Let me ask this question, would you consider Susan B Anthony to be a feminist? What about Louisa May Alcott? Around the time they lived, women were not allowed to vote, hold property or keep their earnings if they were married. Those who remained single often struggled to survive, unless they were able to live with their parents. Many women were not allowed an education. Most didn't get a chance to go to college. And, as I stated in an earlier post, women were often treated as property that could be bought or sold to another man. If the man died, an unborn child could literally be taken from the mother the minute it was born, and given to the Guardian whom the father designated. The Women's Suffrage movement, which is a form of the Feminist movement, worked to change this. It was also originally against abortion. Shocking isn't it. We associate abortion with the Feminist movement and yet the original Feminist actually worked to abolish abortion. This is a direct quote from Elizabeth Cady Stanton: "When we consider that women are treated as property, it is degrading to women that we should treat our children as property to be disposed of as we see fit." This was actually the true beginnings of the feminist movement both in the US and Canada. Any woman, during this time period, who championed for woman's rights are indeed feminist in the original sense.
Yes, it is true, that most modern feminist have taken a step too far and have twisted the original mission of the earlier feminist. Instead of being happy with gaining the right to work, the potential to earn the same salary as men for the same type of jobs (although, in the US this is not necessarily so, unless it's a specific type of job, such as teaching), being allowed to vote, get an education, having property, and raise their children, many now wish to be able to dress how they wish, and expect men to not lust after and have the attitude of I can do what I want, when I want. (Hmm, this somehow seems to be the attitude of most people now, not just the modern day feminist.) Some have even gone so far as to be power hungry. But that is the modern feminist movement, and I believe that the vast majority of the feminist of the 1880's would have been horrified at seeing this.
---------------
To give you another example, is every Christian movement and organization truly good? No, they are not. We've seen the effects of the Lord's Resistance Army in South Africa, or Anders Behring Breivik- who supposedly, in the name of the organization Knights Templar (I do not believe this is the one associated with the Catholic organization, but a modern rouge one), was standing up for the rights of all Norwegians, Scandinavians, and Europeans, when he murdered about 77 people last summer, against multiculturalism and Islam itself. And then here, in the US, we have the Westboro Baptist who protest outside of the funeral of soldiers, all because they believe the soldiers are fighting for gay rights. So, even in Christianity, we have those who claim to do things in the name of Christ, and yet commit atrocious crimes.
-----------------------
And, I like I said in another post, God is an equal opportunist. He will use both men and women to accomplish His purpose. In no way does God oppress women. Instead, it is the hardness of men who have tried too. Just like it is the hardness of women who have rebelled against God, and tried to usurp the position God has placed men. God, however, does not believe in oppression. And when we look at the reasons for many of the Mosaic laws, we understand why they were put in place. It was to give us a chance to live in peace and freedom, not to be in bondage. And that was the purpose of the Woman's Suffrage movement: to make sure women had a chance to live in peace and freedom. It was never about trying to take the man's place.
I personally believe that the reason that the Feminist mindset has change from the original mindset, is not because women want power, but that they have been taught, from the time of their birth, that they can do what they want without consequences. And you know who has taught them this. The blame in this instance does not fall wholly on the mothers. It falls on everyone. We all believe we can sin and get away with it. We blame our sins on how we were raised or not raised instead of taking responsibility. We are lenient on those poor little dears who grew up motherless, so no wonder they want to kill all the women. Or we pity those who come in to another nation illegally, because their own nation is so horrible, and well, we treat them unjustly by insisting that they come in legally, when it's the same illegals who commit murder and push drugs, while those who come in legally are treated like criminals, even though they are the ones who more then likely try to live a moral life. I will grant, not everyone who enters illegally is a drug pusher or murderer, nor is everyone who enters legally living a moral life. But the point I'm trying to make is we allow everyone to get off scot-free and as a result, we now have a nation that believes it's okay to do whatever you want.
I was just curious as to how christians perceived this issue. From what I'd seen in some other threads, it didn't appear that some folks saw the big picture.
