Friday, June 12, 2015

Is feminism a sin?

No, don't be silly. However, some unbalanced fellow made the following statement to me, perhaps thinking he was "speaking the truth in love":

I have to say, I used to listen to what you would post, but ever since you drank deep from the feminist well of delusion, interacting with you has become increasingly fruitless. So let me say it clearly:

You are in the wrong. Your church condemns feminism, and you should probably confess and repent - but I am not your priest.
First, it is blatantly false to claim that the Church condemns "feminism". Feminism is a rather broad movement, and while the Church disagrees with aspects of some strands of feminism, it cannot be said to condemn it as a whole. Show me the anathema!

Second, I would be surprised if he could find any public comment where I identify as a feminist. This is intentional for a couple reasons: one of them is to avoid having to deal with people like this.

Third, it is not possible to find any public statement where I dissent in any way from the revealed dogmas on sex, gender, etc. This is intentional for one reason: I do not.

Anyway, so I asked for substantiation of his grave accusations. He brought out a couple of comments. The first quoted from an article that was being discussed, the quote basically asked people to consider how privilege makes a difference in their lives, the history of their communities, and how diverse their everyday life is. The second was telling somebody who is not one of those anti-feminists/anti-"SJW"s to avoid feeding into that negativity even if he doesn't identify as a feminist and opposes some things about feminism as well as explaining that feminism is not a dirty word. Therefore, even if he disagrees, he should be careful about playing along with those are, in essence, crapping on the term. The justification provided for how this dissented from church dogma was the following:
  1. "Privilege" is a neo-Marxist concept and is a common tactic used by feminists. (therefore I am a feminist, or at least a Marxist, and therefore dissenting from the Church?)
  2. Discussing racial and gender differences goes against the Apostle Paul who says there is neither male nor female, neither Jew nor Greek.
  3. Discussing privilege is intrinsically, in the end, about envy, which is a sin.
The first point is simply laughable. The second is exactly the opposite of the intent: we are to be one in Christ, so our failure to be one is a sin. Noticing the ways in which we fail to eliminate these differences is then a mandatory exercise. This is also then the context of the third point. Also, I am a member of the privileged class trying to listen to other voices - I am not envying anybody in this exercise and the people I hear don't sound like they envy me. They are tired of being ground up in this system and tired of being ignored (among other things).

I am well aware of my many failings, but trying to treat women like human beings isn't one of my sins. My failures to do so are.