It has always amazed me how some can come across as so soft and sweet on the surface, and then you feel their whip of mockery towards others as a show of some TRUE gift they feel they have.
As you read the piece, you learn why it is so hard to speak to them. It also reminds me why I find it so hard to trust, or even respect their views at times as much as I try.
To me quite frankly…they aren’t safe people to be around. I don’t care how much they use the word biblical, or Godly to describe the individuals that represent them. When you read articles like this? Its so far off the ‘biblical’ map that is quite amazing that they don’t see it too!.
My parents always taught me that individuals that take time out of their day to tear you down just so they can feel uplifted…aren't’ decent people you should spend time with.
It reminds me of the political realm we have presently within the United States. You question one portion of what the other side is proposing, or how they are approaching it? You labeled a hater of the group of individuals that the program was drafted to help.
They all do it today, because it seems popular within the atmosphere we have presently. Is it any wonder why its almost impossible to find that middle ground somewhere? They have too many excuses that they allow themselves…not too. Then WE The People get to live that reality.
Below is example of this that I truly felt was off color. Groups of Christians are labeled with what they TRULY stand for…well in their eyes of course. To me, it would hard to explain how this in any way shows, “Mature Masculinity’ of the benevolent kind.
It’s an Art Form
They do not fight for equality on the ice; they possess it as a given. They are not jostling about fairness. They are focused on doing their part well. No one yells, “Oppressor!” as he leads her around the arena, lifting her up and catapulting her into a triple spin. No one thinks she is belittled as she takes her lead from him, skating backwards to his forward. No one calls for them to be egalitarian. “She should get to throw him into a triple Lutz half the time!” They complement each other in their complementarian approach to becoming one majestic whole. No one, least of all him, minds that the roses and teddy bears, thrown onto the ice when they have collapsed into each other’s arms at the end, are for her. It is his joy.
This is a visible model of what male leadership and female support are all about. It’s an art form, not a mandate. It’s a disposition, not a set of rules. When it’s done well, it’s a welcome sight in which both partners are fulfilled in themselves and delighted in the other.
If this is all the author has heard from the Egalitarian position? I feel like I’m in the political arena, and the other side is purposely ignoring things so ONLY their opinion can be heard. In this case – he is speaking to his base. Sadly, whipping up the show of mockery that seems acceptable to them.
Look at us compared to THOSE people…Its just so Christian right?!
We have all seen it! The Politian telling their audience THIS IS what my opponent ‘really means’. This is what they REALLY said. This what they REALLY stand for!
Then they go on to point how they have never offered up anything of substance. How WE are the ones that truly represent you. It really doesn’t matter what side of politics you are on – they all say pretty much the same thing.
Then they go off to Washington, and they have to play their game there as well. We at home get to roll our eyes at all the silly politically correct stuff that never truly matches reality…they just try to convince us it does.
Today, it seems popular to be ‘Spiritually Correct’. View your fellow Christians that don’t view things as pink and blue, and turn them into those 1960’s bra burning feminists. Its perfectly acceptable to belittle their women, and mock their beliefs. I mean it’s the Spiritually Correct way.
God gifts us all - everyone of us. We learn from scripture that God is pleased when we use these gifts to gloried him. If you are Christian this is truly something you wish to do as well.
God made us all just a little different. Some may have the same gifts, but the way they use that gift is different. People may have similar styles, but there is always a uniqueness there as well. It seems to me like God made everyone like that.
If we look at leaders? We can find some very effective ones in history, and yet their styles are unique just to them. They may use tactics, forms of speech that similar to past leaders that they admire…yet they are never EVER the ‘same’ or interchangeable.
If we look at teachers? Encouragers? It’s the same thing. Their unique gift is all their own, and they use it to Glorify God in their own way. To me this is a good thing.
In reality of the Olympic Pair Skaters? Their coach is the leader, and both individuals come together with their gifts, strengths, and work ethic to put on a performance that is awesome to watch. They follow the lead of the coach if you truly wish to get down to it, and rely on their partner in more ways than I guess this author can comprehend.
When you look closer? You have many other staff members that work with the skaters, and the energy goes into each individual skater themselves – strength, athletic ability, etc. is honed even before they are paired together. There is so much to see in their performance that is outside the realm of leader and follower.
If being an egalitarian to this author is all about, “She should get to throw him into a triple Lutz half the time!” Its clear he didn’t take the time to listen.
In reality that isn’t a show of MANHOOD, or leadership, authority, headship or any of the other labels you need to use to identify yourself in your ‘role’. It just shows to me anyway your lack of capacity to hear what other’s have to say.
I realize that is the 'SPIRITUALLY correct way, but it really doesn’t show to anyone outside your ‘group’ the traits you claim is there.
Quite frankly, its rude and shows a completely lack of understanding and compassion for others different than yourself.
You want to speak of the oneness we all saw? That’s great! We all saw it! Heck I bet we would even agree there!
You want to use that as a weapon towards others because some strange beliefs you have about how ‘those’ people believe? That’s isn’t okay. It shows an ugly underbelly.
An Olympic Lesson for Husbands and Wives? Hardly. You do get the Gold Metal for rudeness. Congratulations!
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5 comments:
I read Piper's post to my husband without telling him who wrote it. Because of all of the flowery speech, his first guess was Doug Phillips, but that couldn't be. He then said that it had to be written by a man of small stature, then guessed who it was.
There's just so much wrong with this that I didn't know where to even begin with it. I did wonder whether those who push this stuff really believe it or must work at coming up with stuff like this. Is it just garbage that they cook up for mass consumption, or do they really believe it all?
I then thought that it might be nice to get a response from actual skaters. It seems to me that four minutes on the is hardly a good example. Is marriage actually that hard? You must train for eight hours a day for years and years, just for a moment which you can't keep doing at that level. It is an unbelievable striving for a moment of appearance -- a type of image consciousness that is perhaps unrivaled. And this is an example of what all people should do every day and night? Sure, whatever works for you, Piper.
A husband spinning his wife in a death dance on the ice is more like it. He has her exactly where he wants her, underneath him. They go on and on about the beauty of complementarianism when it is really a big ugly concept flowered up with teddy bears and roses thrown by people like Piper.
Piper didn't write it. It was a guest post. And I agree with your thoughts. :-)
As a long time figure skating fans, most people in the skating world view women in pairs as the strongest, most fearless athletes in the sport--qualities that complemetarians seem to abhor. And the writer also ignores the fact that the two skaters must "skate as one" which means demonstrating the exact same skills side by side in jumps and spins. And good choreo in pairs does not rely only on the man leading his partner. Not even close. As for the throws, no one who understands skating would think for a moment that the man has the easy role in that trick. It is all about her strength to rotate and land.
Great post! "No one thinks she is belittled as she takes her lead from him, skating backwards to his forward." What does the writer think a woman skater is doing, skating backward BEHIND him, to follow his lead? No, she is "leading" him, to use the writer's analogy. The truth is, out there on the ice, neither partner is leading, the coach, their preplanning, and the music is leading. All has been preplanned by the coach, including where they will be in the rink for each move. For some moves they want to be going around a sharper curve, like at one end or the other, for others, they need a straight stretch. These are not spur-of-the-moment whims of the male partner, nor are they well thought out and preplanned moves of the male partner. They are preplanned by the coach, and may have the input of the pair, including their strengths and weaknesses, so they can put on the best performance possible. Another key player is the person(s) who fund the skaters, their rink, their coach, etc. Sometimes the person(s) with the money influence what the coach decides or what the skaters do on the ice. As in the movie "The Cutting Edge," the money came from the female skater's dad, so she had a lot more decision-making power than her male partner did.
True, out on the ice, they may make it LOOK like the male is leading, but that has more to do with the rules and/or culture of couples ice-skating than any real example of male leading. What they are really showing (if one wants to use pair skating as a marriage example) is that real male strength is not about brute force or male leadership, but that real strength requires self-control, gentleness and consideration of the partner, which require far more strength than brute force or domination do. It also shows the physical strength and endurance of women, that women are not such fragile beings that they must be coddled and protected. Pairs skating shows women being all they can be--both strong, beautiful, and graceful.
Frankly, to equate a 2-4 minute performance that the couple, with the coaches leadership and direction, has practiced for months to what a married couple lives day to day is a stretch at best and at worst reduces marriage to a performance for public display. Surely, as people of God, glorifying God is our goal, not mere performance based on rules men have added to the Bible.
~Waneta Dawn
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