Is a woman allowed to speak? Is a woman allowed to lead? Is a woman allowed to have authority over men? Is a woman allowed to hold a position of responsibility in God’s church? By the way, which church IS “God’s church”? Is it fair to ask that question? Would anyone care to answer it?
So here we go, into another week of Sunday School All Week. Two days ago, in our usual Saturday activity, we took a look at more of the words in the extraordinary book, What God Wants. In that exploration, we encountered the following, which generated a considerable amount of response from members of the class…

The Bible makes it very clear. A woman is to keep silent. She is to have no authority of any kind over any man. She is to be submissive. So says the Bible.
Males are considered superior to females in nearly all of the world’s cultures. In some of those cultures this manifests as cultural norms that do not allow females to go to school, to hold jobs of authority or responsibility, to leave the home without being in the company of a blood male relative, or to permit any part of their body to be seen in public, requiring them to be covered from head to toe.
A woman’s testimony at Court is worth half of that of a man’s–meaning that it requires two female witnesses to meet the test of adequate proof. A woman’s testimony regarding a husband’s beatings, cruelty, or infidelity will go ignored unless she can produce a corroborating witness, whereas a man can send his wife to death by stoning by simply stating that she committed adultery. His singular assertion is sufficient.
A woman’s share of any inheritance is also accepted as being half of that of her brother. The logic behind this is that a man is financially responsible for his family, while a woman is not. This is the identical logic that, in other cultures, blocks women from earning the same pay as men for doing the same work. The fact that a man may remain unmarried all his life and wind up not having a family, or that many women become widows, or that women would not and should not have to concede this role to a man if she were treated equally, is, of course, ignored by this logic.

In some male-dominant cultures female’s genitals are mutilated, cut and sewn, in order to deprive them of sexual pleasure and thus reduce the temptation they may feel to engage in sexual encounters other than those demanded by their husbands. In some cases this is seen as a rite of passage rendering female children desirable, suitable, and worthy marriage material.
Other cultural norms reflecting extreme bias against females include the custom of blocking women from becoming clergy in many religions or rising to power and authority in any civil, legal, or business enterprise, or holding any major leadership position in politics or government.
A handful of women in some cultures have overcome these customs (in many cultures they are still not allowed to even try), but always it’s a struggle, always it’s the notable exception, always it’s a steep uphill climb to be accepted in most high profile occupations or powerful or influential roles within the global society.
Katrina Brooks, of Rome, Georgia, U.S.A., knows all about that. According to an account written by Louise Chu for The Associated Press on September 25, 2004, Katrina is a member of the Southern Baptist Church who felt a calling and wanted to become a minister. She enrolled in the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, Virginia, then found a church that would accept both her and her husband, Dr. Tony Brooks, who was already ordained, as co-pastors. North Rome Baptist Church in Rome, Georgia invited the couple to lead its congregation in November of 2003.
Not everyone was pleased.
A revision of the Baptist Faith and Message in 2000 takes a hard line on female pastors, the AP’s Louise Chu reports. The denomination’s chief doctrinal statement says that “the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture,” citing the Bible at 1 Timothy 2:11-14. That passage reads, “Let a woman learn in silence in all submissiveness. I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over men; she is to keep silent.”
Two weeks after Katrina and her husband arrived at their new church several of her fellow clergy (all men) called meetings of the Floyd County Baptist Association to discuss the matter. They wanted the association to adopt a position that would, in effect, force the Rome church to leave the association.
This difference in the treatment of the genders is, many of the world’s people believe, What God Wants. After all, the Bible says so. And so do the Scriptures of other religions.

I have reprinted that entire section here because I want to invite your specific comments on that. Especially, the comments of you Christians and Muslims out here. I need you both to help me out. I need you to assist me in understanding What God Wants with regard to how we should hold womanhood in our society; how we should treat females. And, specifically, what I would like you to tell me is whether you agree or disagree with the understandings about What God Wants as they are outlined above.
Christians, do you agree with the Bible at 1 Timothy 2:11-14? Again, that passage reads…

“Let a woman learn in silence in all submissiveness. I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over men; she is to keep silent.”

What do you think about the members of the Floyd County Baptist Association in Floyd County, Georgia who railed against a female minister in Rome, Georgia? Were they right to do so? Are they correctly understanding and interpreting the Will of God? Is this, truly, What God Wants? Inquiring minds want to know…
And you Muslims out there…help me out. Should women receive half the inheritance of male members of the family, simply because they have vaginas? Should the testimony of females at court be worth half that of a man simply for lack of a penis? Please tell me, members of the Nation of Islam, What God Wants with regard to all of this. I am asking in all sincerity. I really want to know. I really yearn to understand. Not only what Allah, bless His holy name, wants, but why. What is the reasoning behind all of this?
Or could it be that it is Conversations with God which is closer to the truth about all of this — and that God wants nothing of the sort?
And you women out there…what do you think? Is this what God wants? And you men out there? Is this what God wants?
Now let’s see what you’ve already written. Here, from the Comments Section, are some entries from the class, as our Sunday School All Week continues…
DG posted…

The Vatican can give us wonderful guidance on how to treat women. Before I continue though, let me explain something I’ve learned from a lifetime of catholicism …
if the Vatican says it is right and good, then it probably isnt.
Now, regarding these issues, take what the Vatican pontificates, do the reverse, and it will be correct.

I’m not sure that the Vatican is inaccurate about every single solitary thing that it has to say…but I agree with you that its ideas about sexuality, the role of females in the church, and such things as birth control, divorce, and abortion are outdated, outmoded, and outlandish.
And boy, did I love this, from “Albert the Abstainer”…

Rabia al-Basri, a Sufi saint of the 8th century had this to say, and it is as resonant today as then:
“O Allah! If I worship You for fear of Hell, burn me in Hell,
and if I worship You in hope of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise.
But if I worship You for Your Own sake,
grudge me not Your everlasting Beauty.”

Thank you for that contribution. I shall quote it the rest of my life to audiences everywhere!
I also loved THIS from Albert…

The antidote to fear is nakedness, openness, lightness and direct engagement.

Albert, that could be applied universally, around the world, not only in connection with humanity’s search for God — as I’m sure you know. Thank you for that contribution, too!
Oh, and Don…er….you are wrong. (heh-heh)