SW Baptist Seminary starts program on "biblical family and gender roles" for women

[rainbow4321]

Ah, a new Stepford Wife factory in the making:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/religion/stories/081107dnmetseminaryhomeec.1e08bb7c.html


Southwestern Baptist, one of the nation's largest Southern Baptist seminaries, is introducing a new academic program in homemaking as part of an effort to establish what its president calls biblical family and gender roles.


Coursework will include seven hours of nutrition and meal preparation, seven hours of textile design and "clothing construction," three hours of general homemaking, three hours on "the value of a child," and three hours on the "biblical model for the home and family."

<snip>

"We are moving against the tide in order to establish family and gender roles as described in God's word for the home and the family," Patterson said at the denomination's annual meeting in June. "If we do not do something to salvage the future of the home, both our denomination and our nation will be destroyed."

<snip>

A description of the homemaking program on the seminary's Web site says it "endeavors to prepare women to model the characteristics of the godly woman as outlined in Scripture.

[Subdivisions]

1. Back to "barefoot and pregnant" barbarism. n/t

[knowledgeispwr]

8. I don't think it's "back to..."

Some of these groups have been there and stayed there.

[msongs]

2. the next programs in the seriesare "how to be a cave dweller wife" & "stoning 101" nt

[Skidmore]

3. You know, it never ceases to amaze me how astounded people are

when this sort of thing becomes public. These denominations have been teaching it for years. It is now being instutitionalized. This is what happens when no one pays attention to what the leeches that head religious groups teach. How do you think Islamic madressa's evolved? Might be a useful point the next time some RW politician starts putting out BS about how other religions treat their women.

[MountainLaurel]

13. I agree, totally

I've known people who expressed surprise at the fact that the "reeducation camps" for gay teens and Christian high schools portrayed in movies like "Saved" and "But I'm a Cheerleader" really do exist. Who don't believe me when I tell them I was taught that AIDS was a gift from God and that mental illness doesn't really exist, in a pretty white church that has been in existence since the early 1700s.

It is completely outside their frame of reference, which is why so many in this country underestimate the power and the aims of the Religious Reich.

[donsu]

4. the perfect house maid, baby factory, nanny and legs opener on demand

wife

[Clark2008]

5. I'm impressed these people are teaching the value of a child.

Usually, fundies forget all about a child once it's born.

:sarcasm:

[Berry Cool]

7. It's probably more like "the value of a zygote"

Forget them once they're born. At least if they're someone else's. If they're yours, shackle yourself to them forever. At least if you're their mother. If you're the father, no big deal.

[derby378]

6. "Clothing construction?"

"Woman, my jeans are torn. Fulfill your wifely duties and sew them up! And after that, you can fulfill your other wifely duties - heh heh heh..."

:mad:

[Berry Cool]

9. Yep. Doesn't matter that the clothing industry has eliminated the need for anyone to sew

unless they really want to. There must be some part of the Bible that says that a woman either has to sew clothes for her family or she's going to hell.

On edit: Ah, here we go...Proverbs 31:10-31 (King James Version). Let's take a look at what it tells us.

10 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies...

13 She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.

So, to be a virtuous woman, you need to knit.

14 She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar.

You hear that, ladies? Don't buy local produce! The Bible says not to!

15 She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.

OK. So you have to get up in the middle of the night and feed everyone in the house meat.

16 She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.

You have to own land, and plant grapes on it...

17 She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.

You have to work out regularly...

18 She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.

You have to work all night long...

19 She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.

It's not enough to make your family's clothes; you must WEAVE THE CLOTH FROM WHICH THEY ARE MADE.

20 She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.

I bet that's one rule these people forget when it's convenient.

21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.

You have to make sure everyone in the family wears red.

22 She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.

But you must wear outfits of purple silk. Hand-woven.

23 Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.

Your husband must go into politics.

24 She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant...

OK, enough snickering, boys. (Do boys today even know what a "girdle" is to snicker at it?)

So...there you have it. To be a good wife according to the Bible, you must knit, weave and sew; buy your produce from out of town (except grapes, which you must grow in your own vineyard); feed your family meat in the middle of the night; work out regularly; work all night long; give to the poor; make sure everyone in your house wears red; wear nothing but purple silk; push your husband into politics; and sell the clothing you make to others.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

17. Sorry, but your post made me smile

My husband just gave me a pair of jeans to mend yesterday, and I just finished doing it. Not because it was a duty, but because I do love to sew-and it's darned cheaper to mend jeans than buy new ones!

[LostInAnomie]

10. They may call it "biblical family and gender roles", but they really mean...

... "1950's family and gender roles" or at least how they've idealized them in their fantasies.

[undeterred]

11. There is no such thing as the "nuclear" family in the Bible

Its totally projected onto it. You can make a great case for the extended family, for community, and for the single life. I've studied the Bible and if I had to teach a course on what the Bible has to say about family, I would have no idea to say about the "nuclear" family that the fundies are so big on, because it just isn't there. Its very isolationist- fundies tend to act like they are spiritually superior to anyone in their family of origin who isn't also a fundie, so they are very bad at keeping extended families unless everyone agrees with them. Its quite anti-biblical.

[DBoon]

12. So what are the men's courses?

"How to hunt and skin a 'possum"

"Starting the Family Hearth by Rubbing Two Dry Sticks Together"

"Sharpening Your Flint Cutting Tools"

"Scaring Intruders off Your Property by Throwing Rocks and Yelling Really Loud"

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Bitwit1234]

15. How about a program for the men.

Thou shalt honor they wife and take no other wives before her.
Thou shalt keep no mistress.
Thou shalt support thy children
Thou shalt make a home for thy family and not run out on them.

Those things would give it a start, don't you think. Now I am not saying ALL men need to be reminded of these, but in light of the republicans we have running for congress and the behavior of the rank and file republicans don't you think these subjects are really really the thing to do in Husband and Father 101.

Remember Newt cutting his wife who was dying of cancer loose and having to be taken to court for support of his kids. Just one....

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

16. Will the Bible based curriculum include

a discussion of the fact that the pronoun Jesus used when talking to Mary Magdaline was one used usually by husbands referring to their wives? A discussion of what Jesus (not Paul) felt the role of women to be? A SERIOUS look at the early female leaders of the church?


The problem with the curriculum is that it is basically obsolete in the modern world. At one time, home making was a full time job, one that was vital. I have a story about an ancestor who took the wool from the sheep, spun it into yarn, dyed it, wove it into cloth, and cut and sewed clothes with it. This was a valued thing to do. But as we entered the industrial age, the role of homemaker has diminished, and with it its value. Though with the way Bush is taking us, it might behoove us all to learn how to sheer sheep, make cloth and sew up our own garments.

[Ezlivin]

18. I'm an alumni - ask me anything

:hide:

Well, not truly anything, since I'm now an atheist and couldn't care less what crap they are promoting.

I do get their glossy monthly alumni newsletter. Funny, they never put me into the "What SWBTS Alumni around the world are doing."

And boy do I have fun with the fundies who show up at my front door to convert me. :evilgrin: