Masculinity and Religious Trauma

 In this episode Simon talks about the trauma associated with Evangelical/Christian Nationalists view of masculinity. Men are to be leaders. All men. But if all men are leaders who is in charge? How can an organization move in any direction if every male is his own leader and is fighting for his own agenda? Simon points out some of these obvious flaws in his experience of growing up in a High Demand Church were all males are told they need to be leaders. 

Simon also discusses his unease with the model of leadership presented. In my opinion (Kim's), the type of masculinity Simon's religion exposed him to is not consistent with the teachings of Jesus. Jesus pushed ''servant leadership", where instead of insisting on the honor or being the warrior in the room, he was the one who served. Much of Jesus' teachings upends the society of his time's view of masculinity--talking to women, healing all people including women and foreigners, and riding to Jerusalem on a donkey not a war horse. The challenge of US Christianity is that, the Jesus of the Bible is not a "leader" in the way toxic masculinity wants to insist is leadership. Jesus is not a White Man, or a White Nationalists, he does not conquer the world with power and might. He is not a buff white dude carrying a gun. He is a King who tends to the poor, the marginalized, the underdogs and is critical of wealthy males and the imperial Roman system of government. 

When we talk about masculinity and gender, many high demand churches have gender norms that are taken out of context. In creation, Adam is not a name it is a description. "Adame" means dirt creature.  The dirt creature is neither male nor female and created in God's image. When God separates the dirt creature into two distinct creatures "man" and "woman" sexuality is created. Marriage is created. But over the course of the Bible, men and women when working side by side in agrarian society have equal rights and respect. When Israeli society is more Urban and men are leaving the home sphere there is more tension between men and women, there is less respect for "women's work". This is not the bible saying men are better than or higher than women, this is the Bible showing how society changes and the problems with those changes. In resistance to the men being superior, the creation of "woman" is a term translated as helpmate, but the term is only used one other place in reference to God. 

Always keep in mind that if God wanted man to rule over woman, he could have taken a bone from the dirt creature's foot. If God wanted woman to rule over man he could have taken a bone from the dirt creature's shoulder or head, but God wanted men and women to be equal and walk side by by side so God took a side of the dirt creature to create woman. In the life style that Jesus' models to his followers women are for the first time in history shown as being capable of being friends with men. Shocking? But this is one aspect of the Gospel of John's legacy on monastic communities, where the early church lived out friendship relationships between the genders.

The other thing to think about is to that in this the creation of Adam and Eve God is not male. God is not female. God is both and neither. I do often use masculine pronouns for God, because I am lazy. It's simpler, but God they is more appropriate in this passage especially when the Hebrew word for God is El or Elhoim. El is singular Elhoim is plural. Other terms for God are YHWH (which is a verb, the to be verb and also plural) in much of the Jewish tradition this word is not spoken instead Adonia is said (LORD). 

What does this mean for masculinity and femininity? What does all this mean for gender roles? It means that we do not need to put people into strict categories of what is acceptable to be male or female. We are innately gifted by God, and smart capable women do not need to be subjected to mediocre men. As my mom always said, God gave you a brain and expects you to use it. To artificially limit the brain and gifts given to you by God, is to deny God's intention for your life. Being born female is not secondary to being born male and in the vast expanse of humanity, we are all not cookie cutter people who fit into artificial categories. Use what God gave you, think, learn about how science works, observe, and don't get yourself stuck in a religious group that limits God's creation in your unique self. And mostly God tells us to be servant leaders and peacemakers, not tyrants.