Antagonizing the Antagonist: Is Feminism a Sin?

I discovered this little tidbit cruising the religion blogs, which includes excerpts from a young woman's Masters Thesis on the Sin of Feminism.

This young scholar at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville argues that Feminism is a sin dating back to the fall of man, which resulted from Eve's questionable choice of fruit. Formerly suffering as the "stereotypical Generation Y feminist: anti-marriage, anti-child rearing and corporate ladder hopeful," our author underwent conversion to Christianity and now is revived of these misgivings.

The statement of purpose in the article, which you can find here in its entirety, hinges on this statement: “From the time the first feminist, Eve, came on the scene, until now, we have been in a cosmic battle against the flesh and Satan.”

Unfortunately — as I was understandably intrigued as to where this argument might go — I'm not convinced as to why Eve is a feminist; that part is stated without explanation as if it is unquestionable fact. No doubt for this young woman it is, but if she's going to approach the issue utilizing a logical argument, it should connect logically.

In other words, I appreciate religious discourse through scholarly argument; hopefully I can make a living doing it one day. However, one of the most difficult parts about writing academically, especially in this discipline, is understanding that nothing can be taken for granted. Thus, when our author says, "a woman can't wake up one day and decide to be a Proverbs 31 woman any more than a man can wake up and decide to lead like Christ," I'm not quite sure what she means. The terms are undefined, and especially if she's trying to sway others not already of her opinion — or those who don't know the truth, as she may see it — it would be beneficial for her to speak in common terms.

With regards, then, to religious discussion in both the academy and in the everyday world, I think it might behoove people to recognize that others conceptualize God and Religion differently than they do. You can't point to Bible and expect me immediately to believe it anymore than I can hand you a Radiohead CD and expect you to believe they're the greatest rock musicians since The Beatles. Plus, religion is much greater than just cognitive belief, but that's a topic for another time.