Do my Sisters in Christ feel like you are valued by Christian men?

Question

I'm just curious, because we're all familiar with the image we get (fair or not) of how Muslim women are treated. So my question to you Christian women is: Do you feel valued by Christianity?

Yes, atheists and pagans, this is an open forum, so you are free to post answers...but the opinions I'm most interested in are from the Christian women.

Update: yes, Acid Man. I have read the bible. Thanks for your input, my friend.

Answer 1

I am a Christian, and all my best friends are Christian. Also, many of my best friends (including my husband) are men. I feel I am treated as an equal by every Christian man I know. (Although I sort of have the unique distinction of making friends with guys more easily than with girls; I don't know why that is. I'm the girl that's been known as being "one of the guys.") Even so, all of my male friends treat their wives with just as much respect and dignity as their wives treat them. I am very fortunate to be surrounded with a number of people whose marriages reflect God's desire for marriage.

For example, I know one couple, close friends of mine, in which the wife stays home with the kids (five of them total) all day, while the husband goes to work, in a fairly fast-paced and demanding job. When he gets home from work, he takes the kids and expells her from the house so she can have some time to herself, to go get a cup of coffee with a friend or go grocery shopping (which for us moms is like a mini-vacation without the kids) or whatever she wants for a couple of hours. They don't do all the same things, but there's a mutual respect there, and just because he's the working professional and she's the housewife, doesn't make them "unequal." They have a great partnership.

Answer 2

I love being a Christian, I feel it is defintely the best choice I ever made, and I know it is the right choice. I would not have it any other way. I hope to someday marry a true Christian man and teach our kids to be followers of Christ to. Yes, I do feel valued as a Christian women. (I'm 14 though, but have been a Christian since I was 5 and have grown up in a Christian home.) God loves me and women and men equally, why wouldn't I feel valued?

I'm not sure if that quite answers your question.

Answer 3

they can be honored or dishonored depending on the christian man. some men believe that they are more important than the woman and that the scripture that says man is head over the wife means that the woman is their slave. this is not what that passage teaches and not all Christin men feel that way, but enough of them do to the point that Dr Phill has a show on it.

the bible just puts more responsibility on the man as protector, provider, leader. that is what being the head over the woman means. According to the bible the woman is the weaker vessel not lessor.

Some denominations encourage the belief that women are inferior while others teach equality. So it really depends how they interpret the bible.
BB

Answer 4

Your question actually comes from 2 different angles. Christianity itself, what the Bible actually teaches is a wonderful thing. Women are highly valued and honored. But the practical application is sadly lacking around here.

I went to an amazing church near Seattle where the young men were trained on how to honor their sisters, and I received a ton of healing to my heart, scarred from years of being around other types of guys. Christian young men who know how to treat girls as sisters and care for them as princesses is a wonderful thing. Those are the men who have gained my respect and I would gladly perform the wifely duty of submitting to my husband and respecting his authority in the family.

But, most other places I have been, there is no sign of this type of understanding. Every other church I've been in has the same cruel boys that the world has. I don't feel like they are my brothers, only that they are predators and immature jerks.

Answer 5

Though overall I feel as if I am treated equally there are certain denominations which put me in a position where I feel inferior. There are only two which come right off the top of my head however.

In the Catholic Church only recently has Pope John Paul II changed laws that allowed women to serve in the Church. But even with new openings such as lectures, ushers, and alter servers available to us, there are still many positions, particular those of leadership (deacon, priest, bishop, cardinal, pope) which remain completely prohibited to women.

In the Church of Christ it is considered a sin for women to speak out in church, lead in prayer in front of men, or to teach a Bible class to boys. I attended a Church of Christ school for a couple years and was actually scolded once because I asked if I might lead the morning prayer. I was told that only males were worthy of doing so because women should never be placed in any sort of position of leadership over men and men are supposed to rule men.

Needless to say I left the school. No one has the authority to silence my voice in declaring my love for my savior.

Answer 6

Yes I feel valued as a Christian woman by Christian and non Christian men. I let them know up front that I'm a Christian with morals and standards. If they accept that, then I've made a friend.
To be completely honest, it's when I get on this site that I feel demoralized by the derogatory and hurtful things I read. It makes me sad.

Answer 7

How could they feel valued when their church leaders keep telling them they are no good? They must stay home and in the kitchen. They can go to church but can not take part in the services. And over and over again how much better the men are than they. They even had to wear hats for many years because they were immoral women.....after all they had children so they must have gone to bed with a man.....horrors!

Answer 8

This is a complex, though interesting, question.
I really do not feel that most Christian women that I have
ever known or read about have lived the way Muslim women
are expected to live---in their homes or in public places.

However, though I do believe that there are many wonderful,
loving, compassionate Christian men.......there are those
who use the faith to demean and denegrate women.

Yes, they can use the Bible, by taking verses out of context,
to make it appear that women are to be treated like servants
in their own homes; that they are to wait on their husbands
at all times and have no thoughts, feelings or needs of their
own.

I have a very dear friend who found herself in a loveless
marriage (she and her husband were Christian, at least
he was by denomination, he did not attend nor was he
actively practicing the faith in his lifestyle). He had gone
outside of the marriage with others from their wedding
night.......

It hurt me to see her in such pain. He was cruel and would
say demeaning things to her when I would visit and because
she is my friend it hurt me to see her treated so badly.

She went to a small Christian church just across the
state line and they informed her that if she were a better
wife, and lived what the Bible told her to live, then he would
not have strayed. I was furious. They had no idea what
she had struggled through, and told her something like
that......and so she tried. And tried.....to be "good enough"
to deserve his love---which he was never going to give her
anyway.

And finally, some Mormon missionaries came by one
day and we were talking to them about what she was
told....and they said that she was unequally yoked in marriage
with a non believer and that he was not doing what his
faith called him to do. It freed her; knowing that they
did not blame her took some of the guilt from her....

There are many Christian men (as well as those of many
other faiths, agnostics, atheists, and pagans) who have
no idea what it means to be with just one woman, to be
faithful to one companion...... It is as if their faith touches
all aspects of their lives except their marital unions.

There are many who flaunt their flirting in front of their wives
and daughters and I find that very hurtful to Christian women as well, it
certainly does not go along the lines of spiritual self control
and respect for one's family.

And there are those who victimize their wives by
yelling, cursing, hitting, punching, etc.....and feel it is their
right to "set their wives straight" because they interpret
the Bible as saying it is their right.

In the end, it isn't the religion itself.....it is the people within
the faith, practicing it and not adhering to the tenets of the
faith.

I am curious now---do you feel that you value Christian
women? And do you feel that your Brothers in Christ
value women or disrespect them?

(Of course you do not have to answer).

May God bless you,
Doris
[e-mail]

Answer 9

Personally, I have never felt under valued by the teachings of Christianity.

Proverbs 31 tells us that a the worth of a woman of noble character is far more than rubies. She is strong, dignified, smart, business savvy, and industrious...a true mover-and-shaker.....and she is to be honored and respected.

I have been fortunate in that all of the Christian men I have known in my life, hold women in very high esteem.

Answer 10

Not necessarily, do Christian men value a Christian female.
After all, they're human too. And Subject to ''errors'' of the
Human Flesh.
So-called "Christian-Men'', can just as easily Sexually
abuse another human being (whether man, woman, or child)
just as easily, as a Non-Christian Man can.
Perhaps DHS should start giving legal papers/statements
to Christians...who ''Allegedly....Molest", they give enough
of them to adults, about kids, & taking the kids.
Wonder where we could send Christian Men who do not
"value'' Christian Females.