Last updated on February 8th, 2013 at 12:14 pm
Egalitarian doctrine maintains that all humans are equal in fundamental worth or social status, and as a political doctrine that all people should be treated as equals and have the same political, economic, social, and civil rights. In America, the concept of treating all people as equals has never taken hold, and failure to pass the Equal Rights Amendment is proof this country still does not consider women worthy of equal rights under the law. The deep-seated belief that women are inferior has as its basis the Christian bible and like the war on women and contraception, it is being waged by self-avowed Christian men.
There is a reason Republicans have not shied away from the war on women or their right to choose their own reproductive health. They comprehend that the majority of Americans who self-identify as Christians have been brainwashed since birth to believe women are inferior and require a man to direct every aspect of their lives. The Christian bible is rife with instances of women being relegated to less-than-equal status that starts in Genesis and ends in Revelation with the beast being referred to as a whore, or harlot. Various Christian denominations use terms like “god’s assigned roles” and “our creator suited women to fulfill their responsibilities,” that are code for women are inferior. It is convenient that Republicans claim barring them from imposing their beliefs on women is tantamount to attacking religious liberty, but on some level, according to their bible, they have god-given duty to dominate women and regardless the outrage and protest from women’s groups, the domination will not stop without an electoral ass-kicking in November.
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The important message for women is that the only means of bringing the war on women to an end is removing every Republican from state and federal elected office before they relegate women to slave status stuck in the home giving birth and cleaning their man’s chamber pot. The war on contraception has not abated and, in fact, has expanded despite the electoral consequences in November. Throughout the Republican presidential primary, Rick Santorum has been an outspoken critic of contraception and he was rewarded with victories in states with conservative evangelical majorities who believe, like Santorum, men are exercising their god-given right to control women and make their medical decisions for them. At an Americans For Prosperity summit, in the room next to where Santorum and Paul Ryan insisted the rule requiring insurance providers to cover contraception was an attack on religious liberty and nothing to do with contraception, a pro-life group handed out anti-contraception literature with the message that contraceptives could cause cancer and that the best choice for women was chastity. It typifies the bible’s premise that women are not capable, or allowed, to make the best choice because that is the man’s responsibility.
Santorum’s opponent, Willard Romney, may not be as outspoken a critic of women’s rights, but between his opposition to Planned Parenthood, support for the Blunt amendment, and his cult’s renowned opposition to equal rights for women, he is no better than Santorum. The Mormons issued a 20-point summary of why the church opposes an Equal Rights Amendment that can be distilled into a couple of points; it has serious moral implications, and an ERA “could endanger time-honored moral values.” The point is not, though, about the Republican hopefuls or sitting legislators pursuing an anti-women agenda, it is the people who support them.
It is beyond the pale that any woman would support a Republican who actively seeks to deny them equal rights or something as personal as making decisions about their reproductive health. One Republican Congressman understands that “these are very precarious times for women,” and that “it seems so many of your rights are under assault.” Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.) is correct because women still earn less than men, are severely underrepresented in Congress, and suffer from health insurance inequities Republicans are fighting to perpetuate by eliminating the Affordable Care Act. Women make up over 50% of the population, and it is certain that not all of them subscribe to the bible’s prohibition on equality for women or the Republican’s hatred for contraception. In fact, 70% of women agree that the ACA’s requirement to cover contraception is a matter of women’s health and not religious liberty, but Republicans are banking on the religious right’s support to maintain domination over women. It brings up an important, but controversial point; it is nearly incomprehensible for an alleged “Christian” to support women’s equal rights, or something as fundamental as the right to choose their own reproductive health while they cling to the Christian bible’s tenets that women are inferior to men and therefore must subject themselves to a man’s authority.
There are Christians who support women’s right to choose, and this is not an indictment of their intents or motivations, but it is impossible to listen to an avowed Christian claim they support women as equals while they clutch that misogynistic book to their bosom as the guiding force in their lives. It is possible they cherry-pick the Jesus parts as the basis for their beliefs, but they cannot have it both ways and sift through the dogmata of women subjugating themselves to a man and claim to support equality for women.
America will only survive as a country founded on equal rights when women stand up and exert their considerable electoral authority. It is true that there are plenty of Christian women who are stuck in their cult’s mindset that men deserve the god-given right to dominate women, but it is unimaginable that the majority of women are willing to sit idly by while they are legally discriminated against at the hands of a few evangelical freaks and their legion of supporters. The Republicans seeking to cement their patriarchal authority in state legislatures, both houses of Congress and the White House are ill-inclined to relinquish their grip on women, but they are in the minority. There are also men who are fighting desperately to elevate women to the position they rightly deserve as better educated and politically savvy majority of the population, but they cannot do it without women leading the way. It is not that some men are not well-intentioned, they just do not have the same stake as women and at the end of the day, it is not their lives that will be impacted by evangelical patriarchy. At best, men can work in the background as complements to women, but they will never be as invested as women who stand to lose decades of progress and a semblance of equality if conservative Christians win the war on women. The one thing that is certain though, is that the men who are fighting to achieve equal rights for women are infuriated that their wives, girlfriends, mothers, daughters, and sisters are being imposed upon by evangelical misogynists and it is not uncommon for them to express violence if this war goes much farther.
The Republican war on women is a religious effort to impose male domination on every woman in America and it is stunning that there are any women who would support or vote for a Republican. Since many men lack the will to challenge the evangelical drive to send women back to the Dark Ages to birth and serve their masters, it is incumbent on women to be active leaders and give weak-minded men the incentive to oppose Republicans and their bible-inspired male chauvinism before conservative Christians finally institute the bible’s prohibition on equal rights for women. The bible crowd will not be dissuaded by one small defeat, and history shows they are in a long-term war, but a crushing rebuke from decent Americans will certainly set them back at least a decade. Perhaps evangelicals underestimate the considerable electoral power and resolve women can call on, but it is an underestimation that will spell dire consequences for Republicans and their evangelical supporters because women are angry, insulted, and sick and tired of being treated like second-class citizens and they have the motivation, intelligence and a small army of dedicated men to end this bible-induced war once and for all.
Audio engineer and instructor for SAE. Writes op/ed commentary supporting Secular Humanist causes, and exposing suppression of women, the poor, and minorities. An advocate for freedom of religion and particularly, freedom of NO religion.
Born in the South, raised in the Mid-West and California for a well-rounded view of America; it doesn’t look good.
Former minister, lifelong musician, Mahayana Zen-Buddhist.
