No awards, but explanations of world wide weirdness would be nice, right?

Well, after updating yesterday's entry to prove that I have a conscience of some sort, today I thought I'd rant a while.

Whilst spelunking through the news, I saw two articles that made me kind of angry.

Please note: I am not one to NORMALLY get all riled up about sexism. I'm not sure why other than I enjoy watching two people fight when they're both riled up with a good old mad feeling boiling between them.

But when I read these two articles, I was really quite honked my own bad self, so I think I'll discuss them today.

If you click here and here, you will find two articles about a Baptist Church minister in New York who fired one Mary Lambert, a Sunday School teacher after 54 years of service.

Why? Because, according to the article:

"They quote First Timothy Two, 11-14: A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, she must be silent," (Mary) Lambert said, reading from the letter.

If you want to read the selection in full, go here.

Of course, the church board also said there were other reasons and that the Biblical verse cited was only part of the whole picture. This version of the news story states as such. I'm not exactly surprised, but of course the piece of information one latches on to is the Biblical reference.

I am not a Biblical scholar, nor have I ever claimed to be one.

This news item came out at an interesting time, though...my home church (United Methodist Church in Washington, Iowa) is celebrating 50 years of having ordained women in the ministry (as in being an actual preacher at the pulpit).

I have a male and a female rector at the Episcopal church I attend, and they both are great examples on what a daily walk with God should be like (even though there is no one perfect way). D was amazed that female rectors were allowed in the Episcopal church, and adapted to it quite quickly even though he was a "cradle Catholic".

I'm on the education committee at my church, in charge of adult education programs. My mother has been a communion steward AND taught Sunday School, and so has my sister.

In short, I'm used to seeing a woman serve God. I'm used to a Sunday School teacher educate those of the opposite gender. It's not strange or wrong in my eyes. It's a blessing in many ways. There are life issues that require a different point of view for full understanding, and let's face it...each gender has their strengths and weaknesses.

Here's my opinion (and again, it's like a nose - everyone's got one). In spite of what First Timothy says, God is the only one, really, who should judge. To me, a teacher is good at what they do based on the enthusiasm and love for their subject.

In short...plumbing doesn't have a thing to do with it.

PS: Thanks to my good friend Circe, here's another article that will guarantee healthy discussion and the potential for freezing cold shoulders this evening. Click here to go there.