Responding to the ‘Palin predicament’
September 18th, 2008In an article for USA Today, David Gushee criticized conservative evangelicals for their support of Sarah Palin, suggesting that by supporting her for vice president, complementarians were somehow being inconsistent.
Two articles I’ve come across adequately refute Gushee’s arguments. See what Denny Burk and the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood have to say.
UPDATE: Andreas Köstenberger also has written a response to Gushee’s article, in which he addresses this question: “Is it appropriate for Gushee to seek to ridicule, or at least embarrass, his brothers and sisters in Christ on the pages of a national newspaper for their ‘archaic’ beliefs?”
UPDATE #2: And now Richard Land has responded to Gushee and others who are similarly wrong.
Heh, I was wondering when Dr. Gushee was going to comment on the Palin phenomenon. I kinda expected him to take this angle. While I think arguments from Voddie Baucham (big debate over at Said at Southern) do have some merit to warn complementarians about potentially undermining biblical manhood and womanhood by being vague on the issue, I don’t think either Baucham or Gushee is correct in their charge of complementarian hypocrisy.
It is amazing to me how many are blurring the lines between church and government in an attempt to discredit Palin.
There are theological, historical and practical differences between the two that are quite significant.
We are electing a president/vice-president, not a pastor.
the argument is a simple argument to make as a portion of the evangelical powers that push their way into the political system need to just get over it, if they actually have a problem with a female in government leadership. but, for many those lines are not so clear and both church and state are one in the same for them.. it is then that they do have the issue to deal with.. for themselves.
it reminds me of a fundamental mega-church pastor in my town who criticized our governor for sending out christmas cards with a replica of an original piece of art he painted of a muslim woman.. they were not official governors office cards, his personal cards, and christmas cards are not biblical.. and nor is the governor a spiritual advisor to anyone but his own family and friends. so why the issue? i don’t know, but he (and his fans) made it an issue.
i come from a tribe that has no problem with women in leadership and we can count both high ranking democrats and republicans on our membership. so i doubt you would hear anything but ‘really, that’s an issue?’ from my tribe.
Update posted, with a link to another article of interest.
Another update posted.
Thanks for keeping up with this story, Tim.
I do find it rather odd that one of my co-workers has said she does not believe a woman is authorized/qualified to be the pastor of a church, yet my co-worker is firmly supporting Sarah Palin for (vice) president.
I don’t get it, really.
Can women lead, or not?
Di,
Did you read the articles I linked to? They answer that question pretty well.
The short answer is, there are different guidelines for leading a church and leading in other contexts. The Bible prohibits a woman from being a pastor of a church. It does not prohibit a woman from holding civil authority.
I know what the articles say.
What do people who post here think about it?
I’m wondering how those who are so upset with Palin have arrived at their thoughts. The people that are so into the separation of church and state to the extent that they want the church to stay strictly within the walls of the church are usually the feminists also; now they are the ones picking on a woman for stepping outside the home.
I think anyone upset with Sarah Palin over “stepping outside the home” is grasping at straws, really. That’s a very poor excuse to criticize her, in general.
Ideally, a family with children would have one parent — could be the mother, could be the father — at home with the kids the majority of the time.