New Approach

Yep, I've not posted for two months.

Part of it is because of the Sunday School class that I'm teaching to preteens. It's taking up some of my limited extra time since I'm making artwork and poster boards to help explain my lessons a little better. And I'm really enjoying my class. They are a bunch of bright, active young men and women full of all kinds of intelligent questions and a bit of mischief.

But I've also not written because I need a new approach on talking about SOS.

You see, I've visited the No Longer Quivering site, which led to (more) interaction with people who have been hurt by the Patriarchy/Quiverfull movement and even some interaction with (more) angry women who have been hurt by Christianity in general.
Some of these women are now Atheists.
Others have turned toward one form of Agnosticism or another.
Some still hold onto a form of Christianity while hating the excesses of certain male favoring doctrines that has permeated much of Christendom.

But I've also met those who minister to such women.
One of them said something that I appreciated. I can't quote it word for word. But I'll try to give the gist of it here.

She said that when she speaks with Atheists they say:
"Your Jewish/Christian god is a woman-hating, tribalistic, patriarchal god. It's clearly there written in your bible"
She would say:
"No. My God was trying to work in a woman-hating, tribalistic, patriarchal society."
They would say:
"Stop making excuses. Your god is a woman-hating, tribalistic, patriarchal god as evidence completely there in your bible."

I thought that her laying it out like that was very interesting and it helped me to consider somethings.

If, for sake of argument, God wanted to make an impact on a woman-hating, tribalistic, patriarchal culture and had to entrust His words to men who thought women were, in fact, completely inferior to them and to be subjugated in every respect, even if God did not think that, what would He do? If God knew that these men were simply not capable of comprehending the idea of women being equally the image of God and on an equal footing with men, where would God begin? If He felt women should have rights that men didn't feel like letting women have, how would He start.

God would probably have to ease into it slowly, integrating the concept that men were not only to honor their father (in a patriarchal culture) but that they should also honor their mother who gave them birth, and so on.

Perhaps God would also hide nuggets through out what would become today's Bible for men and women to find that would reveal His true heart for women.
If God is not a woman-hating, tribalistic, patriarchal God, (and I don't believe that He is) where are the Scriptures that say otherwise to counteract the accusations of both Atheist and those who do promote Patriarchy in Christianity?
Do they even exist?
Or are we just making excuses for a God who really does love men more than women?