Hi K.W. Leslie

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You posted the following comment:
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Humans are selfish, and regularly twist things to suit our needs. The reason for the sexism in the church is that there are a lot of sexists in it who have no motivation to change things for the better, to be more Christlike, unless it benefits them.

I'd <i>like</i> to think Adrian's right -- that we're moving in the right direction, and that all we'll need is a generation of poor leadership to pass away -- but I dunno. Backsliding happens, and sometimes the older generation are the reformers, while the new generation are the reactionaries. The New Calvinists come to mind.

Some years ago there was a local meeting in my own denomination, which has had women pastors since its founding last century. Some of the younger pastors in the meeting objected to women in leadership on the grounds that it's "not biblical." This went on till one of the leaders, one of older gentlemen in the group, stopped the debate and pointed out that they were out of order: As a denomination, this was a decided issue. If they wanted to make it one, they were in the wrong place.

Now, what are the chances these young men will repent and conform, as opposed to leaving and starting a new chauvinistic sect? Depends on how right they think they are -- which in the end depends on how much they think they've overcome (or Jesus has overcome for them) their innate total depravity. Or whether they even believe they suffer from it in the first place. That's the <i>real</i> issue. Sexism is the symptom.