Braveheart and Little Women

I apologize in advance for this.

PBS's Religion and Ethics Newsweekly reports on Men in Church. Some of my "favorite" quotes, in order but not necessarily contiguous:

"A darkened room. On the screen, a film about Scottish warriors. A movie theater? No. Try Sunday worship. This is the Grove Community Church in Peoria, Illinois, a self-described "men's church." Mark Doebler, the bongo-playing pastor, says Christian men have been "neutered."

I can hear the rush of testosterone now.

"We're not saying that we shouldn't be gentle and humble and serve people. But there's a flip side to that, which says we have to be aggressive in the world when it's appropriate. We are warriors.

Let's not put TOO much emphasis on being aggressive, please.

"I think it's really important to get the guys here because if you get the guys, you get the rest of the family.

Says who?

"Over the years there's been a gradual feminization of a lot of our practices. There's been an emphasis on relationships, nurturing, close-knit communities. Men are into challenge, adventure. Men, especially young men, like conflict and change, and these are the sorts of things that are downplayed in church today.

Speechless.

"The early Christian church was dominated by men.

Does that make it right?

"In other religions, men play a prominent, even dominant role. Christianity has been described as a case of male generals leading an army of women.

Lovely. Well, my combat boots are on.

"Women, by default of men's participation and leadership, have been forced into leadership, and they have simply created an environment that is friendly to them, and they don't understand why men don't want to draw into that.

Women? In Leadership? Where?

"It is so vitally important that men step up as leaders, as husbands, as fathers, and involved in the church itself in leadership positions.

Who is leading the church now if not men and not women?

"The real challenge here is not calling men back to the church. It's calling churches back to men. We need to create the types of experiences where men can come alive.

Aside from playing Braveheart in Church.

**********************

And the clincher:

"Some mainline churches are starting to reassess their practices, asking, where have the men gone?"

Oh, they all went to have sexually satisfying conversations with their heterosexual male assistants.

It's just us submissive Little Women here.

*Sigh*

In light of recent events, I'm just a little testy and sarcastic about this....Oh wait, that's just hormones. Please excuse me, I need to adjust my panties. They seem to be twisted.

Anyone care to comment?