So, I ran across this article on Sharper Iron. I don't really like that website much. A lot people spend way too much time bickering over ridiculous things on there. Anyways. I agree with some of it but disagree with a lot of it.
I mainly disagree with her tendency to relegate women to motherhood. She doesn't clearly address what single, widowed, or infertile women are supposed to do. I really don't think having children is the most important job of a woman. It is an important job, but I think it ties with other important jobs like caring for the needy, mentoring young women, teaching, etc. Too many women use motherhood as an excuse to avoid serving others.
Maybe my views will change slightly if I have children someday. My mom, who had four children, agrees with most of my points, though. I just want to make sure I'm a well-balanced mother someday. I don't want to be so selfishly wrapped up in my family that I don't see those in need.
What do you think?
Melissa- thanks for engaging the conversation. Sorry I just now saw your repost and wanted to clarify a few things.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that motherhood is not an exclusive calling and feel that it is a misuse of the text for anyone to imply that it is. If we force women to that, we must do the same for men in the case of fatherhood. And quite frankly we don't.
Still I believe that the text is clear that motherhood is A calling and one that most married women will end up pursuing. My main goal in the article was a literary analysis of the text in reference to the rest of I Timothy - in that sense, I was limited in how many angles I could pursue. I would LOVE to follow it up with a piece that delves into the practical implications of the issues you raised, namely infertility, singleness, etc.