Sorry, women. You’ve probably enjoyed participating in democracy this last century, but an increasingly influential pastor and self-avowed Christian nationalist says it's time for that to change.
Doug Wilson, senior pastor of Christ Church in Idaho, wants to literally set society back 100 years and return to a time when women were the “chief executive of the home” rather than chief executives in the workforce. Women, he says, are vessels for fetuses and little else. Leave the big decisions, like who to vote for, to men.
Wilson wants to impose his beliefs not only on his congregation, but on the world. His ideas, once considered fringe, are gaining traction – and he’s suddenly finding fans in high places.
Alarming Views Going Mainstream
Over the last five decades, Pastor Doug Wilson has been quietly building a ministry empire, growing his reach from a single church in Moscow, Idaho, to a nationwide network of more than 150 churches.
Wilson had gained some notoriety from older televised debates with atheist activists like Christopher Hitchens, but his national profile really exploded last week when CNN aired an interview in which he was asked about some of his controversial beliefs, including that the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote, was "a bad idea."
The video went viral, and has been viewed millions of times across various platforms in just a few days.
In the interview, Wilson detailed his plans for creating a Christian world, and revealed that his recent church planting in Washington D.C. was an intentional effort to cozy up to the Trump Administration. But it was his beliefs on women which grabbed the most headlines.
Are Women More Than Uteruses?
“Women are the kind of people that people come out of,” Wilson said in the interview to CNN journalist Pamela Brown. “It doesn’t take any talent to simply reproduce biologically. The wife and mother, who is the chief executive of the home, is entrusted with three or four or five eternal souls.”
And that’s it. Women, Wilson seemingly believes, should strictly run the home and submit to their husbands.
Jared Longshore, a pastor at Wilson’s church who was also featured in the CNN segment, explains that he's also in favor of repealing the 19th Amendment.
“In my ideal society, we would vote as households,” says Toby Sumpter, another pastor in the church network. “And I would ordinarily be the one that would cast the vote, but I would cast the vote having discussed it with my household.”
Return to the Past?
This vision of the world is one where strict Christian theology is the law of the land. Women? Can’t vote. Homosexuality? Illegal. Non-Christians? Unable to hold office. Pastor Wilson has stated that “sodomy is worse than slavery,” and that slavery produced a “genuine affection between the races.”
Just a decade ago, these sorts of hardline beliefs borne from biblical literalism only existed on the fringes of society. Now they’re beginning to gain mainstream acceptance... including from one of the most powerful men in D.C.
Fans in High Places
These once-fringe beliefs were recently promoted by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who reposted the CNN video with the caption "All of Christ for All of Life."
Hegseth has spoken fondly of Wilson for years, and recently attended the opening of his new church in the capitol.
When reached by journalists for comment, a Pentagon spokesman explained that “the Secretary is a proud member of a church affiliated with the Congregation of Reformed Evangelical Churches, which was founded by Pastor Doug Wilson. The Secretary very much appreciates many of Mr. Wilson’s writings and teachings.”
Wilson’s popularity has skyrocketed in the past decade, thanks to high-profile fans like Hegseth and a changing religious ecosystem more sympathetic to his hardline views.
These developments are alarming advocates of secularism.
"It's not just they have these personal Christian beliefs about the role of women in the family. It's that they want to enforce those for everybody," stated Andrew Whitehead, an expert on Christian nationalism and a sociology professor at Indiana University Indianapolis. "It really does matter if the Secretary of Defense is retweeting a video with very particular views about whether women should be able to vote… That's not just a person's view. It's a person in a pretty broad position of power."
What is your reaction?
2 comments
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Wilberta M. Berry
When will so called religious leaders stop their war on women. The ignorance is astounding and exposes why religious dogma is becoming passê in the 21st century. It's hard to fathom that biblical females had more respect in the stone/ bronze age than women do today
AH yes the famous Christian love. Only white males should have any say of anything, clearly just as white American Jesus intended. People like this and anyone sharing these views are exactly what is wrong with society, this my way or burn at the stake mentality is absolutely sickening. Not to mention it's so far from the actual teachings of the Christ these cretins should be ashamed to even hold a Bible let alone claim they are doing the work of Christ.