Driscoll Stealing Women's Voices

There is already a post on here concerning the stealing of Grace Driscoll's voice by her husband Mark Driscoll. And I have expressed elsewhere my concern over Mark stealing the voices of other women through his misguided attitude and doctrine.

Here I'm going to link another example of Mark stealing the vibrant and important voices of women from God, from His church, from their husbands and children, and from themselves.

First a few quotes from the link to whet your whistle.

Jessica Abrams: "What was I taught about the image of a godly woman? She prays, learns the bible, submits to her husband, running most decisions past him. Her life is dedicated to God, her husband, children and if there is time, other interests. She cooks, cleans, supports, encourages and serves. On a whole, she is entirely non-offensive. She doesn’t stir the pot, doesn’t speak out of turn, always weights her opinions against those of her husband and church. This was my experience."


Jessica Abrams: "She is, in essence, in the background, out of the way, playing a supporting role in the lives of others. This is called, by some, godly and good.
So the question is, how is this woman going to make an impact with her life, mobilizing her unique passions, abilities and insights, if she has passions and talents outside of the home, but is cast in a supporting role?"

Jessica Abrams:"In my opinion, the impact of the woman I was called to be was limited within it’s definition. And that is a big problem.
It’s a problem on many levels.
On one level, it is a problem because it sets up a system where the relevancy of her opinion is dependent on the approval of a male.....  It also set’s up a spiritual hierarchy wherein men are more capable of discerning whether or not something is good or beneficial. ."


Jessica Abrams: "On another level, her fundamental dignity and worth as someone who bears the image of God is being suppressed."
On this one please go to the article and see how she 'hashes' this out. It is very good. If you get a chance to go to the linked article, please do so.

The last quote from Jessica Abrams that I want to give actually occurs earlier in the article but I believe that it is a good stopping place for us:
"Our pastor spent the next few years detailing among other things, what it meant to be a godly man and woman, not just from the bible, but also from his personal assessment. Rather than challenging us to ask these formative questions of ourselves, he filled in the blanks and gave us the answers. And in accepting these answers and trying to conform to this very specific image of what it meant to be a godly woman, I gave something valuable away. I gave up the messy task of wrestling with life and finding myself through that and gave myself over to a tidy answer that sounded good."

Here is the link to this informative, first hand experience driven blog post by Jessica Abrams: On This Woman's Day

I have given several good quotes from her article, but in order to get the full impact and the grace that she delivers her message, again, please go to the original article in the link.