Quote: "The feminist movement in Western culture is engaged in the slow execution of Christ and Yahweh. Yet very few of the women and men now working for sexual equality within Christianity and Judaism realize the extent of their heresy." - Naomi Goldenberg

"Does Christianity Squash Women" by Rebecca Jones

I bought this book and read it straight through and now I'm reading it again. On the back cover, "Being a real woman is believing and acting on the truth that we have been set apart for a special job by Jesus Christ our Creator and Savior, who was Himself born of a woman."

If you have any interest whatsoever, even a little bit of an interest in understanding God's role for women, you should read this book. It is not at all a book written to keep women "down", or to elevate the status of men. Far from it!

Mrs. Jones begin the preface for her book with a question that was asked of her, "what is a woman?" That is the question: what is it that we were created to be?

Quote: "Ultimately, such feminism must shake its fist not only at human patriarchs, but at the Judeo-Christian God."

(this started out as a book review, but it's too big for that! This is going to end up being a "running book review" and study; each chapter has questions at the back that are as important as the text. Please, please take time for these discussion questions!

The first chapter is all about what "feminism" has bought us; if we look at it honestly, the cost of feminism is a high one. From loss of respect, to men taking us up on our request for independence, the cost is high.

The book asks, "have we [women] made wimps out of men?" Men are caught in a no-win situation: if they're Godly men, they're accused of being sexist, if they cater to feminism, they're "wimpy". What are they to do?

We have so marginilized men that it is now "exotic" and popular to be a lesbian, or at least "bi-curious". I worked in a high school and the number of girls that claim to be "bi" is higher than I would have thought. Why not? After all, our culture has so feminized men that (except for the sexual part) a boy-friend might as well be a "girl-friend". Surf "myspace" or "xanga" and be shocked at the number of girls who claim to be in a female-female sexual relationship.

For women, what are some other fruits of independence? The author cites a friend who moved to the United States from Singapore, where gender roles are more defined. This friend was shocked at the lack of respect that men had for women in the United States; we've demanded that we be able to "do it" on our own and men have obliged - and it has come at a price.

Have women been marginalized by men? Yes, sometimes they have. But to take a worldly, siful problem and apply a worldly, sinful solution is not the way. We should be looking at God's way, not man's. We should be not be following the world in feminism, we should be following God in femininity.
Question: Think of three women you know well. What are their main fears? Their disappointments? Their hopes?

Question: Do you feel betrayed in any way as a woman? If so, how?

Question: Do you resist the idea that God has the right to define you as a woman?

Question: Do you find men too wimpy or too macho? Give some examples from your own life.

Question: What differences are there between men and women? How do you define femininity?

NOTE: Naomi Goldenberg is a feminist and rejects the idea of a trancsendent God. She also stated, " . . . It is likely that as we watch Christ and Yahweh tumble to the ground, we will completely outgrow the need for an external God." (Changing of the Gods: Feminism and the End of Traditional Religions (Boston: Beacon Press, 1979), 4, 25.) Further, she says, “We, women are going to bring an end to God. We will change the world so much that He won’t fit in anymore.”