Cosby, Gender Equality, and the Kingdom of God

This Los Angeles Times timeline shows that for fifty years Bill Cosby lived a lifestyle of repeated and continuous sexual assault of women he drugged. He got away with it because he was successful and made lots of money for other people. (Money often buys silence over moral wrongs in this imperfect world!)

But, as theologian Ed Stetzer points out, it wasn’t until a man, Hannibal Buress, in a video that went viral, said that Cosby was guilty of rape, that criminal investigations moved forward. 

It’s a commentary on how a male-dominated society has for too long taken the testimony of women less seriously than that of men. 

By the way, this also shows how different Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God are from the norms of most earthly societies and institutions: In the first-century Judean world in which Jesus was born, crucified, and raised from the dead, the testimony of women was deemed unreliable and so, inadmissible in disputes. But Jesus chose women to be the first witnesses and preachers of His Easter victory over sin and death! Jesus believed that the testimony of women was at least as credible as that of men; our society has rarely taken this attitude.

The New Testament teaches that in Christ, there isn’t male or female, slave or free, Jew or Gentile. 

I wish that society held men and women in the same equal regard as Jesus, God the Son, does. 

Maybe today’s Cosby verdict says that some in our society are ready to change. If we will trust in the God we meet in Christ, in His will, and in His sovereignty, maybe, finally, things will change for the better. 

Maybe, we’ll collectively turn from the world’s sin and turn instead to the life God only gives through Christ (John 14:6; John 3:16-18; John 10:30) and we will start to see one another as Christ sees all of us, as cherished children of God, each one to be loved and respected equally.

[I'm the pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]

Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan Leave Many in Military Advocating Equality for Women in Combat

This past week, I spent time visiting with a woman who worked at the Curtis-Wright airplane plant in Columbus during World War Two. She wasn't a Rosie the Riveter, but Blanche the Solderer. (I know the designation isn't alliterative. But her name really is Blanche.)

The World War Two experience no doubt planted seeds for the modern Women's Movement, which took off in the 1970s and has resulted in opening so many professions previously closed to women. (Although we have a long way to go in US society, especially in terms of paying women as well as their male colleagues doing the same jobs.)

This article says that the US military's experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq have seen women taking on more combat roles. For traditionalists, especially those outside of the military, this may seem inappropriate. But if a woman can do the job, why shouldn't she be in combat? Our military leaders seem to agree with that sentiment.