Positive Liberty

The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary offers coursework in Greek and Hebrew, in archaeology, in the philosophy of religion and – starting this fall – in how to cook and sew.

Southwestern Baptist, one of the nation’s largest Southern Baptist seminaries, is introducing a new academic program in homemaking as part of an effort to establish what its president calls biblical family and gender roles.

It will offer a bachelor of arts in humanities degree with a 23-hour concentration in homemaking. The program is only open to women.

Yet this is not nearly enough. To really go back to traditional values, they would have to offer coursework in Greek, Hebrew, archaeology, and philosophy — but only taught by — and to — men. Oh wait, seems like they’re working on that one, too:

In 2003, when [Seminary President Paige] Patterson left his post as president of North Carolina’s Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary to serve as Southwestern’s president, he was asked whether women would teach in the seminary’s theology school under his leadership.

“The New Testament is crystal clear that pastors are to be men,” he said.

In March, a former Southwestern professor filed a federal lawsuit against the school and Patterson, alleging she was fired from her tenure-track position because she was a woman.

Professor Sheri Klouda was hired in 2002 and was the only woman to teach at the School of Theology. But last spring, school officials informed Klouda that her contract was terminated because she was “a mistake that the trustees needed to fix,” the lawsuit states.

Patterson’s wife, Dorothy Patterson, is the only woman faculty member now teaching in Southwestern’s theology school.

David Key, director of Baptist studies at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, said part of the reason why the seminary may be introducing the new homemaking program is in reaction to the Klouda lawsuit.

“Women continue to make more inroads into traditional male bastions, which could be provoking Patterson to do this,” Key said. Patterson is “trying to draw the line in the sand of where women need to be.”

Equally precious are the defenses offered for the new home ec curriculum:

“We are moving against the tide in order to establish family and gender roles as described in God’s word for the home and the family,” Patterson said at the denomination’s annual meeting in June. “If we do not do something to salvage the future of the home, both our denomination and our nation will be destroyed.”

Yes, that’s right, if Southwestern Baptist Seminary doesn’t act right away, it’s all over for the republic.

Our nation. Will be destroyed. Be afraid!

Time was, conservatives generally agreed that tradition and custom were powerful forces, usually quite capable of sustaining themselves, and not susceptible to micromanagement. But nowadays, a conservative is someone who thinks he can reconstruct the nation using courses in embroidery. The new belief in the power of social engineering is staggering.

That is, if Hollywood, the terrorists, the immigrants, the liberals, and the gays don’t destroy us first. For every problem, today’s conservative has an answer, always in the form of more social engineering, whether public or private. (Though increasingly it’s the former.)

It’s sounding… well, it’s sounding downright French. To arms, lady citizens! Take up thy thimbles, and save this Christian nation!