Or is it All About the "S"-Word?

Several months back, I wrote about the "F"-word, forgiveness, which I declared the most important aspect of a Christian's spirituality.  Forgiveness through Jesus is the difference between a lost soul and one bound for Heaven. So, in a nutshell, it's "All About the F-Word."

But, in my experience, non-Christians tend to be faaaaaaaar more interested in conversations about the "S"-word--known more commonly as "submission."

I believe few biblical commands are more misunderstood than submission--yet this doesn't stop folks from harboring strong negative opinions. The S-word should be a secondary discussion about family structure between people with a common faith and authority.

But, misinformation has created a confused, nation-wide debate about modern gender roles, featuring impassioned outsiders who, frankly, don't know what they're talking about.

Consider this post about the "Breakdown of the Evangelical Family," about self-professing Christians, Jon and Kate Gosselin, at the time they announced their divorce. Keep in mind, however, that the author draws a clear line between herself and "those church people."  Which is to say, she's NOT an Evangelical.

Here are some of my favorite parts:

"Kate...embodies many evangelical women who struggle between the role of homemaker that their churches assign them and of finding interesting and creative work in the world... Despite all her pretensions to tradition, [she] is actually a very contemporary woman with feminist inclinations–one who is figuring out that her theology is at odds with the way life works out."

"The Gosselin’s tensions demonstrate how unsuccessfully conservative religious groups have been dealing with gender–and how, when a woman like Kate Gosselin breaks with tradition in order to pursue what she loves...she gets both blamed and punished for problems in her relationships."

"But the conservative evangelical community shares some of that failure, too.  The religious world to which Jon and Kate belong never successfully navigated the gender changes of the last three decades, insisting that happiness can still be found in hierarchical roles of male superiority and female submission.  Having rejected feminist theology, evangelicals can’t really navigate contemporary marriage issues like those facing Jon and Kate."

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In a sense, it's good to know the Bible's teaching on "submission" presents such a hang-up for some people.  But, it's frustrating how badly it's misconstrued. Isn't it?

As a faithful reader, you already know how I feel about feminism.   Also, I've talked extensively about true love being sacrificial--instead of asking "what's in it for me?"  Yet, in the name of "progress", today's women are encouraged to avoid sacrificing for their kids and embrace a more "modern" idea of marriage.


So, rather than rehash the same points I've made before, I open the floor to you, dear reader. How would you respond to the above author, or others who believe as she does?

(Addendum:  A friend just sent me this applicable link, Ten Things Submission is NOT.)