Obama, Palin, and the Complementarian-Egalitarian Debate by Mark L. Strauss

Even if you hate politics, it’s hard to deny that the race for the White House is going to make for entertaining theater over the next seven weeks.

Having a young, articulate, dynamic African-American on the ticket would be enough to make this an interesting and exciting election. One of the most telling moments of the campaign for me was to see the faces of African-Americans—especially children and young people—when Barack Obama was nominated at the Democratic National Convention. Whatever their political views, there were obvious feelings of pride and relief. There was a palpable sense that perhaps the abiding legacy of slavery, segregation and prejudice could actually be overcome in America. Maybe it really was true that anyone, whatever their race, color or background, could rise to the highest office in the land.

White evangelicals who don’t understand this sense of pride and joy (“But he’s so liberal!” they say) don’t realize how much their own worldview affects the way they see the world. It reminded me of the day the verdict was given in the first O.J. Simpson trial. Whites were generally shocked and dismayed that this “obviously guilty” man was let off. But most blacks I saw expressed relief and even joy. The innocence or guilt of one man was almost irrelevant compared to the history of injustice, oppression, and prejudice (even lynchings) that characterized so much of white-black relations in this country. To see that cycle broken—whether justly or not—brought a sense of relief.

So having an African-American so close to the highest office in the land makes this a landmark election—no matter what your political views.

Then came Sarah Palin. Now the race is about both race and gender. It is not just that Sarah Palin is a woman—though that is significant enough. It is that she is a very conservative, traditional-values woman. And suddenly the world seems to be turned upside down. I have heard left-leaning feminists say that this woman, with five children, a Down’s Syndrome baby, and a pregnant seventeen year-old daughter needs to be at home caring for her family, not out on the road stumping. Then I hear traditional-values focused-on-the-family conservative evangelicals saying “Sure she can have it all: family, career, politics.”

Someone recently directed me to the CBMC (Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood) website. CBMW is the most influential complementarian organization among evangelicals. (Complementarians believe that God has ordained distinct roles for men and women in the church and the home. Men are to assume leadership roles while women take on more supportive and nurturing roles. Egalitarians, by contrast, believe that in the new age of salvation inaugurated by Christ, the roles of women and men are based entirely on giftedness and not on gender. [I consider myself a moderate complementarian, or perhaps a “complegalitarian.”])

I was interested to see on the CBMW website several articles discussing the “Sarah Palin predicament,” with titles like “Does Sarah Palin present a Dilemma for Complementarians?” Can those who argue that God has created men for leadership and women for supportive roles still support Sarah Palin for a position that could well lead to the most powerful leadership position in the world (and leadership over millions of males!)?

Questions one article raised are these: “Can a woman preside over the Senate but not teach a Bible study for men? Do complementarians really believe that a woman could lead a country but not a local church?” The general consensus of these articles is that the Bible’s commands about men and women apply only to the church and the home, not to civic or any other leadership positions. This is not about leadership per se, and about spiritual leadership.

This, of course, raises many new questions. If men are not created by God for leadership in general (which I always thought was a bedrock of complementarianism), then why did God establish them over the church and the home? Are they more spiritual than women? Do they have better discernment in spiritual things? Or is this simply a choice God made regardless of physical, emotional or spiritual make-up? History is full of statements (by males!) about the inherent intellectual, moral and spiritual superiority of males over females. Modern complementarians do not hold to any of this, but still claim the spiritual authority of husbands over wives and of men in the church.

If nothing else, the inevitable assumption of women to the highest positions in the professions, in business, and in government, will certainly liven the complementarian/egalitarian debate. Sarah Palin can be thanked in part for that.

Fascinating stuff. I just hope I can keep my mind on my research and off the TV and the political websites over the next two months.

Mark L. Strauss (PhD, Aberdeen) is professor of New Testament at Bethel Seminary in San Diego. He is the author of numerous titles, including Luke in the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary series and Four Portraits, One Jesus.

Comments

[Craig Blomberg]

Well put, Mark. When Bob Jones III publicly endorsed Mitt Romney during the primaries, I realized that this election really was going to be about politics, not religion, which, from one point of view is as it should be. But who would ever have imagined the leader of true Christian separatist fundamentalism backing a "cult member" (as he would see it) for president! So complementarian Republicans who think McCain-Palin is the better ticket on political grounds should vote for them irrespective of anyone's gender or race on either side. White Democrats feeling the same way about Obama-Biden should do the same on their side.
What's sad, as both Ron Sider and David Gushee have articulately outlined in books published earlier this year, is how few American evangelicals truly recognize the full range of issues God is concerned about and how if you put them altogether you don't get classic Republican or classic Democratic party platforms. Fortunately, my Republican parents taught me never to just pull the lever or press a button and vote a straight ticket but to examine each race and each issue on its own merits. But that of course is more difficult--one really has to study, take risks, realize how little information the public has access to, pray hard, give it your best shot, and expect good friends not to understand!

[Daniel Radke]

Very fascinating discussion, thanks! I've got a question for you - if a person wanted to learn more about the Complementarian-Egalitarian Debate, what are some good sources to go to?

[Pat]

To the first part of your commentary on Obama, I say a resounding "AMEN!"

[Mark Strauss]

Daniel,

The best and most balanced presentation of both views in one volume is Two Views on Women in Ministry (Zondervan, 2005). Interestingly, it is co-edited and has contributions from Craig Blomberg, the first respondent to this blog. Small world, huh?

Mark

[Molly]

Fantastic post. You hit on the issues well. Indeed, the gender-and-faith discussion reverberating from Palin's VP nomination adds a welcome dynamic and forces the conversation about gender roles out into the bright sunshine.

[JohnFH]

Mark,

Thanks for a balanced and sage post. On my blog, I have written a lot on comp-egal issues. I challenge some of the assumptions of both "biblical" comps and "biblical" egals.

I also wrote a series of posts on Jeremiah Wright and Trinity UCC, the Obama family's spiritual home for many years. I make some points about Obama's faith journey that complement things you say.

I recommend the blog entitled
complegalitarian, which struggles mightily to be a safe place for both comps and egals to dialogue.

[Don]

I think this is the "year of living dangerously" for both major political parties in terms of their prez/VP tickets and this reverberates into other fora, shaking things up.

I think NO ONE is really sure what is going to happen now and WHY and THAT is scary.

[Paul Adams]

Of course, Rebecca Merrill Groothuis' blog should be given careful consideration as well. You may find her at Men and Women: Leaders Together.

[DeAntwan Fitts]

Great provocative post! I guess both sides will have to wrestle with some things. The strong conservatives with a mother of a special needs child leaving the home and the extreme left wing liberals with not supporting a female VP