On Submission and Freedom

Having just finished reading the account of Carmen bin Laden, I feel moved to address this issue. Although I live in "the land of the free and the home of the brave," I believe my life has equipped me to address this. As Christians we are instructed to submit as well: to the Lord, to our husbands, to each other, to the elders of the church, to our parents if we are children, and even to the governing authorities who are secular.

As Christians we are admonished to let our brothers cheat us rather than to go to secular courts and embarrass the name of Jesus. Many church goers have taken advantage of the teaching, stealing outrightly from their "brethren" through business deals. Whether they themselves are truly believers, I cannot say. The Bible points out "by their fruits shall you know them."

This has even been found in Christian ministry. So many musicians, agents, and churches caused trauma to me that I nearly lost my faith, if not my mind. Some I believe are genuine believers in Jesus, who had blind areas that they had not repented of, or even seen. We are all influenced by the world, in addition to being selfish souls by nature. (Some thought they were being "professional" by following the procedures of the secular music world.)

The alternative to going to court was found in taking issues to church elders. But I found problems there as well. The vision and clarity of those individuals was sometimes severely lacking in discernment. Politics, stereotypes (or not fitting into them), and other concerns allowed for unjust decisions. Ultimately I learned to take my issues to a higher court to One who knew the truth of what had been said or done, or promised. He saw the hearts, as well as the deeds, and could in truth judge righteously.

Outside of the church my husband and I have faced injustice as well.Inheritances have been stolen, with wills never being properly executed. A lot is edited here to spare the reader the details.

Unforgiveness hardens your heart, and separates you from God. In the Lord's Prayer and other places, Jesus instructed his disciples to forgive others as they were forgiven. If we did not forgive those who sinned against us, neither would we be forgiven. Let me tell you, it really destroys a good case of self-righteous anger to have to obey this and confess as sin what you feel is entitled to you for justice.

Though I tended towards women's liberation, as a Christian I was required to submit to my husband whether he made right decisions or not. Furthermore I was told I was limited on what ministry I could do within the church. Though I could understand Scripture as well as the next, or sometimes better, having female body parts made me unauthorized. (Admittedly, I was allowed in the same room of Sunday School classes, and sat beside him in the worship services.)

"Submit," I was told. I lived in Texas-the home of the Alamo, where a small group of men withstood the Mexican army and lost. Well, they earned by their sacrifice the time for Sam Houston to be able to get the final victory and gain Texas independence. So I did. By submitting, I continued living with my husband and provided a stable home for my children. No step-mother got to raise my children, or add to the number of heirs to the estate. It probably wasn't large enough for all this strife, but my kids had both parents, though sometimes hearing extra fighting.

I got beaten down. Am I as proud as I used to be? No. As self-righteous? No. Because of the resistance in my spirit, I have learned the depths of my heart and it was not a pretty sight. Have we survived? Yes, and have learned a lot. My children are not nearly as materialistic or selfish as many.

Sometimes I justified myself in forgiving that I was more spiritual than others. I doubt that is so. I told myself that I was avoiding cancer and heart attacks by trying not to hold onto stress. That my enemies were not frothing over how they had sinned against me years ago, and that I was making myself suffer rather than just getting over it. Sometimes I question whether this was genuine obedience to the Lord, in turning the other cheek, or cowardice.

My conclusion is that submission in not inherently a bad thing. Nor is the covering of women. It can be, could be a wholesome thing. Perhaps extreme, but it need not be oppressive. Does it protect women from the lusting of others? Yes, but not necessarily. Can it be true that in submitting, women are in fact being protected? Some are-if the person in charge is trustworthy. (Carmen more than adequately covers this.)

Yet for the women who are divorced, having their children forcibly taken from them, or who cannot leave their homes, or drive, or leave the country based on the whim of a disgruntled husband, or ex, father, brother-in-law, uncle or brother, their lives are not merely inconvenienced. They are destroyed. Men who have to submit to their clan head or patriarch may experience some safety in submission too. Or not, depending on their advice.

Rocking the boat is never safe. Such is the history of the United States, of France, England, Scotland, Ireland, Poland, and many other countries. The people of old Czechoslavakia invented a lovely word, "defenestration." A tyrant was taken and thrown out of the castle window rather than submit to him! John Hus was burnt at the stake. Wycliffe had to flee the country (England) in order to print Bibles in his own language. Luther stood up to the most powerful organization of his time, the Roman Catholic Church. Nailing his 99 theses to the door of a church in Wittenberg, Germany, he changed the world.

Such is our history. I do not claim all Christians were brave. Certainly some submitted meekly praying and hoping that things would change. They did. They got worse. Such is the nature of our humanity. Out of their own selfishness, people will take advantage of others to the extent it is allowed and beyond. In fact, as it was said in WWII, the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

Hoping and praying are good for a time. But at some point it becomes necessary for someone to say "enough. That's it, we will take it no more." I do not dispute the efficacy of prayer, nor faith in entrusting one's suffering to God. But He has proven in the Bible many times that when the prayers have been heaped up, when He has heard the crying of the innocent, He will move someone to fight.

To leave others at the mercy of a system that protects corruption, endorsing the rights of men or kings-that puts you in the place of being part of the cause! Of enabling the raping of women as punishment, of stealing money of widows with no one to protect them from the predations of their brothers-in-law. Leaving a system that allows truly young girls to be given in marriage because the prophet did it.

Men and women deserve to be free. Submission and forgiveness are important concepts, worthy of exploring. But we must all be careful of hiding from strife. As our refusal to face facts may not provide safety, but worsen the oppression. It is our choice, no matter what society. And it has been proven over millenia that freedom comes to those who are willing to fight for it. And it is lost by those who are not.
Of course, I am writing this to those in Islam who claim it is not a violent religion, that the terrorists have taken these things out of context. It is not to those who would use violence or opposition to stifle the freedoms of those who disagree with them, nor for those who desire to impose the religion on others in their own or other parts of the world. Wars and rebellions are also part of your heritage-at least as far as the History of Islam, Vol. II by Prof. Masud_ul_Hasan, would reveal. (I don't have volume I, so I am not neglecting it.) Perhaps you can consider if fighting to protect the innocent is not as spiritual as fighting to force a religion on others.