An individual who espouses patriarchy moved from the South and took up residence well above the Mason Dixon Line. Influential in the Homeschooling movement prior to the move, I’m sure this pastor and wife (and their blended family) assumed that they would continue to enjoy local notoriety at their new locale. Lets just say that it has not been the rose garden that they anticipated. What to do?
It’s curious to note that this so-called Reformed pastor who presents himself as the epitome of compassion and obedience to the Word of God was sanctioned by his ordaining body and denomination. What does he do? He gathers croanies and relatives and sets up his own denomination and presbytery. He ordains himself, essentially, thus setting out to do God’s will: Proclaiming the Virtues of Patriarchy. (Anybody have the word “hypocrisy” on the tip of their tongue?) Well, it’s also important to note that this pastor and wife pontificate their pious views through books and other media about the perfect family under patriarchy while concealing their own histories of previous marriages. Their histories are understandable considering the wonderful contributions made to the body of Christ, I suppose. Mine condemns me as all manner of feminist and antinomian for failing to hail their views as the purest interpretation of Scripture, but they’re above criticism?
Well, Christendom. Put two and two together. Not every patriarch and his subordinated wife who claim to have 8, 10 or 18 kids are honest. As Psalm 4 describes, they cover God’s glory with their own shame. Quite frankly, some of them are down right aggressive with those whom they deem as threats to their deception. Wouldn’t that be good information to know before purchasing one of their books about their lives of glorious perfection, instructing and encouraging others on how to live the utopian patriarchal ideal?
In case you wonder what happens to those who know about their histories, they take names, make noise and issue threats. Like any good, playground thug, you make lots of threats to instill fear into the hearts of those who you target.
Here’s the general progression of events after you’re deemed a threat:
- Request one’s husband’s contact information (working up the food chain)
- Request the names of one’s elders (They don't ask for pastors because the best "family integrated churches" don't have pastors but rather a fellowship of elders.)
- Confabulate to said church elders towards the goal of having them exact church discipline (This includes evangelization of said elders to the virtues of “Biblical Patriarchy” and depiction of the person in question as an egalitarian which any “good” Christian identifies as pure evil. Of course, this can be confabulated as the person in question may actually be a conservative complimentarian.)
- Threaten legal action (A dear friend of mine was told that “This is moving steadily into potential legal action.” This is of course for mentioning the blended family fact on a list serve.)
- Attempt to have the person in question deemed non-Christian in any available public forum
So, for those who may be considering "outing" the hypocrisy of a patriarch, be prepared. Personally, I believe that the threats of legal action are entirely empty, as the last thing the patriarchy movement wants is the hearing of their ideology in a public, secular forum.
