Be Worthy, Redux

A friend on twitter responded to clarify what he thought the guy who said this meant:

“When a man loves a woman, he has to become worthy of her.The higher her virtue, the more noble her character, the more devoted she is to truth, justice, goodness, the more a man has to aspire to be worthy of her. The history of civilization could actually be written in terms of the level of its women.” ― Venerable Abp. Fulton J. Sheen, Life is Worth Living

Here’s his take, from two consequent tweets:

Don’t think that’s what he’s saying. He’s explaining Paul’s letter: Men, love your woman as Christ love the Church.

Then:

He also puts a load of the responsibility on women to be honorable, moral, noble, virtuous. Then challenges men to match.

Now, I like my friend. He’s one of the more intelligent guys I know on that chatterbox of a site, but he’s absolutely misguided about this point—something I’ve told him directly. I’ll take the second tweet first and perhaps deal with the husband love of wife as Christ loved the Church tweet later (although that firstly stated, pesky submission part is a bitch to wrangle, no pun).

God—through Paul and the Venerable Abp—in apparently telling women to be “moral, noble, virtuous” then challenging “men to match” them is like asking two equally dirty children for one to mimic the other as an example “worthy” of it. There is no difference between men and women in the sin department. That’s the biggest problem I have with these kinds of statements. Both sexes are covered in the blackest of sins in God’s eyes so it’s rather silly to “challenge” one of those two equally filthy creatures to “match” the other. After the matching takes places, they’re both still just as dirty as the other.

Regardless, even if that particular interpretation is wrong—and it’s not—by asserting there’s a difference between men and women, with women taking the “load of responsibility” first then challenging “men to match,” one is, by definition, placing women—an equally sinful, disgusting creature in God’s eyes, remember—on a pedestal; maybe not as a worshipful object per se, but certainly as an example of some sort, to which men should strive to attain.

This is nonsensical yet unfortunately, it’s not the first time I’ve read stuff like this—that somehow women are more “pure” somehow, more “worthy,” serving as some kind of example to which men should “aspire” to be worthy of.

I first found out about Glen T. Stanton, Director of Family Formation Studies for Focus On The Family on Dalrock’s excellent blog. Stanton wrote a book titled, Secure Daughters, Confident Sons: How Parents Guide Their Children into Authentic Masculinity and Femininity.
In chapter 6 Metamorphosis to Womanhood:  Making Healthy Women out of Healthy Girls he explains that women are essentially innately good:

We should appreciate what a profound life transition takes place when a girl becomes a woman…
A good woman is the more intricate of the species, for while both men and women are complex and profound, women universally have more interesting layers to their femininity than men have to their masculinity….
…
As you read through the qualities described below, please keep in mind that much of this is innate, but because our culture seems to fight so hard to suppress certain natural tendencies, it’s our privilege and responsibility as parents to watch out for opportunities to nurture and guide in these areas.

So we have here a point on which both a Catholic church leader AND a Protty (as I’ve come to call us Protestants) advocate the purity and higher “worth” of females. Males, on the other hand are moral reprobates requiring civilization and a veritable injection of “aspiration” and of course, a woman figure to aspire to! To quote Stanton again:

Each conveyor belt leads not necessarily to manhood but to male aging, because that’s what the mere passage of time produces.  But good men don’t just happen …

Interestingly, if the tables were turned and somehow women were supposed to strive to be worthy of a man. Well, hellfire and brimstone, what a piece of patriarchal propaganda! How dare he?
It is hogwash. If anything, the Bible is clear on just which of God’s creatures is to be responsible for the other, and hint, hint, it’s not the female of the species.

Update: As if to further buttress this little rant of mine, here's former Governor Huckabee, preacher, (around 3:58') talking about "valuing" women, but that not being enough for the good Christian man, he also wants to "elevate" her. As they say on Twitter: SMH