So many Christians threw their support to Sarah Palin when we had a choice, ignoring the fact that she was away from her newborn special needs baby while she was campaigning from early morning until late at night. I'm not sure which is the worse evil: socialism or feminism.
Feminists say women should have a choice, but they only approve of one choice: leaving your children in daycare all day while you work. I recently heard Meryl Streep say: Once women experienced that fulfillment (of working outside the home), they never wanted to go back.
What a lie! Once they experienced the paycheck, their guilt was numbed and they happily traded a relationship with their precious children for all the things they could now buy for themselves. But then they needed "me" time (more time away from their children) because they were so exhausted after a day of trying to be employee and mom.
14 comments:
so so sad! these women who trade that paycheck for time with their babies are REALLY missing out!!! I'm just so thankful for a husband who desires his wife and children to be at home- many mommy's want that, but don't have husbands who support it enough to make it work no matter the price!
That just makes me sick. Thanks for sharing that! I must have de-evolved from a educated, post-graduate, strong woman to "just a mother of young children staying at home". I'd much rather be what I am now, my children's lives depend on me!
no sure about the hubbub here. she said "the Neanderthal's who pick on women's choice to stay at home or work"
and right now the blog and comments are picking on women who GO/CHOOSE to work. some ladies must work, some chose to work, the Bible is full of women who worked (Ruth/Prov 31)
such a double standard ladies
"The Bible is full of women who worked". I totally agree. But I heartily disagree that the Bible is full of women who worked outside the home. The Prov 31 woman worked diligently with her hands (v. 13). We work with our hands when we bake bread for our family, sew clothes for our children, knit scarves, iron hubby's shirts, plant and harvest a garden, etc. The Prov 31 woman also sought wool and flax (also v. 13). We do that when we go shopping for the best deal; being a good steward of our family finances. (v. 16 indicates that she was wise w/ finances) All of what she did can be done at home. It would be difficult to argue that she worked outside the home from reading that chapter.
Titus 2:4-5 says "train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled."
The young women in that verse are mothers. There is no indication that Ruth had children before she married Boaz. She gleaned from his field. That is hard work, but she wasn't leaving any small children in some other woman's care in order to do it.
When Palin said "women can accomplish much", she wasn't referring to the eternal accomplishment we make when we disciple our children biblically. I wish she were.
I agree with Mrs. T. I watched the video but wasn't all that offended (though I dislike the evolutionary phrases). I very much dislike when Christians are legalistic about women working. We are all called differently and while there is a clear teaching that any given woman should be home with her children, there do seem to be some exceptions in Scripture. Prov. 31 seems to portray a woman working from home, but also away from home.
I know my mom had to work outside the home (because of poor financial choices, granted) but it was very hurtful when the women of a church we attended gathered around her, saying that she must wear skirts and quit her job to be a good Christian mom. Their judgmental attitudes damaged her perception of Christ. Coming from an abusive, legalistic church causes me to be sensitive about "You Must's".
There must be freedom in Christ. "In Essentials, Unity; in Non-essentials, Liberty; in All Things, Charity" has to be the watchword in this situation. It's not a salvation issue.
Also, Sarah Palin is a political figure, not a spiritual leader. I don't think the two have to go hand-in-hand in this country, even when leaders are more conservative and seem to proclaim a relationship with Christ. I heartily wish we would elect a true Man of God to the Presidency. If we refuse, I would vote for a conservative woman who might slow down our long descent into socialism. I truly long for a day when we can live in righteousness. Maranatha!
Momma of Many,
If the church had done their job, instead of condemning your mom with their legalism, she wouldn't have had to work outside the home. Welfare has taken over where the church has failed to do its job.
Please expound on what you're seeing in Prov 31. I just don't see any references that imply she must have been working outside the home.
Shes a talking head like the rest of them. (roll eyes)
Your right about her neglecting her baby, although it was kinda neat to see her sling him while at work.
I have never been a supporter of Sarah Palin, and was livid when so many conservative christian women jumped right on the bandwagon hailing her as the next Deborah.
I'm also not fond of what she said about Neanderthals evolving, um huh? She claims to be a Christian yet she is speaking of evolution. I also did not care for her exalting previous feminists. However, I do not truly believe that she called supporters of stay at home moms neanderthals. She was making a blanket statement about people who don't think women should work period, not singling out stay at home moms as doing the wrong thing. It's clear to me that she honestly believes it is okay to go away to work, she lives that. But I did not hear in what she said that she believes no woman should stay at home.
Ashley
P.S. I cannot believe I am defending Sarah Palin.
I too felt that saying Sarah was referring to staying home as being neanderthal was a stretch. I do understand what you are saying about the way Sarah lives out her motherhood. The fruit of her life shows that her career is priority over the raising her family though she might argue she is doing it for her family. But her heart is not mine to determine.
Proverbs 31 says that she brought food from afar and bought fields, planted vineyards and traded. It's not a stretch to say that she may have worked outside the home in some capacity any more than using Deut 6:6-9 as a biblical mandate to homeschool. Neither directly says specifically, however, the inference can be made in both cases. I honestly believe that God left that open to interpretation because directly mandating it misses the point entirely. The point is God would have us make our relationship with Him first and our families second. We have to be careful that the values we hold to be true do not become elevated to the place of being an idol in our life that alienates others and prevents us from sharing the love of Christ with them. Btw, I am in no way saying you are doing that Ginger. I am just adding to the discussion something that God has been showing me recently. :-)
Ha! I thought she was saying that supporters of stay-at-home mothers are neanderthals. Maybe I misunderstood her point. :~
Either way, I stand by what I typed. I wholeheartedly believe the value of working is not in the fulfillment but in the money it provides. And I truly believe it's the church's responsibility to ensure that mothers never have to work.
It all boils down to the motives of the heart and what we "choose" to justify. Anyone can "read" anything into Scripture making it "fit" what their heart contains. Some follow hard after God and are determined to walk the straight and narrow. Others, water down The Word and make it conform to their lifestyle therefore widening the path that they walk (making it comfortable). Bottom line is that one day EVERY ONE will give an account to the choices that they have made. My greatest desire is to take my role as a child of God, wife to my husband and momma to our children as seriously as possible, being passionate about the callings that God has entrusted me with. I daily pray not...but if I was diagnosed with a terminal illness or my husband died suddenly today or one of our children were taken prematurely, I would want no regrets. I want to live out my callings to the fullest. I refuse to conform! I'm determined to not justify! I choose to live according to the TRUTH of God's Word!
There's only two who genuinely know the contents of our heart...our Saviour and our self. We can make our hearts justify our actions yet one day, all of that will be tested by the Refiner's fire. No excuse will be accepted then! That's not legalism, that's TRUTH!
Blessings~
Mendi
I just have to make one more comment. Sarah Palin said this "All those type of things where I would so hope that at some point, uh, those Neanderthals, will evolve into something a bit more, um, with it, a bit more modern" during the interview and it really bothered me. She is a self proclaimed conservative, and yet the definition of conservative is "disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change." I said in my previous post that I am no fan of Palin's, and this just reiterates why. She is basically asking us to be more progressive! Blech!!!
Ashley
If I had access to Internet when my children were young, I could have been easily persuaded to remain a stay-at-home mom and love it. I didn't have strong Christian mentors, so the world swayed my thinking. I was one of those who jumped on Palin's bandwagon, but only because I could/would not vote for Obama. And now I fear Palin will split the Republican party in the next election like Ross Perot did and Clinton won. WE NEED TO PRAY FOR OUR COUNTRY! To stay-at-home moms everywhere: you have my utmost respect. You are preparing your children for adulthood in the world like daycares and public schools never could/would/will! God bless you.
Heartchild, thanks for your post. You explained my reading of Prov. 31 very well. It all comes down to God's calling on an individual's life. Again, "In Essentials, Unity; in Non-essentials, Liberty; in All Things, Charity".
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