More Thoughts on Palin…from V Baucham
“In essence, the message being sent to women by conservative Christians backing McCain/Palin is, “It’s ok to sacrifice your family on the altar of your career; just don’t have an abortion.” How pro-family is that?”
I wanted to post the following excerpt from a response to the Palin debate, from a man I so highly respect, Dr. Voddie Baucham: (Y’all just thought I was bold 
(Jasmine…beautiful picture of you and your little brother, btw!)
“…My point is simple. The job of a wife and mother is to be a wife and mother. Anything in addition to that must also be subservient to it. There is no higher calling. Moreover, I believe Paul’s admonition should lead us to reject any notion of a wife and mother taking on the level of responsibility that Mrs. Palin is seeking.
My heart breaks for her. She has been blessed beyond measure with five incredible children, but she is running hard after what the world says is ‘something more.’ I fear she will regret this some day. In fact, I believe she already does. I can’t imagine her going to sleep at night without a nagging doubt in the back of her mind as she thinks about the time with her children that she will never get back.
My heart breaks for her children. Their mother, by all reports, is an incredible, intelligent, energetic woman with a great deal to offer. Unfortunately, right now she is offering it to the people of Alaska, and the people of the United States of America when her first priority is to offer it to them. God designed them to flourish under the nurturing care of their mother, not some surrogate.
My heart breaks for her husband. Mrs. Palin is not even supposed to be the head of her own household (Eph. 5:22ff; Col. 3:18; Titus 2:5; 1 Peter 3:1-7), let alone the State of Alaska, or the United States Senate (The VP oversees the Senate). He should be shepherding her, but instead she is ruling over him (Rom 13:1-7; 1Pet 2:13-17). How difficult it must be for him to walk the fine line of bowing to the culture that is stealing his bride while still trying to love his wife and lead his family.
My heart breaks for the so-called Christian right. All the usual subjects have been falling all over themselves to praise Mr. McCain and justify their blind allegiance to the Republican Party in an effort to secure more “pro-family” judges. They want to protect marriage from redefinition by the homosexual movement, and they are willing to redefine marriage (and motherhood) to do it.
Ironically, the Neocons are merely using Mrs. Palin as a political pawn. She is beloved because she gives them the coveted “moral high ground” in the upcoming debates. Read recent articles and the goals become clear. We must win on abortion. She makes it hard to argue for it. We must win on the race/gender issue. She gives us a woman to their ethnic minority. We must win on being young and hip. Obama is 47; Palin is 44. We must win the “change” argument. Obama is new to Washington; Palin has never served there. Checkmate!
Unfortunately, this political pawn represents a fatal flaw worldview flaw. In an effort to win the pro-family political argument, we are sacrificing the pro-family biblical argument. In essence, the message being sent to women by conservative Christians backing McCain/Palin is, “It’s ok to sacrifice your family on the altar of your career; just don’t have an abortion.” How pro-family is that?
Read the rest by clicking below:
VB
abortion | Word Warrior | 
August 30, 2008 10:02 pm
phew! I was beginning to think that I was the lone conservative Christian woman who was appalled at the nomination of a *woman* for VP. Thanks for being another voice in the blogosphere for biblical womanhood!
I agree that it is, perhaps, not the wisest choice from a Biblical standpoint. But for McCain to have a chance against Obama, he needed a way to sway both conservatives and moderates. She might be it. I linked already to my blog post about it, and I won’t again. I just hope that people won’t try so hard to fulfill all their ideals that they end up with nothing, and Obama in place. I wouldn’t personally want that kind of responsibility.
When we go to the polls we are not deciding whether or not a candidates election is a good move for them personally or as a family. We don’t check with their kids and grandkids to see how they feel about it.
Man or woman, the job of governing is going to take a lot of time. Regardless of whether it’s a man or a woman, ideally the candidate shouldn’t have young children at home.
But that is not something that voters have a say in.
We do have a say on the POLITICAL IDEAS they represent. That is what we are voting for.
That’s why, even as a stay-at-home-mom who believes this is my place, I don’t have qualms about voting for a woman–if that woman espouses my political ideals. She (just the same as a man) has to answer to God for how she managed her family. I have to answer to God for how I cast my vote. She won’t have to answer for how I voted and I won’t have to answer for her personal decisions.
Let’s not read too much into voting for a woman. It doesn’t mean it’s a blanket statement over all career woman. It is saying, “I stand with [insert politcal ideal].” Be that a candidates stand on abortion, the economy, or foreign relations.
I’m so sorry to see Christian women respond like this. It saddens me that women of today think that women of the past did not work in any capacity other than mothering and child rearing.
Before the times of modern conveniences, women worked physically hard, extremely hard, much more so than we can even dream about, just so their families could survive.
They farmed, they took care of the sick, they washed clothing by hand, they cooked and cleaned by hand without modern conveniences, they acted as midwives, and they worked alongside their men because they had to.
Based on the opinions I’ve read of some modern Christian women, those women would have been criticized for putting work before their kids.
We are so pampered as Christians today, and we see and read the bible through colored lenses.
The role of a father is just as important as the role of a mother. And to say otherwise is completely wrong. I’ve been blessed with a husband that is an unbelievable parent.
He would never pick a job like that because he would never want to be away from his family, the way she will.
Why is it okay for men to do this kind of work, but not women? Do we think we’re more important? Why is the value of a woman based on what she does and gives to the family rather than who she is?
And leadership in the bible is defined as servant leader–living a life of sacrifice. Women submit, men lead through sacrifice. They go hand in hand. Our definitions of leadership often seem to be skewed by worldly interpretations.
I think that Dr. Baucham put it very nicely!
http://adlynmorrison.blogspot.com/
If this choice isn’t pro-family, then no choice is. McCain has a family too, and no one is complaining about that. Any person that runs for president is in some way sacrificing a lot of time with their family. It doesn’t matter if it’s a man or a woman.
Anon,
You’ve echoed my thoughts exactly! Women of old worked hard, ALONGSIDE their husbands.
You don’t understand my stance. I am all for women having multiple gifts, talents and believe there is an endless opportunity for them to utilize them.
It’s when she shifts her vision from using her labor and gifts to take care of her family, to embracing another man’s vision and working to fulfil his, thus neglecting his family that I contend with.
It’s when she shifts her vision from using her labor and gifts to take care of her family, to embracing another man’s vision and working to fulfil his, thus neglecting his family that I contend with.
Jesus had married female disciples following Him instead of being at home, helping Him carry out His vision.
Paul speaks of many women who helped him, some as if they have as much authority as he does, if not more (check the end of Romans, and check it in the original language). Some of them were married, and some we are not told about their marital status.
Esther didn’t carry out her husband’s vision. Instead she went to her uncle and got his opinion on what she should do, and then promptly went and carried out his advice.
Abigail didn’t carry out her husband’s vision but carried out her own. David thought she was great wife material.
The Lady Wisdom spoken of in Proverbs carried out her own vision—all the way down to hewing out the pillars of her home—and then proceeds to instruct men in that home, men that she openly invites to come in that she may instruct them.
Ruth took Naomi’s words, with her own personal choice, and sort of “foisted” her own vision onto Boaz because he wasn’t making the moves fast enough.
Deborah’s not allowed to be used as an example because you’ve decided she’s a negative example. Are all the above examples negative as well?
A woman is a person. She can be a wife and mother, but that’s not all a woman can be. And that’s Scriptural.
The idea that a wife is to only carry out the vision of her husband (and therefore cannot work for or with another man) is not Scripturally supported *IF* we take the whole entire book’s message into account.
The Scriptures do not say that the purpose of a woman is to carry out the vision of who she marries. This is something we have sadly dragged into Scripture.
No one suggests that being a wife and a mother are not honorable occupations, even callings. It doesn’t take away the glory of that calling to say that some women will be gifted to do other things as well.
Anon,
If your reasoning is correct, given the few sketchy accounts of women *serving* and almost always we can see her AND her husband serving ministers of the gospel,
then how do we explain the very structure of marriage, given to us since the foundation of the earth, then repeated later in the New Testament.
That is, Adam and Eve were not created simulataneously. And God specifically announced, to the model of all the human race, that Eve was created for Adam to help him in his dominion-taking role.
We are reminded later that “the man was not created for the woman, but the woman for the man”. We are told that a woman is to submit, obey and honor her OWN husband.
We are told that a widow was excluded from the “care-taking” list if she had not been faithful as the wife of one husband, having raised children and ministered to others through hospitality.
We are told, of course, that women are to be keepers, i.e. GUARDS of their home.
We are told that women are not to have authority over a man, which is pertinent to the discussion at hand.
The Proverbs 31 woman “looked well to the ways of her household”, even while attending to other duties. BUT, those other duties were peripheral, tending to the help of her own family, and not requiring her to shift her vision to another man’s.
These are off the top of my head. Good reason alone stands to back the truth of Scripture.
I think we’re blinded here.
Whoo! Kelly, you were called to teach. I found your blog last month and have been reading silently. I am finally commenting. I just want to say I am continually astounded by your insight. I wish more people had insight like you do. Keep it up and don’t let the criticism get you down… seems like you don’t let it anyway. Thanks for taking the time and having the heart to lead women back to the right path.
jgirl,
I really appreciate that…”but deep inside this armour, the warrior is a child.”
It is refreshing to find this site. I am a public school teacher of over 20 years experience and I know that I have helped many, many children, but I believe that it has been at the expense of my own children. I am so tired at the end of the day that they do not get the best of me, just what is left over. If I had it to do over I would have been a stay at home mom and focused my energy to be the best wife and mother that God called me to be.
It is a farce that you can have it all, someone suffers and it is usually the home front.
I have been concerned about the same things, worrying about Palin’s children, but then I think of Esther in the Bible and how she had to fulfill God’s plan for her life even though it included things that we would abhor and with a pagan king. Who knows but that Palin is here “for such a time as this.” The alternative of Obama and his liberal thinking, and what may happen under his leadership to the world that our children will live in, makes me pray all the more for God’s will for our country.
That is, Adam and Eve were not created simulataneously. And God specifically announced, to the model of all the human race, that Eve was created for Adam to help him in his dominion-taking role.
In the account of Genesis 1, Adam and Eve are given the dominion-taking task together. Only if we twist that passage can we say that Adam was given the role of dominion-taker. Because the Scripture very specifically says that Adam and Eve were told to take dominion *together.*
On Eve being a “help suitable,” this does not mean she is only to be about her husband’s business. The word “help” in the Hebrew does not imply a subordinate. In every other instance it is used, the help is of one equal (or greater) coming to the aid of another equal.
To say that Gen 1-2 clearly teaches that only the man is to have a vision and only the man is to take dominion is to bend the Scriptures to say something they simple Do Not Say.
Please read it. Read Genesis 1 and 2. Eve was created an ezer kenegdo. It takes a lot of bending and pulling to make “ezer kenegdo” mean a subordinate follower. Just as it takes a lot of bending and pulling to say that kephale (head in Eph. 5) means authority.
We see in the Scriptures what we want to see. You are convinced that the lens through which you view the Scripture is God’ way, and that any other way is of the Devil. So nothing I can say to you will probably matter.
But know that the Scriptures are more than just a few verses pulled out of context.
You truly are a “voice in the wilderness”. I applaud you and your courage. I read on your comments of your original post from Friday of a woman who is leaving a Christian message board because so many women there were ecstatic about SP as the VP nomination. I also belong to a Christian board and was appalled and brokenhearted that so many of the women there were not just happy – but ecstatic too. How sad. Most of these women are SAHM’s and realize the importance of their callings as mothers – but fail to see how dangerous this is for our nation and for other families striving to do what is biblical in terms of our responsibilities as wives and mothers. If I get the courage to, I will link to your Friday post on my blog.
Anon,
I’m wondering if your intrepretation of “help suitable” trumps the apostle’s re-clarification in the NT?
“For man was not created for the woman, but woman for the man.”
And,
“See that every woman be in subjection to her own husband.”
And,
“A woman is not to usurp a man’s authority.”
Anon,
Another thing, I totally agree that a woman and man are to take dominion together–totally. But they can’t share and work toward the same vision if she is helping another man somewhere else take dominion.
Baucham IS BLACK. IF ANYONE HAD DARED TO SAY THAT, BECAUSE OF HIS RACE, HE SHOULD BE RESTRICTED TO A CERTAIN ACTIVITY, HE WOULD HAVE BEEN APPALLED AND WOULD HAVE CONSIDERED THOSE IN FAVOUR OF THIS RESTRICTION RACISTS. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HE DOES TO WOMEN – DISCRIMINATION BASED ON GENDER. HIM AND ALL OTHERS LIKE HIM. YOU ARE TAKING OUT OF CONTEXT SOME VERSES IN THE BIBLE AND TWIST THEIR MEANING TO SUIT YOUR ABSURD VIEWS. YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIANITY – LOVE FOR YOUR NEIGHBOUR, DO NOT JUDGE OTHERS SO YOU WILL NOT BE JUDGED. AND BY THE WAY, THE VERSES YOU BRING UP WERE WRITTEN BY PAUL, NOT BY OUR SAVIOUR. JESUS CHRIST HAS TREATED WOMEN IN A VERY DIFFERNT MANNER THAN IT WAS USUAL AT THE TIME -LIKE DIGNIFIED, WORTHY HUMAN BEINGS. BUT OF COURSE, YOU DON’T CARE ABOUT THAT. BEING A GOOD MOTHER AND A GOOD WIFE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH STAYING AT HOME AND SLAVING AWAY ALL DAY LONG. MY HEART BREAKS , BUT NOT FOR MRS. PALIN AND HER FAMILY. IT BREAKS FOR YOUR POOR DAUGHTERS AND FOR ALL THE WOMEN BRAINWASHED AND ENSLAVED BY THE PATRARCHAL MOVEMENT. YOU SHOULD STOP CALLING YOURSELVES CHRISTIANS, BECAUSE YOUU CLEARLY DO NOT UNDERSTAND CHRIST’S MESSAGE.
Anon- The difference is that the Bible doesn’t assign roles to people based upon their skin color. Whereas it clearly lays out roles for a husband and a wife. By comparing numerous scripture verses (1Cor 2:13) we can determine what it is that women’s roles should be, not a black man’s. To take one verse or a portion of a verse and build a doctrine based upon it is twisting the Bible.
Also, a Christian is to place no special emphasis on any one portion of the Bible over another. See: 2Pe 1:21
For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake [as they were] moved by the Holy Ghost.
If you NEED words from the mouth of Jesus Christ (who is called the Word in John 1, 1John5:7, Rev.9:13)please see Revelation 22:18,19 – The Greek word Biblion (book) is the word used for us to get the word Bible. From the mouth of the Lord, we see he doesn’t want us to take away from anything the Bible.
I agree with you staying at home and slaving has nothing to do with being a good wife and mother. I’m sure there are many poor wives and mothers at home, but being obedient (to the word of God as set forth in the Bible)does require us to be “keepers at home” so that the word of God isn’t blasphemed.
Anon,
I’m tempted to remove your comment simply because I don’t tolerate “screaming” on the threads.
But, I’ll leave it, because many feel the way you do. I’m not going to answer your assertions here because I’ve answered them many times in other posts.
But I’ll tell you like I told a lady who emailed me yesterday…
I was a feminist once (embracing career, considering my home a mere stopping place).
I spoke words just like you’ve spoken here.
And then the Lord opened my eyes to things. I could not believe the freedom that came when I saw my role (yes, liberated by Jesus Christ) as a wife and mother!
When he showed me the irony of his purposes (he makes foolish the things of the world), how when I give up the prestige the world offers me, he allows me to plant seeds that will multiply and impact the world in a way my career never would. (Not to mention afford me the freedom to do things I would never had time to otherwise!)
Do you think, having lived both lives, finding the immesurable joy I now have, that I would not be insane to go back to what I KNOW was enslavement?
I’m sorry you don’t understand. But I can assure you, you’re wasting your time here. These women, too, are smart. They have tried feminism and found it to be wanting…
I know this is kind of late, but I thought I would chime in here-
Anonymous stated:
“YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIANITY – LOVE FOR YOUR NEIGHBOUR, DO NOT JUDGE OTHERS SO YOU WILL NOT BE JUDGED.”
Love for your neighbor and “do not judge others” are not the *essence* of Chrisitianity. This is- “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). Jesus stated that this is the first and greatest commandment.
Yes, we are to love our neighbor, but please don’t act like that means we are to walk around and act like anything that anyone chooses to do is alright- especially for those of us who profess to be Christians, we do have a standard to live by and it is not un-loving or judgemental to talk about it or kindly confront our brothers and sisters in Christ when they are not following it.
Amy