Individual Interpretation of Laws

NO, legal standards are not limited to the determination and the interpretation of the individual. This is a very secular humanist idea, implying that there is no higher code of morals or laws that we must subscribe to, and that each man is on his own to determine how he lives his life. However, we are not independent beings. We rely on others for our well-being, emotionally, physically, mentally, in every way. On a personal, relational level, on a social level, on a national level, even in the simple sense that all mankind shares a bond based off of the fact that we all share our humanity. WE cannot live alone, and this idea of self-dependence and the choice of doing whatever anyone may feel is right or what they want to do completely isolates human beings. We become little islands of our own moralities, our own rights and wrongs, and our own truths, and slowly drift away from all other people, all on their own little islands. Even postmodernists, who believe that there are no absolute truths, believe that we are responsible to the communities which we live in and must allow ourselves to be influenced by them. From a Christian perspective, we certainly do not have the power and right to determine legal and moral standards on our own. We are bound to those standards that God has laid out for us in the Bible, and the moral code that is innate in all human beings. Furthermore, if each person felt unbound by moral and legal codes, chaos would ensue. We are not perfect beings, and we need to be held responsible by something other than ourselves.

Law--where does it come from?

While, logically, governments are the ultimate authority for creating laws, this is a loaded question. The laws laid out by our governments, such as tax laws, driving laws, labor laws, etcetera, are the governments teritory, and rightly so. Without a goverment that is prepared to and does make laws for the citizens in their territory, all hell would break loose. Ideally, a society could survive without laws, and everyone would live in harmony-a utopia. However, we as humans are innately sinful and could not possibly support the moral infrastructure necessary for such a utopia to survive. (Sidenote: this is why communism is impossible, foolishly idealistic, and entirely corruptible.) So, we rely on government to provide day-to-day peace and unity in our society through laws. However, where this question gets debatable is when we expand the idea of laws to include moral laws. I personally believe, as a christian, that we are all held to a higher moral law, laid out in the Bible. The Bible itself even states that we are not to obey government when it tells us to do something that goes against what the Bible has instructed us to do. Thus, the government should not be considered the highest form of lawgiver--that trait is God's and God's alone. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with governments providing laws to keep order in society, we must adhere to the laws given by the highest being in our entire universe, world, everything-the Lord God.

Feminism in Christianity

As a Christian, the most important thing to remember is that all are equal in the eyes of God. Galatians 3;28 says "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." God views men and women of equal spiritual worth. Feminism tries to combat an inequality of the genders in society, an inequality which results not from biblical teaching but as a result of man's fallen nature. Men and women are equal, but the major issue with feminism is that feminists try to argue that men and women are the SAME, which they most certainly are not. I need not go into crude physiological differences, but those are the first clues to the fact that men and women are different. Hormones such as testosterone and estrogen give us disposition and personality differences, repsonsible for increased agression in men and a nurturing instinct in women, and the roles of mother and father further the stereotypical characteristics of men and women.
Feminism is defined by feminist theologians Letha Scanzoni and Nancy Hardesty as “a belief in and commitment to the full equality of men and women in home, church, and society." The bible, however, does not ofer equal opportunity to women. The most prominent example is that women are not to be pastors or priests. So, no, the Bible does not promote complete equality of men and women regarding their opportunities. But men can't be mothers, so what's so wrong with women not being priests? We are different beings with different natures, and if it is God's plan to lay out our roles for us as he has in the Bible and in his creation, who are we to question that? Feminism tends to look blindly at the societal problems with equality and generalize all dissimilarities as politically incorrect, just as the denial of women's voting and education was. However, feminists have taken it simply too far. No, women cannot do all the things that men can do (just as men cannot do all the things that women can do), but women are not oppressed. Feminism calls us a minority, when we are half of the population. They call us oppressed, when we have plenty of opportunity and all the things necessary to a very comfortable lifestyle. They call us objectified, when we do similar things to men and often place ourselves in that position. Feminism portrays women as an unwilling victim, a view that is skewed and innacurate.
As a christian, we should support justice in our society, and if women are truly being oppressed we should do all that is in our power to stop it. However, we should also remember that the Lord gave us specific roles in society that differ based on gender, and that men and women are not the same. However, all are equal in the eyes of god--and that's what truly matters, right?

Sexist? Homophobic?

Some claim that the Bible propagates sexism and homophobia. First, I'll tackle the sexism charge. According to dictionary.com, sexism is "attitude or behavior based on traditional stereotypes of sexual roles" and "discrimination or devaluation based on a person's sex, as in restricted job opportunities; especially such discrimination directed against women." In all honesty, according to the first definition, the Bible does teach sexism. From the very beginning, man and woman have had their differences. Genesis 1:27 says "So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." From the very outset, it is evident that man and woman were not meant to be one and the same. Otherwise, they would not have been distinguished as man and woman. Now that we have determined that there have been differences between male and female since the outset, let's discuss the formation of stereotypes. Women, as the givers of life in the form of childbirth, are assumed to be nurturing and maternal, since their role as mother is intrinsic in their biological makeup. Men, since biologically women are assumed to tend to the children because of their role as mother and the already close bond they have with said children because of the process of childbirth, thus assume the responsibilities such as hunting and gathering and providing for the family. These two major stereotypes are the foundation for much of modern-day stereotyping of gender, and the Bible supports these traditional ideas. However, this form of sexism in the sense that women and men hold different roles is not just a biblical perspective, it is a biological and historical one, and I see no fault in differentiating between the genders beyond simple anatomy.

On to the second definition, which defines sexism as a derogatory view that imposes limits on people socially because of their gender, I have to argue in favor of the fact that the Bible does NOT teach this. While the Bible does identify certain things a woman cannot do (e.g. 1 Corinthians 14:34 "Women^{a]" style="line-height: 0.5em; ">[a]} should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says."), the Bible does NOT devalue women or discriminate against them. Yes, the Bible does not give men and women the same roles, but it is because, as previously stated, men and women are not the same and they never have been. In fact the Bible portrays some wonderful, strong women who do God's work unbridled by their sexuality. Take Romans 16:12 for example: "Greet 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. " IN 1 Corinthians 11:8-9 and 11-12, the overarching view of sexual roles in the Bible is spelled out: "For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man..... In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God."

Now, onto the claim that the Bible teaches homophobia. Homophobia, by definition, is "unreasoning fear and antipathy towards homosexuals and homosexuality." This is a dicey topic, since the Bible demonstrates GREAT antipathy towards all sin, and thus great antipathy towards the sin of homosexuality. However, homosexuality as a lifestyle and a persona did not exist in the time of the Bible. The only homosexuality discussed and damned in the Bible is homosexual intercourse. Take Leviticus 18:22, which commands "Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman, that is detestable." Or Romans 1:26-27, which says "Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men,received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion." So, the Bible is "homophobic" in the sense that it demonstrates antipathy for the sexual intercourse between homosexuals. However, there is no basis for fear or derision of homosexuals in today's society in the Bible beyond their sexual promiscuity, which is a sin many heterosexuals succumb to. Any fear or discrimination of homosexuals by the church or Christians beyond considering their sexual trysts sinful is NOT Biblically based and is a misrepresentation of the teachings of the Bible.