A late-night conversation with Grandma

The Dauphin and I spent yesterday visiting with Grandma and Grandpa at the family barbecue. We don’t get to spend as much time with them as we’d like. During our conversation, Grandpa teased me a little about the fact he’d asked to read my manuscript a few weeks before, and I hadn’t sent it to him yet. (Okay, fine, I was chicken: Grandpa used to be a journalist.) I sent them the first three chapters in e-mail earlier today.

Grandma called about half an hour ago to say how much she liked what I’d sent. She’s not necessarily a romance reader, so I was touched and thrilled that she liked it! (Grandpa hasn’t read it yet. Wait till he finds out there are no sex scenes in chapters 1-3.) Mostly, I got a few minutes to talk with her. She told me that one of our cousins was an aspiring diva. We talked a little about what’s happened to live performances of classical music. (They seem to be dwindling.) It was almost ninety degrees again today and I’m in a sweltering house (still), but it was a good thing to sit in the dark and chat with Grandma on the phone.

I hope we will have Grandma and Grandpa with us for years. Someday, they will go, and I will miss them every day for the rest of my life. In the meantime, there’s so much more to say, and I hope I’ll have many more opportunities to say it.

-S

Southern Baptist “scholar” says that women are abused because they don’t submit to their husbands

Ohh, baby. To say I’m a little hot right now would be an understatement, and it has nothing to do with the weather. Thanks to Think Progress blog for posting this. Hey, ladies, did you know it’s your own fault you’re battered by an abusive husband? After all, if you’d just submit to him, it wouldn’t happen, would it?

http://ethicsdaily.com/article_detail.cfm?AID=10675

One reason that men abuse their wives is because women rebel against their husband’s God-given authority, a Southern Baptist scholar said Sunday in a Texas church.

Bruce Ware, professor of Christian theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., said women desire to have their own way instead of submitting to their husbands because of sin. “And husbands on their parts, because they’re sinners, now respond to that threat to their authority either by being abusive, which is of course one of the ways men can respond when their authority is challenged–or, more commonly, to become passive, acquiescent, and simply not asserting the leadership they ought to as men in their homes and in churches,” Ware said from the pulpit of Denton Bible Church in Denton, Texas.

Pardon my graphic language, but I’m sure the above gives any man who wants to silence and subdue a woman with his fists or any other method big-time wood, doesn’t it? She doesn’t have the right to her own opinions, her own money, or her own life. She belongs to HIIIIM, and she’d best remember that!

Marriage is an equal partnership. Abuse from either party is not an acceptable method of dealing with marital disagreements. Then again, in the above sermon text, the good “scholar” seems to believe for some people, it’s standard operating procedure.

One of the things I’ve found most amusing over the years since I left my church is men that camp on the “Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands” portion of Colossians 3, but fail to discuss the next verse. Since I comprehend what I read, I’ll paraphrase. The next verse commands husbands to love their wives (paraphrased) ”as Christ loved the church, and gave Himself up for it”. The last time I checked, dying (physically, or to self,) is an awful lot larger sacrifice than commanding someone else to obey.

Personal to the women of Denton Bible Church in Denton, TX: There is NO excuse for domestic abuse. None. Endorsing these statements from the pulpit by continued church attendance is enabling others who believe hitting and verbal abuse is appropriate behavior because they’re “sinful”. After all, silence is consent.

Personal to the men of Denton Bible Church in Denton, TX: Do you want to be tarred with this broad brush as well? If not, it might be advisable for you to speak up and rebuke the whole idea of “If a woman doesn’t obey me, she gets hit.” Just sayin’.

-S