Baptist Church Pastor Preaches Against Women’s rights

Pastor Steven Anderson of Faithful word Baptist Church Arizona, support his claims with Biblical passages

American conservative Christian pastor uses the Bible to explain why women should not have the right to vote, the right to work outside the home, or the right to seek a divorce.

In a fiery sermon recently uploaded to YouTube,  Pastor Steven Anderson of Faithful Word Baptist Church rails against women’s rights, while longing for the good old days, when women had no rights.

Pastor Anderson is a staunch Christian extremist with a history of preaching extreme Christian fundamentalism. Pastor Stephen Anderson of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona, has a long history of being blunt and controversial. Not only has he been visited by the Secret Service after a very public prayer in which he asked God to kill Barack Obama. 

Watch the video of Anderson’s sermon:

Pastor Steven L. Anderson of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona has drawn criticism for a sermon uploaded to YouTube on Sunday in which he makes the controversial statement: Women should remain silent in church.

Anderson refers to 1 Timothy 2:11 to establish his claim. "Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection," he reads. "But I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man."

Anderson then flips to 1 Corinthians chapter 14, saying, "Let your women keep silence in the churches for it is not permitted unto them to speak."

By these Biblical passages Anderson develops the argument that women may chat before the service and even sing hymns, but "when it's learning time, it's silence time."

Women doing any sort of preaching, Anderson says, is out of the question. But even more, the pastor believes women should not ask questions, indicate their enthusiasm or even say 'Amen.'

Previously the Arizona pastor has called for the public execution of gays and lesbians which he believe would cure HIV/AIDS, and more recently prayed for the death of Caitlyn Jenner, (Kim Kardashian’s stepfather) the celebrated transgender (former) Bruce Jenner.

Former Olympic athlete and father of the Kardashian clan, Bruce Jenner before his sex change through operation. 

Bruce Jenner, a former Olympic athlete and father of the Kardashian clan, underwent a sex change operation and announced himself/herself to the world under the new name, Caitlyn.

Anderson’s views on women have also garnered him some attention. Rather than getting jobs, Anderson has preached in the past, women need to be in the home “working on breakfast.” In fact, he has told his congregation, women are not even qualified to say “Amen” in church because it is unbiblical to consider a female’s opinion in any way valid. Women saying “Amen,” he says, is against God’s will because it is a declaration of truth — one women are not permitted to make because they can not declare something true. On Sunday, Anderson continued his persistent campaign against even the most basic of women’s rights:

“You say ‘that old fashioned idea, today we have women’s rights. We’ve come a long way, baby.’ And today, ‘those horrible, horrible days when women had no rights’ — let’s bring them back! Let’s get back to those days”.

The following is an excerpt from the sermon:

“What do you think they mean when they say ‘women’s rights’?

You know what they mean? The right to divorce your husband is what they mean. You know what they mean? “The right to rebel and disobey your husband”, “the right to divorce him, the right to go out and get a job and make your own money”, “the right to tell him what to do, the right to go vote for our leaders” as if women should have any say in how our country is run when the Bible says that “I suffer not a woman to teach, not to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence”?

Opinion:

Christians often argue that the believe women should be treated as second class citizens is not supported by their faith; however, Pastor Anderson is also correct when he explains that the Bible is not a source of women’s liberation.

St. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians on the role of women in the young Christian community he had established. “The women”, wrote Apostle Paul, “should keep silence in the Churches. For they are not PERMITTED TO SPEAK, but should be subordinate, as even the law says. If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in Church.”(1^st Corinthians, chapter 14, verses 34 and 35)

St. Paul on Women - 1 Timothy 2:11-15

"A woman should learn [from men] in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety."

Though some modern sects of Christian religion have removed this silence embargo on women by appointing them “Lay-Readers” and “Local-Preachers”. Paul’s injunction in 1^st  Timothy 2:11-15 and 1^st  Corinthians 14:34-35 , as far as I know, is still valid.

Incidentally, this attitude is persistent in many sects of Christianity. One website, Biblical Gender Roles, claims that it is impossible for a man to rape his wife because it is her duty to submit to him no matter what. Women should even be punished through deprivation of their needs if they refuse to submit to their husbands’ every desire, according to the “Christian” website. Those that view the Bible as inspirational medium don’t hesitate in applying it scriptural teachings — and Anderson is more than willing to hold onto the Bible as his guidance.

 Sources: HuffPostReligion and Winningdemocrats.com