More news from those trying to get to heaven...
WATERTOWN, New York (AP) -- The minister of a church that dismissed a female Sunday School teacher after adopting what it called a literal interpretation of the Bible says a woman can perform any job -- outside of the church.
The First Baptist Church dismissed Mary Lambert on August 9 with a letter explaining that the church had adopted an interpretation that prohibits women from teaching men. She had taught there for 54 years.
The letter quoted the first epistle to Timothy: "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent."
The Rev. Timothy LaBouf, who also serves on the Watertown City Council, issued a statement saying his stance against women teaching men in Sunday school would not affect his decisions as a city leader in Watertown, where all five members of the council are men but the city manager who runs the city's day-to-day operations is a woman.
"I believe that a woman can perform any job and fulfill any responsibility that she desires to" outside of the church, LaBouf wrote Saturday....
Am I the only one who finds crap like this incredibly irritating? Seriously... telling a woman who has been teaching Sunday school for 54 years she can't anymore because "oh wait... we just found this verse in the Bible" that was written by -- a MAN... several centuries ago... in a country where women to this day aren't allowed to show any exposed skin... even in the Frickin' desert!This is, in my opinion, one half step up from the belief structure of the Quakers. If you are a person of faith, can you honestly believe that a woman can be a doctor, who interprets symptoms to diagnose and cure your ills; a lawyer, who interprets the law and keeps your ass out of jail; a peace officer or any of a thousand other jobs to include the presidency of companies and even countries -- but is inadequate when it comes to being able to interpret and teach the Bible? Oh wait... let's amend that... it's OK for her to teach women and children... but when that little boy becomes what -- 13? 16? 18? Suddenly this same child can no longer learn anything pertaining to the Bible from a woman?
Again, I am not a stranger to the concept of belief and faith, but I ask you my faithful readers, where is the follow thru logic here? Where is ANY logic here? I challenge even my hardiest of Devil's Advocate friends to be able to rationalize this church's opinion to my satisfaction!
-- Follow up: GREAT Comments from SkyLemming and DBoof! Be sure to check them out.
posted by Roger C. @ 8/25/2006 11:04:00 PM
4 Comments:
No "devil's advocay required:
Two explanations for you, both strong individually and both strong together:
1. In the Old Testament, MEN were priests. MEN were rabbis. This was God's call, not Man's.
2. There is no debating with God. No "reasoning" with Him. No democracy in the structure of Heaven. God is, by definition, 100% right and good 100% of the time. It's His universe...we just live in it.
If you are a person who bekieves that the Bible is the word of God, then what it say goes. Period.
Man's problems have always come from how that book is interpreted,,,especially when yanking one single verse out of context.
Example: the shortedst Bible verse is "Jesus wept." Pulling that out of context, we can get a situation like this... "And Jesus looked down fron Heaven, looked at the New York Yankees and He saw that they are way out on first place in the AL East. And what was His reaction? The Bible says it! 'Jesus wept.' Jesus is a Red Sox fan!"
From a recent email I received. I cut and paste this. Sorry if it's too long and obnoxious in format, but it makes its point well...
Dear President Bush,
> >
> > Thank you for doing so much to educate people
> > regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal
> > from you and understand why you would propose and
> > support a constitutional amendment banning same
> sex
> > marriage. As you said "in the eyes of God marriage
> > is based between a man a woman." I try to share
> > that knowledge with as many people as I can. When
> > someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle,
> > for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus
> > 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination...
> End
> > of debate.
> >
> > I do need some advice from you, however, regarding
> > some other elements of God's Laws and how to
> follow
> > them.
> >
> > 1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess
> slaves,
> > both male and female, provided they are purchased
> > from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims
> > that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians.
> > Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?
> >
> > 2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery,
> as
> > sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age,
> what
> > do you think would be a fair price for her?
> >
> > 3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a
> woman
> > while she is in her period of menstrual
> uncleanness
> > - Lev. 15:
> > 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried
> > asking, but most women take offense.
> >
> > 4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice,
> I
> > know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord -
> Lev.
> > 1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the
> > odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
> >
> > 5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the
> > Sabbath. Exodus
> > 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am
> I
> > morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I
> > ask the police to do it?
> >
> > 6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating
> > shellfish is an abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a
> > lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't
> > agree. Can you settle this? Are there 'degrees' of
> > abomination?
> >
> > 7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the
> > altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I
> have
> > to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my
> vision
> > have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle- room
> > here?
> >
> > 8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed,
> > including the hair around their temples, even
> though
> > this is expressly forbidden by Lev.
> > 19:27. How should they die?
> >
> > 9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin
> of
> > a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play
> > football if I wear gloves?
> >
> > 10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by
> > planting two different crops in the same field, as
> > does his wife by wearing garments made of two
> > different kinds of thread
> > (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse
> > and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that
> we
> > go to all the trouble of getting the whole town
> > together to stone them? Lev.
> > 24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at
> a
> > private family affair, like we do with people who
> > sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)
> >
> > I know you have studied these things extensively
> and
> > thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters,
> > so I am confident you can help.
> >
> > Thank you again for reminding us that God's word
> is
> > eternal and unchanging.
Dboof rocks.
---
A lot in the Old Testament is, to say the least, in conflict with the beliefs of a civilized nation today.
Many Christians pick and choose what's valuable and The Word of God (i.e., those passages that foresee the arrival of Jesus or describe his abilities and purpose) from those passages that really should pertain only to Judaism...most of it is their book, after all. They lived it, they wrote it.
The problem with this "picking and choosing" approach, as Dboof's comments so clearly highlight, is that THE ENTIRE OLD TESTAMENT is supposed to be the WORD OF GOD. (Most problems of this kind are solved by the New Testament overruling the Old where conflicts occur, but many of the most extremem O.T. proclamations are NOT addressed in the N.T.)
-------------
I give the O.T. room to be extreme, as it is an artifact of its time. A violent book for a violent Age.
It is one of the oldest books still in existence. The average person might be able to name only the "Odyssey" and "Iliad" as books as old and large as the O.T. that have survived to modern times intact. Most other ancient documents are pamphlets by comparison.
In a largely illiterate Ancient World, the fact that ANYTHING got written down is remarkable.
That something spanning many centuries of history should be written down is even more amazing. And by members of a nomadic culture.
That those writings made it to NOW is, I'll say it, miraculous.
Remember the Library of Alexandria. The O.T. may have been lost forever if it had been housed there next to the other great books of the Age.
------------------
And a parting bit of trivia from the "Car Talk"guys:
Q: What is the only car mentioned in the Bible?
A: It was a Plymouth. Remember? The Bible says God drove Adam and Eve out of Eden in a Fury.
"Oh wait... let's amend that... it's OK for her to teach women and children... but when that little boy becomes what -- 13? 16? 18?"
I think its around 14.... *ducks*
i keed i keed
Post a Comment
<< Home