"That's me in the corner, that's me in the spotlight...

Losing My Religion..." No, that's not a link to an R.E.M. song, but rather to an interesting article this week by Jimmy Carter outlining his reasons for leaving the Southern Baptist Church (yay! better late than never, prez!).

In his own words: "It was an unavoidable decision when the convention's leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that women must be "subservient" to their husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service."

My only complaint about this article is that he so broadens the issue - covering more obvious instances of religious abuses of women's rights - that the subtleties of inequality in the denomination he has abandoned are barely addressed. While the issues he discusses are incredibly important and need to be payed more attention, I think he misses an opportunity to shed light on more hidden pathways of discrimination. It is often the subtle forms of suppression and oppression that go unnoticed and the views of the SBC on women are a perfect example of the kind of discrimination that is deeply ingrained in southern religious culture and deeply damaging to women.