The extreme, base conclusions I made were solely generated from my viewpoint of RADICAL feminism, not modern feminism. Hopefully that clears up any confusion I may have caused. However, any movement that’s not christocentric could easily go to those kinds of ugly extremes, even movements that claim to be godly. That’s the point I was trying to make.

I would love to read your article! I’m not a military spouse, but I served 8 years in the Air Force as an officer! There are many young ladies and gentlemen that I’ve met during my assignment with ROTC that need a good, balanced viewpoint to lean upon when they are having difficulties adjusting to being the spouse of a military member.

Once again, thank you for the discussion! I learned quite a bit, and I appreciate you taking the time out to draw out the crux of these matters! Be blessed!

Harriets last blog post..Acorn to Oak Tree…I want to be a Legacy!

Let me set the record straight…I LOVE discussions like this, and I’m all for learning from others, so in no way was there an air of me being defensive. I’m not a genius by any stretch of the imagination, and much of what I’ve learned has not only been in the classroom, but through discussions like what we are having. Being defensive is counterproductive.

That said, my apologies for getting under your skin. That certainly is not my intention.

In a nutshell, you asked if abuse was a sufficient enough reason to get divorced. I believe I touched on it briefly, but since I didn’t make it clear, I am in no way supportive of a woman remaining with a man (or vice versa) who puts her life or the lives of her children (or vice versa) in jeopardy. Furthermore, let’s be real…what GOD put together, let no man tear asunder, right? I can’t honestly say that every marriage out there was created in heaven. Some people get married on whims and flights of fancy that don’t last very long, because its foundation was built upon shaky ground.

As far as our discourse on feminism is concerned, I think the radical feminism issue I spoke about should not have been a parenthetical statement. By the way, if you allow me to digress a moment, I really appreciate you calling me to task in brining my viewpoints much more clarity. After reading your responses, I can see where I could have stated things differently to make them more understandable. Your commentary has sharpened me in many ways. I appreciate you!

To be continued…

Harriets last blog post..Acorn to Oak Tree…I want to be a Legacy!

http://www.militarysos.com/forum/showthread.php?t=339682

I hope I answered all of your questions thoroughly, and as always I await your reply. I reading other about other perspectives because it allows me to step out of my own admitted tunnel vision.

okay I found the links:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=102790323170#comments
This is the original post, and where you can find the commentary from men as well.

http://www.militarysos.com/forum/showthread.php?t=339682

I hope I answered all of your questions thoroughly, and as always I await your reply. I reading other about other perspectives because it allows me to step out of my own admitted tunnel vision.

“If I’m wrong, let me know, but in some ways, it seems as though you are implying that being a feminist is a bad thing.” I am feminine, but not a feminist. I agree with equal pay for equal work. I agree with a woman being safe from foolishness like sexual harrassment and discrimination based on gender. What I DON’T agree with in the feminist movement (radical feminism, that is) is the marginalization of men. I don’t agree that in order to get my way as a woman, I have to make a man feel like a little boy.

Every movement comes with an inherent responsibility towards BALANCE. There are many ways in which Fundamentalism in Christianity has done much more damage than good. It has caused many to approach situations like the one we see with Mr. McNair with contempt and condemnation rather than love and self-reflection. I have issues with that. I also have issues with a feminine movement that would–and please pardon my banter, but this is the best way I can think of to state it–require a woman to cut off a man’s testicles and wear them around her neck as a prized trophy. I have issues with trying to make a man feel less than a man just so I can feel like more of a woman (hear me roar).”

Every movement comes with an inherent responsibility towards BALANCE. There are many ways in which Fundamentalism in Christianity has done much more damage than good. It has caused many to approach situations like the one we see with Mr. McNair with contempt and condemnation rather than love and self-reflection. I have issues with that. I also have issues with a feminine movement that would–and please pardon my banter, but this is the best way I can think of to state it–require a woman to cut off a man’s testicles and wear them around her neck as a prized trophy. I have issues with trying to make a man feel less than a man just so I can feel like more of a woman (hear me roar).”

Okay finally getting to the last portion of your reply. Based upon your assessment of the feminist movement I would strongly suggest you educate yourself about the background of the movement, and speak to other modern feminists, before coming to such extreme, base conclusions. I think you hit a good point in your first paragraph, you said that your issue is mainly with Radical Feminism, but then you made a generalization later about the feminist movement as a whole. The feminist movement isn’t about cutting off a man’s testicles just to make me feel like a stronger woman. Crazy enough, I recently wrote an small essay about the feminist woman, and emasculation of men, and I posted it on my facebook page, as well as on a military spouse blog that I belong to. I will gladly send you a link as soon I can find it. The note prompted a very a detailed and enlightening discussion between the sexes about modern relationships, and if the phrase “Letting a man, be a man” is antiquated or if it was relevant. I was surprised by a lot of the mens responses to the notion of emasculating a man in a relationship.

Every movement comes with an inherent responsibility towards BALANCE. There are many ways in which Fundamentalism in Christianity has done much more damage than good. It has caused many to approach situations like the one we see with Mr. McNair with contempt and condemnation rather than love and self-reflection. I have issues with that. I also have issues with a feminine movement that would–and please pardon my banter, but this is the best way I can think of to state it–require a woman to cut off a man’s testicles and wear them around her neck as a prized trophy. I have issues with trying to make a man feel less than a man just so I can feel like more of a woman (hear me roar).”

Okay finally getting to the last portion of your reply. Based upon your assessment of the feminist movement I would strongly suggest you educate yourself about the background of the movement, and speak to other modern feminists, before coming to such extreme, base conclusions. I think you hit a good point in your first paragraph, you said that your issue is mainly with Radical Feminism, but then you made a generalization later about the feminist movement as a whole. The feminist movement isn’t about cutting off a man’s testicles just to make me feel like a stronger woman. Crazy enough, I recently wrote an small essay about the feminist woman, and emasculation of men, and I posted it on my facebook page, as well as on a military spouse blog that I belong to. I will gladly send you a link as soon I can find it. The note prompted a very a detailed and enlightening discussion between the sexes about modern relationships, and if the phrase “Letting a man, be a man” is antiquated or if it was relevant. I was surprised by a lot of the mens responses to the notion of emasculating a man in a relationship

okay I found the links:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=102790323170#comments
This is the original post, and where you can find the commentary from men as well.

http://www.militarysos.com/forum/showthread.php?t=339682

I hope I answered all of your questions thoroughly, and as always I await your reply. I reading other about other perspectives because it allows me to step out of my own admitted tunnel vision.

Even though I found your reply slightly on the defensive side, I completely understand. I actually thought of this as soon as I posted. As a Christian woman I often have to do the same things with others. Nowadays, mixing modern relevance subjects with texts such as the Old Testament is a must in communicating to others who are not familiar with Christian workings.

Thank you Harriet for your very detailed response. I’m going to try and answer all your questions and clarify a few things in the process.

“Once again, the point of view I’m coming from is strictly a biblical one. God HATES divorce. There are certain instances in the Bible and in modern day where it is necessary (children in jeopardy, abuse, adultery just to name a few), but overall, the institution of marriage was the FIRST one God created, even before He created the church. So although I’m glad there are laws in place to allow two consenting adults to do what they want to do, I still don’t agree with it from a BIBLICAL worldview.”

I am a christian woman as well, with her own crazy, convoluted past. I can see, from a biblical standpoint why you have your outlook. In my opinion, however, God doesn’t want us to be miserable and abused as well. I don’t think that a person should stay in a marriage if they are constantly being mistreated and disrespected either, or if they have tried every avenue that they could and nothing worked. Sometimes people need to go their own ways. Now, I have a question for you, you say that from your standpoint, which is strictly a biblical one, that you do not believe in Divorce, because God hates divorce. You touched on this briefly in your last paragraph, and you did admit in modern days it’s good that consenting adults can do what they want. When it comes to situations such as an abusive marriage, do you believe that the two couples should stay together then? The reason why I ask this ad nauseam is that your are looking from a strictly religious standpoint. It’s just that I see a flaw in not necessarily your thinking, but looking at marriage from a specific biblical standpoint. It seems too extreme, especially because marriages are often complex and grey, not necessarily black and white. I’m curious to see what you think of this.