Bruce Ware, Carolyn McCulley in Vancouver

I like quite a lot of what I read on Carolyn McCulley's blog. She has been referencing Nicholas Kristof's articles and books, and she highlights poverty in Africa in an honest way. I have been following the evolution of her interests and pursuits. I always like a blog that is also a journey.

In two weeks Carolyn is going to speak at the Willingdon Church in Burnaby, British Columbia. This is the same church that regularly invites Bruce Ware to speak. This year he will be joined by John Piper. I notice that Preston Manning will also be there. I had always wanted to believe the best of Preston Manning. I did not want to believe that Canadian politicians could have as high as disregard for basic human rights as Bruce Ware teaches.

However, tonight I want to focus on some of what Carolyn regularly preaches to women. She typically teaches the following,

But having researched the history of feminism in the Western world for my own book, Radical Womanhood, I am also reminded of the course of women's history in our own culture. In many ways, though perhaps not as extreme, we issued the same complaints. Women in the 19th century complained of men making the same poor financial expenditures on alcohol and prostitutes, that women didn't have equality in education, and that maternal health was a neglected medical priority.

But as women fought for equality, we found the fight remained long after the battles were won. Because men were identified as the problem, the gender war has never been fully resolved. Instead of unifying marriages and families, this ongoing battle continues to fracture them. We've been blame-shifting to fellow sinners, rather than seeing sin itself as the real culprit. So my concern is that we will import some of these same values into our efforts to help women around the world.

When were the battles won? In Canada, rape in marriage has been illegal only since 1983. I had been married for several years when this happened. From this article we can identify the ongoing work to establish victim's rights in Canada, right up until the present. I have been involved in this process as a victim of violence, and I appreciate the advances made in the last few years. I would not want to be without them.

But Carolyn McCulley seems to think that women had gained enough rights in the 19th century to put down the cause of feminism completely. Has Carolyn worked in the criminal justice system in Canada? No. Is she qualified to speak on this topic? No. I hope she does not make a statement in her talk about how we no longer need basic human rights for women.

Let's see what else she says about this on her blog. Here she writes about "Killing an attitude of entitlement." And here she talks about "Laying down our rights." Here Carolyn says that she signed the True Woman Manifesto, which includes the statement, "Selfish insistence on personal rights is contrary to the spirit of Christ."

Women who are raped and beaten, sworn at and slapped around, restricted and belittled, need to be told to stand up for their personal rights. I wonder if Carolyn will speak to this? Carolyn does not answer email or blog comments, and I will not be in Vancouver on the weekend that she is speaking here, so I have little chance of engaging her in dialogue on this topic.