this out, is because they simply don't want to. They would rather fester in their politically correct bigotry and stew in their hatred of God, and anything to persuade some of them to the contrary is not going to be kindly received.