The Center for Disease Control talks about Sex Trafficking and states that if we want to end this atrocity we should...
1.) Raise the status of women and,
2.) Eliminate the entitlement of men.
James Pond (founder of Transitions Global) quotes this all the time. But for several reasons I have had this two part solution rolling around in my head for the last couple of weeks.
Raise the status of women! (I will blog about the entitlement of men soon, two part answer=two part blog)
This is such an intense statement! Why do we have to raise the status of women? Why was their status ever lowered? When was their status lowered? How do we raise their status now that it has been lowered? I have 3 daughters and a wife... How do I make sure that their status is raised? I have a Mom, a sister, female in-laws, I work with almost all women, I volunteer with almost all women, there is a house, half way across the world with 20 women that are survivors of sex trafficking who I would give up just about anything for... How do I make sure that their status is raised? Is it my responsibility to worry about any of this? Why should I worry about a woman's status, I am a man? Am I more of a man if I worry about the status of a woman or less of a man?
As all of these questions are swirling (some of these are theoretical... I do believe that a woman's status should be raised and it is all of our responsibility) I have been thinking about an excerpt from a book that I read. The book is "Captivating" by John Eldredge and his wife Stasi. It has been a while since I read it, but there is this passage that I remember every time I think about raising the status of women.
John talks about the day that God made woman (if you don't believe in the creation story.. just humor me and put your attitude on hold for a sec and try to get the point of what I am trying to illustrate). So... God made woman... when did he make her? Last! Not because that is her place in line but because He was saving the best for last. John Eldredge points out that God had created all of these amazing things and yet it was incomplete. It was missing one more thing. John says that, "Woman is the zenith of God's creation"! What a powerful statement! The creation of woman is God's work of art! She is His master piece! (BTW John does this way more eloquently than I just did... you should get the book, it is a good read)
And yet.... Look at the state of women today.... It is, for the most part, despicable.
Here in the States we have grown leaps and bounds in the area of "Women's Rights" but there is still the "glass ceiling" and I think that some of it is out of kilter and off balance. Not to mention 300,000 American girls that are trafficked for sex every year within our borders. Even still we have, I think..., progressed further than other parts of the globe.
Even in our own churches, women are not taught to be captivating creatures who are God's masterpiece. They are taught to behave properly and to take care of the children and their men. They come home to men who do not know how to be men... these men in turn do not know how to show these women that they delight in them, and that they have captured their heart.
Overseas the status of women is also despicable! In India, according to Siddarth Kara author of "Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Day Slavery", 500,000 babies have been aborted over the last decade simply because they were girls. China has the one child policy which has led to lots of unwanted daughters. In fact, some religions teach that if you were born a woman it was because you did something wrong in your previous life, and maybe if you are good in this life then next time you will be born a man.
I am not naive enough to think that I can solve all of the problems (or ask all the questions) pertaining to the status of women in one blog (or in one lifetime for that matter) but these are just some of my thoughts over recent weeks.
Feel free to comment and participate in the discussion!
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