Popular anti-gay Christian pastor Mark Driscoll is no stranger to controversy or saying crazy things (Avatar is a “demonic, Satanic film“), but he managed to piss off a lot of Christians yesterday with a question he asked on Facebook:
So, what story do you have about the most effeminate anatomically male worship leader you’ve ever personally witnessed?
Right… you know, those guys who aren’t macho or manly or What God Wants.
I don’t know if this is supposed to be a knock at gay men or women in general, but his own followers were mad enough that he had to clarify what he meant by “effeminate”:
1: having feminine qualities untypical of a man : not manly in appearance or manner
2: marked by an unbecoming delicacy or overrefinement
That helps.
He also wants Christians to bring other people down by condemning those who don’t act like he does… kind of like that one story in the Bible where Jesus sees an effeminate man and then points and laughs at him.
Classic.
Dianna Anderson at Jesus Needs New PR wrote him an open letter:
I want you to ask yourself this: You are a married man. You have (according to the info I could find) five children, a couple of whom I imagine, by sheer probability, are female. So think of your wife, think of your daughters, and ask this: Is being female a bad thing?
I know the response already: being female isn’t a bad thing for girls, but it’s a bad thing for a man to display female characteristics.
Why?
Because you think being feminine is degrading. You think in terms of hierarchy: women are the Other and men are the default and any crossing between those lines is wrong wrong wrong.
…
… When you say to the men in your congregation, “being womanly is wrong,” the men aren’t the only ones listening. Yes, be bold, preach the gospel (or what you think is the gospel), but be aware: there are others listening, and they are not liking what they hear.
Well put. I’m sure Anderson has a lot of fans on this side of the aisle.
Alright, have fun drawing all the parallels to our own side’s recent sexism issues…