Women in Leadership

I know the election is over and things have pretty much been put in the back round as far as this issue, but I wrote this a couple months ago and part of my assignment was put it somewhere, where others besides my family could read it. So please give me some feedback.

In our nation today we are struggling to find leadership that is uncorrupted and can bring something better for us, out of our mess of a government. It being 2008, an election year, it is right now a bigger question than ever, especially for Christians. As we looked at the options we had before us we were discouraged, neither fulfilled what we were vainly hoping for.
Then the Republican candidate for vice-president came along.
Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, McCain's surprising choice for his running mate. At first every one seemed to be in shock. Then as things went on people either applauded or turned away from her. Many Christians were pleased by what they saw in her, and it seemed she for stood for things they were afraid would become lost causes. Now, they felt that there was a hope for our country.
While it is true that many of the things she stands for sound like the right thing for our country, there are also problems with the nomination of Sarah Palin. First and foremost being the simple fact that she is a woman. This fact is wonderful to most women, who say that it is high time we got our say in there, and that men have messed things up long enough. But it is what condemns her as a vice- president.
Many of Palin's supporters, as well as those of other women in leadership, bring up the example of Deborah from the Bible. She was a judge in the Israelite nation, a woman in a position of leadership.
But they fail to look at passages such as 1 Timothy 2:12, " But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet." This verse is quite clear on the biblical position of men and women. It goes on to say in verse 13, "For it is Adam who was first created and then Eve." Man was made first and woman made to help him, not to rule over him.
So, what about Deborah?
She was, after all, a judge over Israel. One thing we need to do is look at all the things surrounding her, and the historical context. First of all the judges were not a part of the normal structured government in Israel, the judges were used by God to defend Israel, they carried out judgment on its oppressors but were not civil rulers.
Then if you look specifically at Deborah, it says that she was a prophetess, she spoke God's word to the people and it says that she did it from her home. She did not sit in the gate which is where the civil rulers met. She "judged" in that she was a divinely inspired woman who spoke God's word to the people from her home and helped to establish righteousness and equity. Also the author of Judges points to Barack as being the judge not Deborah, he carried the action of leading and defending Israel.
So Deborah can not be used as our example for putting women in leadership. She did not usurp the authority of the men in anything she did.
In Isaiah, God mourns over Israel saying," O My people! Their oppressors are children and women rule over them." Women in leadership are considered a sign of judgment upon a nation. All this does not mean that women are lesser than men. But man was made first, he was incomplete without woman and she was made to be his help meet, not his slave and not his guide or leader. Women can have influence over the leaders of our nation and have for many centuries. They bore and raised them. They lifted up and supported their husbands, making them stronger and more able to lead, rather than pushing them down and trying to take their place. When women are silent and remain in the home, the men rise up and seek to fulfill their responsibility.


His Handmaiden, Laurel