Heaven Lies at the Foot of Mother

Something pulled me to the Final Call today. Perhaps it was a need to read a different perspective than that presented by the mainstream press (New York Times, CNN, Washington Post, etc.) And I'm also stimulated, educated, and provoked to really think when I hear or see the words of Minister Louis Farrakhan. I don't know what the condition of his health is these days, but I certainly pray that he's doing well. He's given us so much to think about, ponder, and debate in his lifetime. You can't deny that he has a passionate love for his people.

While reading the Final Call online, I came across this article by Farrakhan about the "Proper View of the Woman." Check out how his view (that of a Muslim minister) differs from this Baptist minister's view of a woman's role in the church.

While speaking at this Baptist preacher's church several years ago, Farrakhan said:

I mentioned that Paul said that the woman should be quiet in the church. This has been taken to mean that in church life, she should have nothing to say. In some religious orders in Christianity, she is forbidden to come up on the rostrum, or to sit in the place where the pastor sits. I said, “I disagree with Paul. He was a great Apostle, but, he certainly is not Jesus. And nowhere in the Gospels concerning the Words and Acts of Jesus do we find justification for the Words of the Apostle.”

I said to my Christian family, “If Mary, the Mother of Jesus, entered the church, would you tell her that she could not come and stand on the rostrum and speak to us—a woman so exalted and revered by Allah (God)?” Then, I turned and said to the Pastor, “Would you tell your mother that she could not come up here? The pastor quickly said to me, “She could not come up here.”

I was shocked. It was then that I realized even more so why there must be reform in our thinking concerning the female....