Contra CBMW: The Secular and the Sacred, Part 2

When we consider the question what feminism is and isn't, we have to remember that because of evil, all things are found in a secular and a sacred form. Food, rest, clothing, even buildings, can be either secular or sacred. Their purpose (i.e., what they are used for) defines the category.

CBMW is certainly correct that there is such a thing as a secular form of feminism. It is an attempt to enter the money-making, me-pleasing world inhabited traditionally only by men. This is the world that seeks the pinnacle where power and money merge, and human rights disappear.

But what CBMW seems to have failed to notice is that there is also such a thing as a sacred form of feminism. This form of feminism seeks to correct social ills through the advocacy of human rights.

Sacred feminism was formed in the middle of the 19th century as women became increasingly aware that the lack of human rights was the cause of their plight. It took women more than a half a century of advocacy to become persons in their own right, and even then it was granted only grudgingly.

When CBMW sees all feminism in terms of women trying to capture power that has traditionally been in the hands of men, it fails to see the tremendous amount of reform work performed by women. And because it fails to see it, it combines the secular and the sacred and calls it all evil, which has had profound implications on how we look at needed reform work and what we consider to be a normal Christian response to evil. A telling example is CBMW's concern about an increase in physical and emotional abuse in the family without the recognition that it is a concern because sacred feminism made it a concern in the first place.

If all Christian women close their doors to the world, who will continue the needed reform work?

The church is the salt of the world (Matt 5:13). If the church loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?

The church is the light of the world (Matt 5:14). If the church hides its light, how can the world see the good works performed by the church?

When CBMW encourages women to busy themselves at home, aren't they doing exactly what they claim secular feminism does? Aren't they encouraging women to discard God's commands in favor of a life that is less challenging, that is more about themselves and their families than a world that needs them? All those women who braved imprisonment, force feeding, ridicule, and beatings, in order to free women from being considered property resemble the apostles more than a housewife whose only concern is to avoid burning the steak.

When we work for freedom for others, we find freedom for ourselves. That is the message of the cross. The message we hear from CBMW is that human rights are not something women need to be concerned about, for as long as they let men be in charge, the world will turn out all right. How ironic then that it was the world firmly in the hands of men, that led to the formation of sacred feminism. Or perhaps it isn't all that ironic; perhaps the reason why CBMW ignores sacred feminism is that sacred feminism doesn't cause social ills, it eradicates them.