I love the way that Pastor Baucham can express things so clearly and succinctly. After reading his posts, I realize that I need to really work on my brevity. Pastor Baucham on "career women"...
Recently I have heard the Proverbs 31 reference over and over in support of “women pursuing careers” in politics, or otherwise. Let me say that I have never argued that a woman cannot or should not work (though this is precisely what evangelicals in the blogosphere and on the airwaves have accused me of). In fact, I am on record (see: Family Driven Faith, and my previous post) on the subject and I have been unambiguous. Ironically, my daughter, Jasmine works for me! She is my research assistant, and she runs our online store (the store is down right now as we outsource order fulfillment). How, then, do some accuse me of arguing that a woman cannot work?
While I would never argue that a woman cannot work, I have argued that a woman is required to be a “keeper at home” (Titus 2:5; cf. 1 Timothy 5:14), and that as such, she must prioritize her home and any ‘work’ she does must not be allowed to interfere with her primary calling as wife and mother. Hence, the farmer’s wife who helps with the harvest, the baker’s wife who works by his side, or the accountant’s wife who works as his receptionist in his home business are all in a different category than the so-called ‘career gal’ (not my term) who spends her life as a “helper fit” (Genesis 2:18) for another man (or a corporation) instead of her husband.
That is the crux of his argument, but I loved this paragraph...
Let me say (as Begg did) that I am not so ‘thick’ as to be completely unaware of the fact that there are many women (like my mother) who find themselves abandoned by sinful, self centered, immature, and/or irresponsible men (both the father of their children and their own fathers), and thus literally have no choice but to work and provide for their children. Nor do I fault women whose husbands have been disabled for one reason or another for having to become breadwinners. I am talking about our willful cultural acceptance of a view that sees women as a mere means of production. I’m talking about the idea set forth in the Marxist worldview that sees taking women out of the household as a twofold accomplishment. 1) It doubled the productivity of the collective, and 2) it placed children under the authority of the state (via government schools and daycare), which for the Marxist, is god incarnate.
That gets to the heart of the issue. Behind feminism is a socialist worldview. It is not about "equal rights", it is about a hunger for increased power that drives the Left. Is it any wonder that communist nations, for all their talk of egalitarianism, always end up with an authoritarian system with power isolated to a few elites and backed up by a mailed fist? Really, are families where both spouses work better off? After a punishing tax on two income homes, institutionalizing your children in outrageously expensive daycare, clothes, lunches, gas, etc. is the average family better off? I would argue no, but the societal norm is to look at women who "just stay home" as somehow inferior. Despite that, I talk to a lot of women who a) recognize how hard it is to care for your kids all day and b) would dearly love to be able to do just that. There is no higher calling and there is no Biblical mandate for parents to ship their kids off to the care of others, whether daycare or a public school (which are one and the same in a lot of ways!) just to meet the approval of a Godless society or to be able to afford a few more baubles and expensive vacations to make up for family time lost.
Recently I have heard the Proverbs 31 reference over and over in support of “women pursuing careers” in politics, or otherwise. Let me say that I have never argued that a woman cannot or should not work (though this is precisely what evangelicals in the blogosphere and on the airwaves have accused me of). In fact, I am on record (see: Family Driven Faith, and my previous post) on the subject and I have been unambiguous. Ironically, my daughter, Jasmine works for me! She is my research assistant, and she runs our online store (the store is down right now as we outsource order fulfillment). How, then, do some accuse me of arguing that a woman cannot work?
While I would never argue that a woman cannot work, I have argued that a woman is required to be a “keeper at home” (Titus 2:5; cf. 1 Timothy 5:14), and that as such, she must prioritize her home and any ‘work’ she does must not be allowed to interfere with her primary calling as wife and mother. Hence, the farmer’s wife who helps with the harvest, the baker’s wife who works by his side, or the accountant’s wife who works as his receptionist in his home business are all in a different category than the so-called ‘career gal’ (not my term) who spends her life as a “helper fit” (Genesis 2:18) for another man (or a corporation) instead of her husband.
That is the crux of his argument, but I loved this paragraph...
Let me say (as Begg did) that I am not so ‘thick’ as to be completely unaware of the fact that there are many women (like my mother) who find themselves abandoned by sinful, self centered, immature, and/or irresponsible men (both the father of their children and their own fathers), and thus literally have no choice but to work and provide for their children. Nor do I fault women whose husbands have been disabled for one reason or another for having to become breadwinners. I am talking about our willful cultural acceptance of a view that sees women as a mere means of production. I’m talking about the idea set forth in the Marxist worldview that sees taking women out of the household as a twofold accomplishment. 1) It doubled the productivity of the collective, and 2) it placed children under the authority of the state (via government schools and daycare), which for the Marxist, is god incarnate.
That gets to the heart of the issue. Behind feminism is a socialist worldview. It is not about "equal rights", it is about a hunger for increased power that drives the Left. Is it any wonder that communist nations, for all their talk of egalitarianism, always end up with an authoritarian system with power isolated to a few elites and backed up by a mailed fist? Really, are families where both spouses work better off? After a punishing tax on two income homes, institutionalizing your children in outrageously expensive daycare, clothes, lunches, gas, etc. is the average family better off? I would argue no, but the societal norm is to look at women who "just stay home" as somehow inferior. Despite that, I talk to a lot of women who a) recognize how hard it is to care for your kids all day and b) would dearly love to be able to do just that. There is no higher calling and there is no Biblical mandate for parents to ship their kids off to the care of others, whether daycare or a public school (which are one and the same in a lot of ways!) just to meet the approval of a Godless society or to be able to afford a few more baubles and expensive vacations to make up for family time lost.
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