Why would a girl remain a Christian?

Question

FROM THE BIBLE

God is referred to as "Father"
Women are to keep silent in church
The man is the 'head' of the woman
A woman should cover her head
"silly women"
Women lamented only having female children - they viewed it as a curse and God "blessed them" with male children.
Most Christian denominations do not allow women to be in authority over men.

No women priests in any religion! Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, all have a hierarchy with men over women.

Why aren't more women, Atheists, like the incomparable, Ayn Rand?

Or at least intelligent Pagans, like Camille Paglia?

Of course there are scriptures that indicate that Jesus liberated women, Mohammad liberated women - etc, but the fact remains, in the grand scheme, women are suppressed in all the major religions, especially Christianity.

Additional Details

WOW! Johnny!

9 women out of 825 men who are honored!!!

And those women are dubious!

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

I cover my head and do so joyfully.It was my own personal decision. God is the head of all- not man.1 Cor 11 states 5And every woman who *prays or prophesies with her head* uncovered dishonors her head, which means a woman can pray and prophesy as long as her head is covered.Acts 2:18 also says:
Even on my servants, *both men and women*, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they *will prophesy*.

There was several important women prophetesses in the OT:

-Miriam the prophetess, Aaron's sister in Exodus 15:19-21
-Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth in Judges 4:4
-the prophetess Huldah, who was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas in 2 Kings 22:13-15 and 2 Chronicles 34:21-23
-the prophetess Noadiah in Nehemiah 6:13-15
-a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel in Luke 2:35-37

The NT speaks of several important women too:

Romans 16

1I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant[a] of the church in Cenchrea. 2I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many people, including me. 3Greet Priscilla[b] and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. 4They risked their lives for me...6Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you. ...12Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord. 13Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too...15Greet.. Julia, Nereus and his sister.. all the saints with them.

The Bible also commands men to respect women:

1 Peter 3:7
Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, *so that nothing will hinder your prayers*.

NOTE: the above verse states that if a man does not respect his wife, his prayers will be nothing and shall be ignored by God.

Ephesians 5:24-26
24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing[a] her by the washing with water through the word

Colossians 3:19
Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

Men are to treat older men as fathers, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers and younger women as sisters.

1 Timothy 5
1Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, 2older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.

Women can speak in the church and preach.The below verse states that a woman can prophesy as long as her head i9s covered:

1 Corinthians 11
5And *every woman who prays or prophesies* with her head uncovered dishonors her head

Source(s):

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment…

Answer 2

They are scared of dying and nothing happening

Answer 3

Some women prefer to be docile. There are women priests in religions - I've known women who presided over churches as Pastors/Reverends/Ministers and Wicca has many women that are head of their clergy as High Priestesses and Elders.

Answer 4

A girl would remain a Christian the same as a man ... to make heaven. To live the life of a Christian is a privilege. I am a Christian woman and I do not feel repressed whatsoever.

Answer 5

Conditioning & habit..... it takes a brave woman to rebel.... think about arranged marriages, some girls would rather go through this than lose all contact with family & friends (which can & does happen).

Answer 6

Women are not as "Put down" as you imply they are. Deborah, Esther, Ruth, Rahab, Mary, Elizabeth, Mary Magdelene, Zapporah were all women who were honored in the bible in different ways. The ideal for a woman in Proverbs 31 isn't a woman who is subjected by man. I sudgest a re-read and keep in mind the entire context of the Bible.

Answer 7

Maybe they have no desire for power. Different religions work well for different people.

My Mom has been a Catholic for all of her 81 years - and she has never thought it wrong or unjust that women cannot become priests - and she doesn't speak out against the Bible - which does - as you say - put down women. She goes to church - does a LOT of charity work - and lives a comfortable, happy life. Catholicism works for her. she's not a particularly powerful woman in that she wants or desires power - but her love and compassion are very powerful - and she learned of those virtues through her Catholic upbringing. Like I said - it works for her.

My guess is that SOME woman remain in the religions that put them down - because they don't feel put down. They are fine with the place their religion has given them - and find ways to shine other than having authority over men.

Others - sadly - remain in their religions out of fear.

Namaste!

Answer 8

Because it is what they believe? Also, some branches of Christianity have female priests.

Answer 9

"No women priests in any religin!"

Not true. Hinduism has priestesses.

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Women choose to remain devout Christians because of our love for Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Answer 10

The only reason you find these atheistic women so attractive is because their beliefs or lack of rather line up directly with yours.

Christian churches encourage couples to attend together...The women are not separated to their own section to worship..Knowing God as my Father does not repress me in any way, I don't see how it would..

The man is the head of the woman, the woman chooses for herself who that man will be..Most likely it will be one who loves her like Christ loves His church..

You are misquoting Corinthians..Try again..

There are all sorts of female pastors within Christian denominations..You need to get out more. It's not biblical, but they are out there like it or not.

Mohammed took concubines and had women that mocked him murdered..You need to do some more reading before parroting out generalizations about things you obviously haven't taken the time to learn obout..

Answer 11

You need to go re-read the God's ideal woman in proverbs.

This woman was the head of her household. She ruled the roost. She has servants- she is the overseer of the staff. So you can assume she had "nannies" too- so she could be free to handle everything. For it describes her as buying and selling merchandise, and making her own money. She sees to it that the children are being raised properly too.

Her children and her husband call her wonderful... does that sound oppressed to you?

I

Answer 12

Maybe because they get treated better this way. You say the man is head of the woman. Well, for this to work that man must first submit to christ and accept this teaching: as Christ so loved the church, so must a husband his wife. How did Christ show He loved the church? He hung on a cross and died for His bride. This is what a Christian wife with a christian husband can expect.

How about an atheist? All they get is the Homer Simpson's, Al Bundy's, ect of the world where they have to pull more than there fair share and aren't loved as much in return for their effort...

Answer 13

Doesn't it bother your conscience to just lie to people all the time like you do? You and I both know that your claims for such things are inaccurate. And I mean that. Women are NOT oppressed in Christianity. And if you think that you can claim that they are by taking things out of context, you've got another think comin'.

Answer 14

does disagreing with the religous leaders make it untrue completely? Or is it the interpritation of the books that wich needs to be dealt with? I am not a member of any of those religions, but if that is your reasoning for being an athiest, you may want to double check your viewpoint.,

Answer 15

Even women in the Old Testament showed strength and character.

One woman not even mentioned on the following website is Esther. The entire book of Esther is a great read.

Interesting side note: although we see God working throughout the story of Esther, it is surprisingly the only book of the bible that doesn't actually use the word "God" even once! Check it out for yourself!

Source(s):

http://www.ehow.com/how_4495456_find-bib…

Answer 16

Why would a girl remain a Christian? Because Jesus is awesome!
I know the Pentecostal Christian church allow women to be pastors, teachers for adult Sunday school, kids Sunday School, Adult Bible study, ushers, worship leaders, etc... (my church was started by 2 women 50 yrs ago, one of them was the Pastor of the church & the other her sister)
At my church many women are used by God to give messages, they do not have to remain quiet, and the women do not have to have their heads covered anymore, some denominations may but not the Pentecostals or Baptists.

Yes God does say that men are the head but it also says that the man must love his wife just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her (the church). The husband must have Christ as the head. He who loves his wife loves himself.
Too much is being said about religion & churches, it is not about that. It is about having a true relationship with Christ.

Source(s):

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?boo…

Answer 17

I'm female and a Christian by choice.

Yes, God is the Father. So? That doesn't take anything away from me simply because I'm female. ALL females and ALL males have at least one father and one mother. That's just the way it is.

Women kept silent in the church back in Paul's day, a male-driven society, but that is rarely the case today.

The man is the "head" -- it's a figurative way of talking about how men protected women...and taken out of context, you might think it indicates that women are supposed to be subservient, but that's not it at all. The way it's written in the Bible, husbands and wives serve each other equally. There is no "lordship" (or "ladyship").

The part about women covering their heads -- again, you swipe it out of context. The whole passage is about how beautiful women are, and about how their hair is one of their glories (still true today, in case you didn't know), but when the go to worship God, they should cover their heads as a sign of their focus on Him. In our culture, we might handle it differently, although it's still perfectly acceptable for a woman to cover her head.

I'm not sure where you are getting some of these next bits. "Silly woman" -- What? Some women are silly. Not all women are silly. Your point?

Women lamenting female children -- not all women have lamented it. The fact that some did is indicative of either that woman or her family or her culture, but it's not a universal problem.

God blessed them with ALL children, not just male children.

Women in authority over men -- so? In the business world, this is also true for the most part. Have you ever thought about why? It's because most men feel emasculated if they have a woman over them. Should they feel that way? Maybe not, but take it up with the guys.

There are women priests in some forms of Christianity (although I personally have never found it to be successful. My observation is that it leads to mamby-pamby theology and a lack of growth in the church.)

I'm not an atheist because I know God is real. It would be silly for me to pretend He's not. (I used to be an atheist --- I only changed over when I had a very real encounter with the Lord.)

Ayn Rand? Camille Paglia? Hardly my choice for exemplary feminism.

I agree that SOME forms of Christianity suppress women, but in my faith tradition, women are treasured, honored and equal to men.

Answer 18

Don't the women have enough to do? More than enough to fill a lifetime here. By the way, I wonder what Ayn Rand thinks of her philosophy now. I'll bet she was surprised.

Answer 19

there are many Christian denominatons that allow for women teachers.
Quakers
Episcopalians
Methodists
Some Pentacostals.
Wicca has Priestesses and Priests
Buddha did state that women were equal to men and were capable of attaining enlightenment, same as men. there are female Buddhas, Arya Tara and Kwan Yin being two of them.
Women can become nuns, and yes there are female Buddhist teachers.
Don't know much about Islam tho, although Im sure a strong minded Muslimah will enlighten you soon :D

Answer 20

Because she knows the benefits, rights and privileges of being a child of God.

As for the other stuff, to quote one answerer: 'You need to get out more.' You could even stay IN and watch TBN, the Word network or some other Christian channel. You may not realize it, but just about every pastor's wife that you will see or hear about on those channels, or elsewhere, have their own ministry schedules. Joyce Meyer is huge, Gloria Copeland, and her daughter, minster on their broadcast. Taffy Dollar, Delores (Dee Dee) Freeman, and daughters, ... There are many, many others and of course the list is far too long to list here.

The other things that you list "FROM THE BIBLE" with the exception of "Father", are all out of context and are incorrect as you are trying to use them.

Answer 21

It's amazing how the trolls come crawling to attack other faiths as if they are the experts. Who made you the voice of the women of those faith, most certainly not those women!

We live in a patrical society and world. Even at home, it is the man who wears the pants (leads the family). This is true even for your feminist people who boast about equal this and equal that but at end of the day go home and cook dinner for their man and family.

It is ignorant to think that only way someone can succeed or be equal is to be able to lead. Men and women are not equal, not in their make up they are not. They are equal in what rights they are given. Man is not created to give birth nor is woman created to be like an ox. Each is created to compliment the other.

Family itself is an institution, it's the very first institution a child gets introduced to. And every institution needs to have a leader and his people to lead. Man being the breadwinner thru out ages has also been the leader of the family since he takes care of the family needs. Women always have been the home keepers and quite happily too. Ask any working women if she prefer working or enjoy life sitting home and be paid monthly allowance to cover her expenses and needs. You will find that most women would rather have a husban who lets her stay home and gives her an appropriate amount of allowance for her to spend as she wishes, in addition to him paying all the bills and taking care of everything else.

Answer 22

Isaiah 55: 8 & 9.

stop asking "why". It leads nowhere.

Answer 23

"Good girls just lie better"

It's so much fun to lie. Especially when your REALLY GOOD AT IT!

I just got back from youth group. They are all a bunch of immature sex crazed girls, who are absolutely convinced they are going to heaven.

*rolls eyes*

But when your in that sort of situation, and you have a religion to justify anything and everything you do, and you generally don't have to do anything with your life...just get married, who wouldn't want to be a Christian girl? they have it so easy!!!!

Of course when they get old they hate their lives, but they still have it easy even then. But part of having it easy is not wanting what you have. This is known as happiness. (Wanting what you already have)

Source(s):

Personal experience and observation. Please note I don't think this way about every girl, religious or otherwise, so don't say I'm sexist or whatever. This is simply what I've been raised around.

Answer 24

The Bible is partly history. When woman lamented female births...the Bible never said God agreed with the sentiment. God had sometimes answered prayers even when he disagreed with the reason of the petitioner, to fulfil his purpose. God saw a virtuous woman as a priceless treasure, a princess (see name of Sarah). The Bible not only records the love of God for people, it also accurately records the deeds, feelings, and ideas of fallible people that the God of the Bible did not agree with. But in order to know the whole story, the facts were recorded.

When you refer to headship (women covering their head), as in First Corinthians, Paul explains that man is the "head" of women like Christ is the "head" of the church.

In mennonite societies, women keep their heads covered to concretely represent the eternal authority of Christ over the church. Despite the misinterpretations due to pride or ignorance, this has nothing to do with male domination. Women play a very important role in the Christian life because they are the symbolic representation of what a church should be like in response to Christ's love. Paul stresses in marriage that man should behave as a symbolic "Christ" in his role, while women should behave as a symbolic "Church."

For example:

(Women should keep silent...) What would it be like if the Church interrupted God's Son while He was talking?

(...no preaching or teaching or usurping authority...) What would Church be like if the Church told Jesus what to do?

(...Help for man...Genesis) The good church assists Christ in his endeavors: praying(conversing), praise(encouraging), worship(loving obedience).

Imagine what a marriage would be like if a man was kind, sensitive, firm, loving, humble, self-sacrificing, life-providing, patient, father, long-suffering, self-mastered, good natured, peacable, and faithful?

Imagine what a marriage would be like if a woman was kind, sensitve, inquisitive but yielding, encouraging, loving, self-sacrificing, life-sustaining, patient, mother, long-suffering, self-mastered, good natured, peacable, faithful, obedient yet discerning...considering that the husband is still flesh.

Just like a puzzle with missing pieces: a picture is never complete without all the pieces.

Divorce most often occurs when there is a breaking-down in head-ship. Man fails to display characteristics common to Christ, women fail to emmulate characteristics of a good Church, sometimes both at the same time. Correspondingly, a lot of Church splits occur for simiar reasons: proud domination, lack of authority, love-lacking, pursuance of other idols or gods (adultery), mistrust, fear of any authority, impatience, financial woes, dishonesty, disbelief.

Indeed, many of the issues facing Christian churches today are very similar to the ones affecting marriages. So there's little wonder why Paul compared them in his epistle.


Warning: This response was written by a woman! =)

Answer 25

You are wrong on Hinduism.

In Hinduism, though the priest does the main prayers, its the woman who does the pooja [worship] in their family. Women are already said 'the other half of a man'. this is visible in the Lord's appearance in showing half Him and the other half the Goddess.

http://www.lifecures.net/images/ardhnari…

infact there r prayers which only invovles women. please do no generalize Hinduism with the other religions. Hinduism is ultimate.

Imagine, At that time itself, they already said Man and Woman are to work together in order to run the world [thus that image was shown].

Om Namah Shivaya.......

Answer 26

They're simply not aware that the bible speaks of this and then when they find out, they're comfortable and so used to believing in Christianity, and not wanting to cause drama or a fuss with their customs, family, beliefs, they ignore it all just like all the evidence against God.