Before I can be a Feminist.

Sometimes men are asked if they are feminists. If a man says no, he is assumed to be a mysogynist, or a sexist. It is stated that feminism means equality and therefore if you are not a feminist, you are not for equality between the sexes.

Before I can answer the question, I have some questions of my own. There are some things that I need to know first. The following questions will help me know if feminism is really about equality or is really about something else.

Here goes:

1. Will a feminist ever defend a man from an abusive woman?

     A surprising number of men are victims of domestic abuse. But resources for victims of domestic abuse are almost exclusively for women, not men. http://www.saveservices.org/2012/02/cdc-study-more-men-than-women-victims-of-partner-abuse/ When men do seek help, they are often told, “We only help women.”

2. Does adopting feminism mean that I have to accept gender theory as propounded by academic feminists?

     Gender feminism denies that any gender differences are inherent or biological. Rather, the differences are seen to be instilled by society. Many studies show that this is not the case. 

3. Do feminists see how women are sometimes privileged over men and seek to rectify those inequities?

     a. Male suicide.

        Men die by suicide 3.53x more often than women. https://afsp.org/about-suicide/suicide-statistics/  Does this show that life may be harder for men in some ways? Can we even ask the question?

     b. Male homelessness.

         In the UK, 71% of homeless people are men. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/11787304/Homelessness-is-a-gendered-issue-and-it-mostly-impacts-men.html

     Would a feminist try to make this statistic more equal between men and women? If so, what efforts have feminists engaged in to solve this inequality?

     c. Male education

        Women are now 33% more likely to get a bachelor's degree than men. https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/ali-meyer/women-now-33-more-likely-men-earn-college-degrees This means that more government money, through education, is being spent on women. Does this indicate a social preference for women?

     d. Female-to-male government benefits.

       "Federal assistance is more likely to go to women than men (61% vs. 49%)." https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/12/7-facts-about-government-benefits-and-who-gets-them/266428/
Indeed:
"Social Security is especially important for women, because they tend to earn less than men, take more time out of the paid workforce, live longer, accumulate less savings, and receive smaller pensions.  Women represent more than half of Social Security beneficiaries in their 60s and 7 in 10 beneficiaries in their 90s.  In addition, women make up 97 percent of Social Security survivor beneficiaries.
Women benefit disproportionately from the program’s inflation-protected benefits (because they tend to live longer than men), its progressive formula for computing benefits (because they tend to have lower earnings), and its benefits for spouses and survivors."
   
     e. The draft.

         Men, but not women, have been subject to conscription since the Revolutionary War. Conscription, or "the draft" means that men are forced to join military service if necessary. When I turned 18, I was told that if I did not register for what is called "Selective Service" I would be in danger of losing my right to vote and governmental benefits like Social Security.

     f.  Male deaths in the work-place.

         Men make up a whopping 90% of workplace deaths. Do feminists have a program to help make this more equal? http://articles.latimes.com/1995-08-04/business/fi-31566_1_workplace-deaths

     g. Symbols of male foolishness or bondage

         Feminists have rightly pointed out how women are stereotyped and pressured to conform with arbitrary standards of beauty. Are there stereotypes that affect men too? Do feminists protest the portrayal of the "doofus dad" like Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin, or the "Beast" from Beauty and the Beast, or the use of neckties, a symbolic noose around the neck of domesticated men?

     h. Women and children first.

         Do feminists work to change culture to counter the idea that men are disposable? Throughout history, in emergency situations, it was "women and children first." Women and children had innate worth, but men were relatively disposable. Does a feminist address this problem?

4. Do feminists recognize and celebrate men's contributions to society in general and to women in particular?

5. Do feminists treat people as individuals or as mere members of their class, sex, status, race, orientation or political affiliation?

6. If feminism changes society so much that it tilts benefits and privileges too far towards women, will feminism self-correct to make things equal?

7. Do feminists put pressure on women to enter certain fields, like business or engineering, so that women will be more represented? If so, is that a kind thing to do to those women?

8. Do feminists want to exact revenge for past injustices by punishing men, any men, for the injustices of the past to women?

9. Do feminists have an accurate and precise understanding of how much injustice, privilege and prejudice exists and how much women are harmed? If not, how will they know when we've achieved equality?

10. Do feminists have a rigorous definition of "equality?"

11. Can a feminist empathize with a man?

12. Can a feminist express gratitude to a man or to men in general?

 If I can get these questions answered, then I may be able to answer the question "am I a feminist."

We are Being Converted to a Secular Religion

In Christianity, there is a word that you'll often hear: "gospel." The gospel literally means "good news" but it is sometimes used to denote the entire world-view of Christianity. At its core, the gospel is about Jesus and His redemption and resurrection. But to most Christians it means more than that: the Ten Commandments, Christmas, heaven, church weddings, bible study, socials, and maybe even America and country music.

In our modern society, there are some words that are passed around that also seem to entail a lot of ideology and meaning. These words trigger a whole range of ideas and they signal to another person that you are part of their "religion." One of these words is "equality."

What do you think of when you hear "equality?" Do you think "1 + 1 is equal to 2?" Do you think "Pepsi is just as good as Coke?" Probably not.

Rather, you probably have political or social ideas come to mind. Like, how people should behave towards others, how government and society should be organized and maybe about how some groups have more privilege than others.

There's another one of these special words: "privilege." Privilege means that certain groups have been historically favored and others historically marginalized and we have a duty to reverse that favoritism until we achieve equality. Do you see how these ideas work together, complimenting each other? It is the basis of a comprehensive world-view.

On it's face, it's not contrary to Christianity, but it starts to deviate from Christianity in subtle ways. Christians don't usually talk about equality and privilege, but of charity and humility. Of faith and patience. Of gratitude and hope. It begins to become clear what the differences are when you examine the ideas behind these special words used by people in these two different world-views.

Christianity is about redemption of an individual and transforming that individual from a selfish person to a generous person. A dishonest person to an honest person. A violent person to a peaceful person.

On the other hand, the secular religion is about destroying evil power structures and replacing them with a structure that is fair and inclusive. "Fairness" and "inclusivity" are more examples of the special words in the secular religion. The secular religion seeks to transform society and power structures to make them more fair and inclusive, while Christianity focuses on transforming individuals into better people.

It is important for Christians to know that they are being preached to. There are points of conflict where the secular religion will claim that Christianity has been an evil, exclusive power structure, and therefore needs to be replaced. And there is some truth to what they say, when looking at the history of Christianity. But there is rarely an attempt to rationally look at the teachings and philosophies of the two world-views to see what they really mean and where they lead.

Usually, it isn't obvious that people are exchanging one world-view for another, but I've seen it happen over and over again. People start to adopt the "special words" of the secular religion and start to become more and more critical of Christianity. I can't tell if they are critically examining the secular religion or even if they know it exists. I suspect that they are unconsciously adopting new philosophies in an uncritical manner. If they would be as critical of the secular religion as they are of Christianity, they may find that Christianity is the stronger of the two.

But as long as they remain uncritical of their new world-view, they will never doubt that Christianity is false.