April 10, 2013
“Jimmy Carter vs. the SBC/Driscoll/Victoria’s Secret—a Sea Change?
Christian Piatt, writing for the Red Letter Christians website, interacts with various paragraphs from former U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s essay about why he resigned from the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) several years ago. The Women’s Press had recently reprinted the article for those who missed it when it was first published, prompting Christian Piatt to use it as a jumping-off point to show specific ways Carter’s concerns about religious and societal discriminatory attitudes and actions toward women must be addressed anew right now. “The first step toward seeing the objectification, other-ization and suppression of women is recognizing the problem still exists,” writes Piatt.
You might also want to read the complete original article written by Jimmy Carter for the British publication, The Observer, which was headlined, “The words of God do not justify cruelty to women.” Carter said his decision to break his lifelong ties with the SBC was difficult and painful but “an unavoidable decision when the convention’s leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that women must be “subservient” to their husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service. This was in conflict with my belief— confirmed in the holy scriptures—that we are all equal in the eyes of God.” It’s an excellent article, well worth reading again even if you read it when it was first published.
