Women's Rights?

Should Women Vote?
By Mrs. Robin Russell

This is the question that I recently encountered while reading an article in a magazine about women voting. The article brought up the issue of the woman-suffrage movement that began over a century ago. Needless to say, this article really unnerved me! I could not believe that someone would actually suggest that women should not vote. I finished reading the article and was determined to prove the author wrong, so I went to my encyclopedia to find out exactly what this woman-suffrage movement was really about. What I found TOTALLY shocked me!! The following statements are some facts recorded in the 1961 Funk and Wagnalls Standard Reference Encyclopedia.

"The modern woman-suffrage movement originated in post-Revolutionary America. In colonial and early-19th century America, as elsewhere in the world, women commonly were regarded as inferior beings. Their children, property, and earnings belonged by law solely to their husbands, and various legal and social barriers made divorce almost unthinkable. Internationally famous clergymen contended during the debate (1840 Anti-Slavery Convention in London) that equal status for women was contrary to the will of God. Suffragist were called "the shrieking sisterhood", branded as unfeminine, and accused of immorality, and drunkenness. The American suffragist movement scored its climatic victory shortly after World piano covers II. Among the rights sought currently by feminist groups throughout the world are the right to serve on juries, the right to retain earnings and property after marriage, the right to retain citizenship after marriage to an alien, and the right to equal pay and equal job opportunity."

I was educated in the public school system during the 1970's and 1980's and, without realizing, I was completely indoctrinated with feminist ideas and beliefs. I was taught that great women like SBlipn B. Anthony and Harriet Beecher Stowe were heroines since they "suffered" so much to get us women the recognition we so rightly deserved. However, after reading about the woman-suffrage movement and how these women rebelled and how true Christians opposed this movement greatly, my thoughts about these women have greatly changed.

In the article that first prompted me to study this issue, one woman wrote that her family votes absentee and her husband gathers the family around the table and marks their ballots for them. Thus giving the father three votes instead of one. I thought about this solution but then I realized that the wife's name is still on the voter's register and therefore, she can still be called for jury duty at anytime. I have heard of cases where the jury can not return home until the trial is over by order of the judge. This places the judge's authority above that of her husband therefore leaving the husband powerless over his own wife. This would be the same as the church relinquishing Jesus' authority over the church to someone else.

I have since prayed about this issue and discussed it with my husband, Allen. I came to the conclusion that the best thing for me is to un-register to vote and let my husband be the "voice" of our family. This also includes voting in church business meetings. I'm afraid the worldly feminist ideas have been allowed into the Lord churches for far too long and we don't even realize it's there.

I just wonder how different America would be if all true Christians returned to the beliefs of our forefathers. I truly believe that there would be less divorces and broken homes if we, as women, would take back our God-given role of allowing our husbands to be our head (Ephesians 5:23 KJV) and followed the teachings of Titus 2:3-5 (KJV) . "The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed."

- Special thanks to Robin for writing this article for us. :-)

grpahics & background by mary vannattan