Having just read a copious amount of comments on the blogsite referred to in the last post, it occured to me that often what is assumed by the word equality is not necessarily the correct usage or meaning. The dictionary definition is simply ‘being equal’ or ‘the state of being equal’. If we truly believe that all people are equal in God’s eyes then a lot of the debate would cease.
Much of the rhetoric and defense is about women wanting to be equal to men as though that is the benchmark of a woman’s true worth or position. To see men as the ultimate ideal will only continue the argument that women just want to be able to do/be what men already have the power or position to do/be. This gives fuel to the arguments related to the supposed male and female temperaments and other gender specific typecasting, which ultimately can be used to ‘prove’ that God has made us differently and for different roles. It also gives occasion for the persistent view that man’s sexual ‘needs’ dominate their being which is another insult to God as creator. The ‘equal in being, different in function’ argument is a poor representation of full, true equality which talks of a person’s very being and their instrinsic worth and position. Maybe we should concentrate on being persistent in spreading the good news that God made all humans equal and that it is people who have made distinctions of class, race, gender etc. over the centuries. When we read the Bible with this mindset we see the overall character of God and love for his created people whom he has redeemed so completely. It also helps us to understand any ‘debatable’ passages as we see God’s plan and pattern for all people with no distinctions and separations made by fallible humans.
