Sexism is alive -- and well?

"Thank you, women who work! You are present and active in every area of life -- social, economic, cultural, artistic and political." Pope John Paul II

Sexism is alive and well; but one might argue that quoting Scripture to justify it is short-sighted, at best. Relying on his sole interpretation of a single Scripture verse from the prophet Isaiah, David Biser in his September 10 commentary in the Cumberland Times-News equates women with children in their ability to lead and says women in politics do not follow guidelines for a biblical life.

In a June 29, 1995 “Letter to Women” on the advent of the Fourth World Conference on Women of the United Nations, Pope John Paul II says, “I wish to consider the essential issue of the dignity and rights of women, as seen in the light of the word of God. ... Gospel contains an ever relevant message which goes back to the attitude of Jesus Christ himself. Transcending the established norms of his own culture, Jesus treated women with openness, respect, acceptance and tenderness. In this way he honoured the dignity which women have always possessed according to God's plan and in his love."

JPII thanks God for women; and he thanks women for being wives, mothers, daughters, sisters and consecrated to the church. And he states in his letter: “Thank you, women who work! You are present and active in every area of life-social, economic, cultural, artistic and political. In this way you make an indispensable contribution to the growth of a culture which unites reason and feeling, to a model of life ever open to the sense of ‘mystery,’ to the establishment of economic and political structures ever more worthy of humanity.”

by Nancy E. Thoerig 09-10-08