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Foolish Women

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Culture Shifts, Faith & Practice, Identity, Life issues, Relationships, Vocation, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 20, 2011| Leave a Comment »

“The woman Folly is loud; she is seductive and knows nothing . . . she takes a seat on the highest places of the town” (Proverbs 9:13-14).

“The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down” (Proverbs 14:1).

These verses, inspired so long ago, describe the feminist movement of today.  As a  young wife and mom, I know some of my thinking was shaped by twisted feminism.  But, my eyes were opened by a variety of experiences: my own and those of other women who had taken me into their confidence.  Today, my eyes more easily see the vivid contrasts between the woman God created me to be and the woman deceived feminists think I should be.

My library contains the work of many women who’ve left the feminist movement because it was foolish.  I’ve listed a few recommendations below.   Be prepared not only for a courageous read, but to have some of  your own illusions shattered.

All of my reading tells me that the early suffragettes would find little in common with today’s feminists.  Women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony were pro-family (not anti-male) and were strongly opposed to abortion.  Compare them with the National Organization of Women (NOW), or the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), or Planned Parenthood (PP) whose women consider abortion their cornerstone.

Betty Friedan, author of The Feminist Mystique, never found joy: not as a girl, a daughter, a woman, a wife, or a mother.  Certainly she had choices, as we all do, but she chose to speak ill of everything womanly.  Rather than leave dysfunction behind and seek healthy mentors, she blamed society for woman’s woes.   She was “loud,” “seductive,” and “knew nothing” about the created beauty and purpose of women.  Knowing nothing, she “took a seat in the highest place of town” and led women of my mother’s and my generations into foolishness.  “It was easier for me,” Friedan wrote in her book, “to start the women’s movement than to change my own personal life.”

Folly — the woman captivated by modern feminism — has not built a house, but “with her own hands tears it down.”

Did the women who followed Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem find contentment?  Did they help women adjust attitudes away from “me” toward others?  Did they raise — or lower — the standard for women?  For men?  For children?   Did they help younger women find joy in their beautiful design or turn them against their created nature?  Did they soften or harden hearts?  Did their demand for an “equal playing field” produce victory — or defeat — for family and society?

All that I see (and that’s no exaggeration) tells me that the foolish women of the modern feminist movement opened the door to promiscuity and “friends with benefits,” girls less protected by boys and men, depression, increased vulnerability to STDs (how cruel not to tell young women that their very anatomy makes them more susceptible to sexual diseases), mothers turning hearts against their own children, an explosion of weary and lonely single moms, and no-fault divorce.

Had it with Folly?  Then, turn to Wisdom.  Wisdom is Jesus Christ.  Look up all the verses in Scripture that describe Wisdom.  The wisdom of Jesus Christ is life-changing.  Problem-solving.  Creative.  Hopeful.  Pregnant with promise.

Was feminism a mystique or a mistake?  (Read Diane Passno’s book Feminism: Mystique or Mistake?)

Who distorted what the early suffragettes believed?  (Read Christina Hoff Sommer’s book Who Stole Feminism?)

Did our own mothers forget — or refuse — to tell us something?  (Read Danielle Crittenden’s book What Our Mothers Didn’t Tell Us)

Is modern feminism built on a lie?  (Read Suzanne Venker and Phyllis Schlafly’s new book The Flipside of Feminism)

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“No True Loving God Would . . . “

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Culture Shifts, Faith & Practice, Identity, Relationships, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 18, 2011| Leave a Comment »

“Calling homosexuality a sin is homophobic,” proclaimed the college student, “and no true, loving God would promote hatred against someone based on how he or she created them.”

But, what “true, loving God” would “create” a person to be homosexual?  What a cruel God that would be!  Would He think it amusing that body parts don’t fit?  Would He callously dunk biscotti in His coffee as He watched the health of men deteriorate and the hearts of women grow cold?

When people claim that homosexuals are “born that way,” I agree.  We are — each one of us — born with sin in us.  But, my choice is to embrace that sin or fight it; to do things that my body wasn’t made to do, or be on guard against harming myself and others; to be “lord and master” of my own life, or to trust that God knows best what I need and is good for me (as well as those affected by my choices).

The God of creation made Adam and Eve perfectly.  She was a “helper fit for him.”  (Literally: “like his opposite.”)  Their “fit,” in the intimacy of marriage, would be complementary and procreative.  The Creator said it was “good.”  God would be contrary to Himself if He created such masterpieces and then set them on a course of abuse and destruction. No, it was not God that brought confusion, struggle, and pain into our lives.  It is human sin — our own pride and disobedience — that makes this world a dark and troublesome place.

The God of reciprocal love did not force the first man and woman to be in a relationship with Him.  He invited them to trust Him and choose life.  The alternative was to trust themselves and choose death.  When Satan tempted Eve with his question, “Did God really say . . . ?” she and Adam both failed to trust God… and sinned.  Sin brought selfishness, deceit, abuse, difficult relationships, fear of children, weaknesses for all manner of harmful behavior (including unnatural sex), diseases, and death.

Can God tolerate sin and its consequences?  No.  But, the God who despises sin does not hate the person who sins.  Adam and Eve chose to disobey God so could no longer stay in the perfect garden, but before entering a now changed and harsh world, God promised One who would win victory over satan, sin, and death.

The promise was kept.  Jesus Christ came down into our dark and troublesome world.  He knew that, left to ourselves, sinful people are alienated from the Holy God… and there’s nothing we can do about it.  So, Jesus cried out,

Whoever believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me.  And whoever sees Me sees Him who sent Me.  I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in Me may not remain in darkness.  If anyone hears My words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.  The one who rejects Me and does not receive My words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day” (John 12:44-48).

Good Friday approaches.  I am drawn to the Cross where my Savior showed compassion for sinners.  Dare I cheapen His amazing grace or mock His victory over death by claiming that my sins matter not to the Holy God?

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What Does “Controlling Our Own Bodies” Mean?

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Faith & Practice, Life issues, Relationships, tagged , , , , , on April 16, 2011| Leave a Comment »

“Ohhhh… he made me feel so good.  One thing led to another.  I couldn’t control myself.   It happened…

(Pregnant pause)

… now, I must take control of my body by having an abortion.”

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Not the Same God

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Commentaries of others, Culture Shifts, Faith & Practice, Identity, Life issues, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on April 15, 2011| Leave a Comment »

A woman named Melissa responded to “Planned Parenthood on 9/11,” my post of April 13.  Three times she commented.  Four times I attempted responses of my own.  Back and forth we went… until it became clear that Melissa and I don’t share a belief in the same God.

“Melissa’s” are in our neighborhoods, families, and even congregations.  Perhaps, if you have a spare moment or two, you might skim her commentaries.  Does she think like anyone you know?   What happens when worldviews seemingly share no common ground?  What does God ask us to do?

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Everyone Has Right to Marry (the opposite sex)

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Citizenship, Culture Shifts, Faith & Practice, Relationships, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 15, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Three Iowa Supreme Court justices were ousted last November because the court re-defined marriage and allowed homosexuals the right to marry each other.  Months later, opinions are divided.  Some maintain that the supremes were acting exactly as they should: safeguarding the rights of an unpopular group from a discriminatory act.

Judge Richard Posner would dispute that.  Posner, a widely respected judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit said in a public interview, “Nothing in the Constitution or its history suggests a constitutional right to homosexual marriage.  If there is such a right, it will have to be manufactured by the justices out of whole cloth.  The exercise of so freewheeling a judicial discretion in the face of adamantly opposed public opinion would be seriously undemocratic.  It would be a matter of us judges, us enlightened ones, forcing our sophisticated views on a deeply unwilling population.”

Put simply, when the law defines marriage as between one man and one woman, it does not prohibit any person practicing a homosexual lifestyle from marrying.  They would just have to marry in the same way that everyone else in society has to marry — namely, they would have to marry someone of the opposite sex.  This right is extended equally to all unmarried adults in the society.

When a person practicing a homosexual lifestyle claims they want to marry another person of the same sex, he or she is claiming a new right that had not previously been available to anyone in this society.  Such a right has been denied to everyone in the society prior to this time, so it is not discriminating against them to say that this kind of right is denied to them.

Let’s use another example.  A man wanting to marry his sister may claim he has the right that everyone else has: the right to marry.  But that’s an invalid argument.  The law prohibits such marriage.  When the law denies this man the right to marry his sister, it isn’t denying him anything that it doesn’t also deny everybody else as well.  In truth, this man is really claiming that he has the right to redefine marriage according to his own desires and preferences.  And he’s not just claiming a private right, but a right to redefine the institution of marriage for the whole of society.

There is so much more to be said, but let me offer one more thought.  Laws in any society have a teaching function.  The kinds of relationships that are approved by the law are more likely to be approved of and followed by the society as a whole.  People will reason, “This is according to the law, therefore it must be right.”  This happened with Roe vs. Wade: “Abortion is legal, therefore it must be right.”  50+ million babies in the U.S. died by the hand of abortionists since that court decision in 1973.

I am called to put my trust in the One who created the institution of marriage and who, therefore, defines it.  It is not for me — or anyone else — to tamper with what God has made.  Government, another institution created by God, is called upon to maintain the standard of what constitutes marriage.  Failing to do this results in societal chaos and great harm to children — the very ones marriage is designed to protect.

I was among those who voted not to retain three Iowa supreme court justices.  This wasn’t because I don’t consider all people — no matter their color, ethnicity, religion, or lifestyle choice — to be equally human under God.  Rather, it was my civic duty to say “no” to anyone’s “right” to redefine marriage, to remind judges that the law they make has a teaching function, and to act as someone accountable to the most Supreme Judge.

(SOURCE: Politics According to the Bible
by Wayne Grudem, Zondervan, pp 229-230)

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Planned Parenthood on 9/11

Posted in Culture Shifts, Faith & Practice, Life issues, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on April 13, 2011| 16 Comments »

There was a day when even Planned Parenthood might have turned its back on death and destruction.  But, no.  After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Planned Parenthood of New York City (PPNYC) responded by offering “free reproductive health care” to women affected by the world Trade Center disaster.

“[W]omen in need due to the tragic events of last week,” said PPNYC in a press statement, could receive free of cost “PPNYC services, including GYN care, birth control, emergency contraception, STD and HIV testing and counseling . . .”  It did not specifically mention free abortions.  However, when contacted by Population Research Institute, a PPNYC representative confirmed that any woman who had been displaced by the attack “can come in for a free termination.”  (Source: Population Research Institute Weekly Briefing, September 28, 2001.  PRI is a non-profit organization dedicated to debunking the myth that the world is overpopulated – http://www.pop.org)

Many families found hope and joy in the babies waiting to be born into families who grieved tremendous loss.  Here was an opportunity for Planned Parenthood to see the promise of new life.  But, no.  The largest provider of abortions in the world stood ready to end more lives.

I don’t understand.  Do you?

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Won’t Be Praying for Christian Nation

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Citizenship, Faith & Practice, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on April 8, 2011| 1 Comment »

May 5, 2011, is National Day of Prayer.   Many people of many faiths will be praying for many things.

I won’t be praying that God make this a Christian nation.  But, I will be praying that followers of Jesus Christ:

  • Turn their heads away from deceptive philosophy and deceit (Colossians 2:8)
  • Encourage one another and build one another up (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
  • Train for godliness (1 Timothy 4:7-10)
  • Set an example in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity (1 Thessalonias 4:12)
  • Build our houses on the Rock (Matthew 7:24-27)
  • Bring little children to Jesus (Mark 10:14)
  • Love the Lord our God and our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31)

If we who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ ask Him to help us live in ways that bring Him the glory, this country will be a better place.  A safer place.  Institutions of marriage and family, health, law, education, church, and government will be influenced for “the people’s good.”   

Generations will know the mercies of God.

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Leading Children… Where?

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Culture Shifts, Faith & Practice, Identity, Life issues, Relationships, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on April 8, 2011| 1 Comment »

The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) is sponsoring “Day of Silence” this April 15 in some public schools across the country.  To where… and what… does this group want to lead our children?

Some call this a “hijacking of the classroom.”  Others label it “political propaganda.”  Take note of the name of this organization.  How deceitfully it shapes impressionable minds to believe that any and all sexual preferences are “normal.”  The question hangs heavy: “Will there be a ‘Day of Silence’ for Biblical manhood and womanhood?  For traditional marriage?  For “equal, but different”?  For abstaining ’til marriage?

What is the destination determined for our children by GLSEN? 

There is only one voice I know of that tempts and stirs up doubt.  It is the voice that asks, “Did God really say . . . ?”  That voice is hissing in the ears of our children today.  Did God really say He created humans: male and female?  Did God really say He made male to fit with female within the faithfulness of marriage?  Did God really say behaviors can bring blessings or curses? 

Is this event being planned for your school?  (The national date in 2011 is April 15, but some schools observe Day of Silence on a different date.)  Learn more by visiting Day of Silence Walkout.

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Evidence for “Not a Scientist”

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Commentaries of others, Culture Shifts, Faith & Practice, Life issues, Relationships, Vocation, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 6, 2011| 4 Comments »

Mr. “Not a Scientist” said he values substantive information, not vague claims or opinions.  To accomodate, I’m offering a few selected resources.

Jeffrey Satinover, a psychiatrist who is a graduate of MIT, Harvard, and the University of Texas and has lectured at both Yale and harvard, reports some of the medical harm that is typically associated with male homosexual practice:

  • A twenty-five to thirty-year decrease in life expectancy
  • Chronic, potentially fatal, liver disease — infectious heptatitis
  • Inevitably fatal immune disease including associated cancers
  • Frequently fatal rectal cancer
  • Multiple bowel and other infectious diseases
  • A much higher than usual incidence of suicide

Satinover also points out a significant contrast in the sexual behaviors of heterosexual and homosexual persons.  Among heterosexuals, sexual faithfulness was relatively high: “90 percent of heterosexual women and more than 75 percent of heterosexual men have never engaged in extramarital sex.”  But among homosexual men the picture is far different:

  • A 1981 study revealed that only 2 percent of homosexuals were monogamous or semi-monogamous — generally defined as ten or fewer lifetime partners . . .
  • A 1978 study found that 43 percent of male homosexuals estimated having sex with five hundred or more different partners . . . Seventy-nine percent said that more than half of these partners were strangers.   (Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth by Jeffrey Satinover, Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996)

Society should encourage and reward marriage between one man and one woman.  All societies need babies to survive, and Biblical marriage is the best environment for having babies.  Societies should encourage an institution that provides this best kind of environment for raising children.  A married man and woman raise and nurture children far better than any other human relationship or institution.  The benefits that husband and wife (father and mother) bring to their children are numerous.  Children who live with their own two traditionally-married parents:

  • Have significantly higher educational achievement. 
  • Are much more likely to enjoy a better economic standard in their adult lives and are much less likely to end up in poverty.
  • Have much better physical and emotional health.
  • Are far less likely to commit crimes, are less likely to engage in alcohol and substance abuse, and are more likely to live according to higher standards of integrity and moral principles.
  • Are less likely to experience physical abuse and more likely to live in homes that provide support, protection, and stability for them.

Children who live with their own two traditionally-married parents are more likely to establish stable families in the next generation.  Traditional marriage:

  • Provides a guarantee of lifelong companionship and care far better than any other human relationship or institution.
  • Leads to a higher economic standard and diminished likelihood of ending up in poverty for men and women.
  • Provides women with protection against domestic violence and abandonment far better than any other human relationship or institution.
  • Encourages men to socially beneficial pursuits far better than any other human relationship or institution.
  • Provides a healthy environment for sexual faithfulness (men and women have an innate instinct that values sexual faithfulness) far better than any other human relationship or institution.
  • Provides greater protection against sexually transmitted diseases than any other relationship or institution.
  • Honors the biological design of men’s and women’s bodies that argues that sexual intimacy is designed to be enjoyed between only one man and one woman.  (The above is documented by Wayne Grudem in Politics According to the Bible (Zondervan, 2010, pp 224-225). 

God created marriage between one man and one woman.  We cannot change the “fit” and still call it marriage.  Now, it is something else.  Marriage is the building block of any stable society.  Any society that wants to remain healthy and stable must have governments that encourage, protect, and reward marriage between one man and one woman.  In turn, marriage and family give back to society in immeasureable ways. 

There are countless resources for the curious.  I value the following:

Joseph Nicolosi, President of the National Association for the Research and Treatment of Homosexuality

Exodus International, a ministry for those leaving the muck and mire of homosexuality and starting new lives

Stand to Reason, apologetics for both Christian and non-Christian 

The Family Research Council (click on:  “Marriage and Human Sexuality”)

Focus on the Family

Unwanted Harvest by Mona Riley and Brad Sargent

A Strong Delusion: Confronting the”Gay Christian” Movement by Joe Dallas

The Homosexual Agenda: Exposing the Principal Threat to Religious Freedom Today by Alan Sears and Craig Osten

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Fanciful… but Dangerous

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Commentaries of others, Culture Shifts, Faith & Practice, Identity, Life issues, Relationships, Vocation, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 6, 2011| 1 Comment »

“Not a Scientist” has offered ezerwoman the opportunity to hear from someone of a contrasting worldview.  I don’t know “Not a Scientist,” but I am grateful that he’s interested in dialogue.  This society needs more of that.

Twice, “Not a Scientist” has commented on my post, “Questions to Help Us Think (4-4-11).  My pastor and son have also joined in the discussion.  This is a good thing.  That’s part of the reason why I’ve put myself out here — in blog world.  Some say, “Linda!  You’re a target.”  There is no fear in that.  Not if I’m a target for well-thought out words that may — or may not — agree with my worldview.  We should be doing more talking.  Explaining.  Researching.  Challenging.  We should practice building our lives upon what we think and know to be true rather than upon fickle feelings and emotions. 

To “Not a Scientist” I offer the following:

You and I see the world through very different glasses.  Our worldviews boldly contrast.  

  • My worldview is built on God’s Word.  Yours is not. 
  • My worldview does not blow with the wind or shift like sand.  I believe yours blows and shifts a great deal depending upon circumstances.
  • My worldview is built on the created order; thus, I know who I am, from where I come, how I’m to live, and where I’m going when I die.  You don’t appear to believe in any created order but, rather, evolving chaos. 
  • My worldview tells me how God wants men and women to live and relate to one another.  Yours, well, how are men and women supposed to live and relate to one another?  Why? 
  • My worldview offers a future of generational hope built on the backs of fathers, mothers, and grandparents who faithfully teach their sons, daughters, and grandchildren what God says about morality, ethics, marriage and family, “loving our neighbor as ourselves, and serving “the least of these.”  It appears you can entertain your fanciful and humanistic ideas only because fathers, mothers, and grandparents faithfully wove the strong fabric of this nation which you don’t seem to appreciate but certainly enjoy wearing.  
  • My worldview explains that the problems and challenges of relationships, marriages, families, and the whole of society are because of sin which opposes God’s good and perfect design.  I’d be interested to know why you think life is so difficult.
  • My worldview explains that everything — good or bad — has a consequence (you know, like gravity).  Do you acknowledge consequences and can you explain why they exist?
  • My worldview explains why I daily battle with myself and that I’ll never be good enough to save myself.  Do you sense an inner struggle between right and wrong, good and evil?  Even though you say you don’t believe in souls, what if you’re wrong and you really have one?  Where will your body and soul be after you die?
  • I can’t seem to do the good I know I should but, instead, I do the bad I don’t want to do.  This quandary could leave me in desperation.  In desperation, I might be tempted to sacrifice something in order to save myself.  But, I don’t have to.  My worldview assures me that the one and only necessary sacrifice to make me right with the Holy God was made by Jesus Christ on the Cross.   At the Cross, I can lay down my burdens, sorrows, disappointments, and failures.  Jesus forgives me.  Now, He only asks that I use His Word for life that changes lives.  Every day for me is new and filled with hope.  Mr. “Not a Scientist,” how do you start your days?  To what do you look forward?  What hope do you have?  What hope do you offer others?  (I can tell you: You have the same hope I do because Jesus died for you, too.  Can you believe it?)

You have fanciful ideas, Mr. “Not a Scientist.”  But, they are dangerous.  When I expressed concern for the two young men now “joined” in “marriage,” I did so because I am positive they have souls.  Souls that will live forever — with God or not.  I am positive because God’s Word tells me so.  If I’m wrong, there is no loss.  If I’m right, and those created and precious souls are separated from God because of sinful choices, then there is huge loss.  Soulful loss. 

Fanciful ideas, like free-falling without a parachute, are exciting — for awhile.

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