The roles of men and women
Jane Doe gave riveting testimony in court today about her marriage and first ''man-wife'' encounter with her husband.
The state's star witness in the case against Waren Jeffs cried through much of testimony, recalling the ''shock'' of being told she was to marry her 19-year-old cousin and how ''horrible'' she felt after their first sexual encounter.
Prosecutors then had the courtroom listen to an hour's worth of Jeffs' recorded lessons on marriage duties and the proper relationship between husbands and wives.
We listened as Jeffs, speaking to a home economics class in 1998, said such things as ''The only realy way to be a woman and fulfill your calling as a woman is to be in oneness with the Priesthood bearer [husband] you will become part of'' and ''For the woman, her desires shall be to her husband and he shall rule over her'' and that women were to ''willingly submit'' to their husbands.
The good news? The plan was to play two hours of Jeffs sermonizing on various topics. The defense suggested the court call it a day after listening to two half-hour lessons, and everyone agreed.
All that talk of husbands and wives, obedience and submission and the role of God in one's life got me thinking. The FLDS aren't the only ones who adhere to proscribed gender roles, patriarchal authority and biblical views of procreation.
Remember when the Southern Baptist Convention came to Salt Lake City in 1998? That's when they adopted Article 18, which describes the faith's view of the family and is based on more than 40 scriptural references. The SBC created a national stir by incorporating the view that wives should submit to their husbands.
It applies to a lot of people. The Southern Baptist Convention was founded in 1845 and has over 16 million members worldwide.
I am sure that Southern Baptists teach their children principles based on Article 18. However, they do not believe in underage or arranged marriages, like the FLDS do.
Here is Article 18, plucked from the www.sbc.org Web site:
XVIII. The Family
God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption.
Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God's unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race.
The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God's image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people.
A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family.
A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.
Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord.
Parents are to demonstrate to their children God's pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents.
And here are some excerpts from the 1995 ''proclamation'' on the family given by Gordon B. Hinckley, president of the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God's commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.
By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed.
We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.
The state's star witness in the case against Waren Jeffs cried through much of testimony, recalling the ''shock'' of being told she was to marry her 19-year-old cousin and how ''horrible'' she felt after their first sexual encounter.
Prosecutors then had the courtroom listen to an hour's worth of Jeffs' recorded lessons on marriage duties and the proper relationship between husbands and wives.
We listened as Jeffs, speaking to a home economics class in 1998, said such things as ''The only realy way to be a woman and fulfill your calling as a woman is to be in oneness with the Priesthood bearer [husband] you will become part of'' and ''For the woman, her desires shall be to her husband and he shall rule over her'' and that women were to ''willingly submit'' to their husbands.
The good news? The plan was to play two hours of Jeffs sermonizing on various topics. The defense suggested the court call it a day after listening to two half-hour lessons, and everyone agreed.
All that talk of husbands and wives, obedience and submission and the role of God in one's life got me thinking. The FLDS aren't the only ones who adhere to proscribed gender roles, patriarchal authority and biblical views of procreation.
Remember when the Southern Baptist Convention came to Salt Lake City in 1998? That's when they adopted Article 18, which describes the faith's view of the family and is based on more than 40 scriptural references. The SBC created a national stir by incorporating the view that wives should submit to their husbands.
It applies to a lot of people. The Southern Baptist Convention was founded in 1845 and has over 16 million members worldwide.
I am sure that Southern Baptists teach their children principles based on Article 18. However, they do not believe in underage or arranged marriages, like the FLDS do.
Here is Article 18, plucked from the www.sbc.org Web site:
XVIII. The Family
God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption.
Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God's unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race.
The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God's image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people.
A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family.
A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.
Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord.
Parents are to demonstrate to their children God's pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents.
And here are some excerpts from the 1995 ''proclamation'' on the family given by Gordon B. Hinckley, president of the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God's commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.
By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed.
We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.
Labels: Warren Jeffs trial
3 Comments:
Just to show how integrated traditional roles are in our society, I note that Brooke uses the phrase "man/wife" relations, instead of "husband/wife" relations. Why is the man a "man" but a woman is a "wife"?
Significantly, the marriage vows the two teenagers took in this case refer to "husband and wife," not "man and wife."
Thanks for giving me an opportunity to clarify that reference.
The term is Jane Doe's, not mine.
In previous testimony, she used the term "man/wife" relations when describing sexual intimacy.
And yes, the marriage vows refer to husband and wife.
Interesting that Brooke uses the
Southern Baptist belief in regard
to the relationship between husband
and wife. The mainstream LDS Church
preaches exactly the same thing,
adding the additonal (significant)
role of Priesthood bearer to the
husband. In marriage, the LDS &
FLDS are two peas in a pod (except
for the underage & selected partner
aspects).
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