John McArthur and Ernst & Young: Grow A Set and GROW UP

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Anyone who follows religious news probably knows by now that John McArthur, a long-time leader in the Christian fundamentalist movement, one that likes to disguise itself as “evangelical” suggesting it is more open-minded than is truthful, believes that prolific speaker/preacher/writer Beth Moore should just “go home.”

Now, I am no particular fan of Beth Moore and find some of her interpretations of the Bible to be problematic. But I also find the same with John McArthur and dozens of other prominent theologians. Nonetheless, I have long admired her persistence and faithfulness. I also appreciate what she has done for so many.

Moore responded to McArthur with class, firmly but kindly affirming her call to follow Jesus wherever that may lead. She refused to condemn Mr. McArthur.

But McArthur’s audience loved the statement, and their delight reveals, yet once more, the essential sexist foundation of the conservative Christian world.

No progress in the business world?

Nothing new here. I come from the conservative Christian world. I experienced their contention about my long-buried call to pastoral ministry as, “If you hear a call to the pastorate, you hear a lie from Satan.” Sigh. Great way to destroy a human soul.

Slowly, I found my path to authentic life and faith and the freedom that comes with living this way. But I am aware that many, including some in my own family, do believe I am headed straight for hell. Bless them.

One would think, however, that the business world had made more progress. Well, not quite the case. I am currently on a long cruise in the Mediterranean/Middle Eastern area. One of the perks includes three daily newspapers. So, we now receive, along with the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, The Times of London, which occasionally provides an entertaining look at the US through British eyes.

My husband was perusing the London paper at breakfast this morning. He mentioned a particular piece, speaking of the fact that professional women working at the prestigious and worldwide firm of Ernst and Young were being asked to be more careful about how they dress. I suggested that men should be more responsible about keeping their private parts zipped up and under control. The conversation ended.

Read it and weep

Later, I picked up the newspaper and read the full article, several parts of which my husband, wisely I suspect, decided NOT to mention at breakfast.

So, read it and weep, my friend: [note: I truly hope this is not a current training situation, but it certainly sounds like it.]

Article in the Oct 24 edition of The Times of London

My response: GROW UP. Guys, it’s time to grow a set and be responsible for them. Deal with your fear of the female voice, female power, and the fact that while men cannot survive without women, women are more than capable of surviving without men.

Frankly, women have known this for millennia, but the secret periodically has to be re-asserted.

All women should read and/or re-read the hilarious Greek play by Aristophanes, written about 411 B.C., Lysistrata. He knew then what too many still need to figure out now: men need us a lot more than we need them.

A few well-supplied sperm banks and we can and will manage to keep things going.

Seriously, women don’t need men

Let’s go over that again: We women don’t need you guys. You, however, will be the last generation ever to live on this earth without us.

And yes, that is why generations of men make it their main point in life to control the womb;  why extreme measures to silence and hide women still prevail over the entire world.

Let’s face it: deep down inside, too many men have internalized genuine terror of the female, of our hidden, mysterious powers. And we have such powers. In abundance.

Now, not all men are terrified. I, personally, am married to a man whose security is so deep that he treasures all things female, doing so without fear. Unfortunately, very few like him exist, particularly in the religious world, most definitely not in the Fundamentalist/Evangelical camps. Apparently, the leadership of Ernst and Young also lack such internal security.

My advice, again: “Grow a set and GROW UP—and quit making the female responsible for your shortcomings. We’ve had it.”

Yes, we have had it.

A case in point: a world-class swimmer, a teen of color, was stripped of her rightful win because the bathing suit she was wearing, one issued by the school and demanded by the state standards, rode up  WHILE SHE WAS SWIMMING and showed her butt cheeks, more ample cheeks than the more slender girls.  In other words, she was butt-shamed because her body didn’t look like the usual skinny teen-aged girl. Yep. Read all about it here. Yeah, a big uproar over this one. Would never have happened to a male swimmer.

And then there is the ongoing sexualizing of little girls. This article is a must-read for anyone who has a pre-teen or teen-aged daughter/granddaughter/loved one. Why the need to sexualize these innocent ones? Because men are so darned scared of real, grown-up women that they need to rape little girls instead. Let’s get genuinely angry over this situation.

But there is hope. Some female unfriendly religious practices see now some significant challenges. Jana Reiss, a well-known Mormon (uh, they are not supposed to be called “Mormon” anymore, probably because it reminds people viscerally of their founder, the polygamous, radically immoral, child-bride taker Joseph Smith) writes eloquently about that situation in this piece.

Educated suburban women, long the mainstay of the reliable GOP voters, i.e, the religious right, are leaping from the ship as fast as they can. Here is just one of many articles analyzing the extreme discomfort that many women are having with the current President and the growing likelihood that they are jumping ship. Why? They can no longer stand the rhetoric of hatred, particularly for the female and for those who are not white, emanating from the highest office in the land.

We are waking up.

Fortunately, the whole basis of the Religious Right, the older, white men firmly in charge of their households, is slowly dying off and most definitely not being replaced by the younger generations.

Read this article and pay attention to these numbers: while 26 percent of Americans 65 and older say they are evangelical, that number drops to a staggering 8% in the 18-29 age group. Why? They, too, are tired of the meanness and of the routine of running roughshod over women and the sexually fluid.

The uprising of females spreads beyond the US. The Islamic Republic, famous for repressing any evidence of female-ness, is now facing an interesting uprising from Iranian women. Good for them!

Women are waking up. The #metoo movement, while possibly temporarily slowing in momentum, has also had a lasting impact. Plus, female college graduates will soon outnumber male college graduates.

Perhaps we’ll eventually see training articles by business devoted to the proper dress and demeanor for the men. “Refrain at all times from interrupting women and never, even indulge in the practice of manspreading. It’s rude and speaks poorly of your human development.”

So, again, guys, grow a set and GROW UP. Because if you don’t, if you continue to treat women as “less then” and the perpetrators of evil, we are going to take over. It doesn’t have to happen: real partnerships can and do exist and should become the full norm. But if they don’t, remember: we don’t need you but you can’t survive without us.

Photo credits:

ID 99830216 © Esther19775 | Dreamstime.com

Christy Thomas, photo of the October print edition of The Times of London, page 9.

Photo credit: The British Library on Visualhunt / No known copyright restrictions