DECRUZ PULIKOTTIL | staff writer

Regardless of its questions, there is a role for feminism in the Christian community.

Feminism can elicit strong emotions when broached in Christian circles.

Believe me, I know.

I was hit with an onslaught of opinions from my female friends after telling them that I believed a woman should not be the senior pastor in a church.

On the other side, many have dealt with conservative individuals who get angry at the very notion of challenging certain perspectives on doctrines that relate to women in the Church.

This is evidenced when biblical passages are hurled in battles over even minor issues of women being permitted to teach Sunday school.

What about the situation here at APU? Talk to men on campus and you might see cowered opinions on feminism. I think most of the militant reactions to feminism in the Church is caused by limited understanding.

Campus Pastor Jamie Noling’s chapel message last November on 2 Timothy sparked strong sentiments across the board.

I was displeased with some of the things she said. Afterwards, I wrote her a long e-mail explaining my thoughts. While I raised issue with her presentation and some of her sources, my gut revealed the true nature of my distaste: I did not like the fact that a woman preacher was persuading me to accept women preachers.

The visual I had of feminism was radical lunatics burning bras on their soap boxes. Radio host Rush Limbaugh has coined these people as: ‘feminazi’. The picture of a female denigrating men while screaming “Girl Power!” is not an easy thing to erase.

As part of the male minority here at APU, I saw feminism promoted heavily by those in charge and a ratio that is heavily weighed in the females’ favor.

Others saw it differently.

Director of World Missions Chiraphone Khamphouvong goes on trips across the world where she deals firsthand with the “frontline” of feminism. Most of the
people she meets expect to see a middle-aged caucasian male. Their expectations are shattered at the sight of a powerful woman
of God entering their presence. Khamphouvong strongly believes that APU needs to be more strategic and intentional in their efforts to diversify APU.

“When you look at the board of VPs, you see just two women on the entire board,” Khampouvong said. “The rest are Caucasian males.”

She also raises issues with what she sees as bashes to feminism on campus.

“Who was the first president of APU?” Khampouvong said. “If you go into the Presidential Dining Room, her [Mary Hill] picture is not up there.”

She has a point.

The issue stems from preconceived notions of feminism that most people in Christianity believe is true of feminism.

“I’ve always been raised to think that, while feminism isn’t necessarily a good thing, equality is,” freshman English and political science double major Sarah Breslin said. “I think a lot of women nowadays who claim to be feminist don’t desire to be equal but now think women are superior.”

I can understand the sentiment, especially after reading about the Feminist Initiative, a feminist political party in Sweden. Public support for the group eroded after its national convention last year where the members sang a song about “chopping men to bits.”

Now let’s be honest, this really isn’t what feminism is. It is not about man-hating lesbians who cringe whenever a man is in charge. The majority of feminists do not seek to butcher the entire male species.

Feminism is not easily defined. Some women I spoke to were reluctant to label themselves as a feminist in fear of being seen as radicals. Now, they were even more
shocked when I told them that I was a feminist.

Melanie Doeson believes that this perception is highly flawed.

“Feminism to me is understanding the reality that the whole of human society, politics, religion etc. of every culture has been through the viewpoint of a male,” Doeson said. “She does not stop there, feeling that feminism “is recognizing that the woman’s experience and perspective is important.”

Doeson has gotten criticism before. But the criticism she received on the wall of a Facebook group she started was enormous.

“Guys joined the group and started posting verses on the wall against women in authority,” Doeson said. “Jesus was a feminist”.

The reaction to the group was emotional to say the least. A glance at the Facebook group’s wall testifies to the strong emotions any talk of feminism elicits from the average APU student.

The truth is simple.

I think Jesus was a feminist. In a time period where a woman’s testimony was disregarded, He chose a group of women to be the first to see him after his ressurection
and to give the news of his resurrection to the disciples. The New Testament is rife with examples of women in the early church being in leadership. If one believes that the idea of feminism is radical and out of touch with Christianity, I would argue that feminism is more about equality than superiority.

Sounds very different from the “feminazi” mentality, doesn’t it?

Dr. Murray Flagg equates it as something biblical.

“The movement to male dominance is a movement away from the gospel,” Flagg said.

For those who regard the feminist movement with suspicion, he offers some advice.

“The gospel calls us to love and respect everyone,” Flagg said. “What about loving your neighbor as yourself? Do you not love your neighbor because their anatomy is
wrong?”

“I prefer the term equalist to feminist,” Flagg said.

As a male, I have been challenged to view feminism as part of how the Kingdom of God should look. No Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male or female—remember that? Like many of you, I could fuss all I wanted, but at some point I came to the conclusion that God is a feminist.

Is there tension?

Yes.

Are there unanswered questions?

Yes.

We can all at least strive for something as simple as equality of the genders. And personally, I can strive for understanding on those scriptures that had bothered me so much.