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August 21, 2006

Minister's Stance on Women Not the Public's Business

A Watertown, NY fundamentalist minister's decision to relieve a Sunday School teacher of her position because she is female is threatening to spill over into his public life as a member of the town's City Council after the offended woman refused to follow the church's grievance process and instead took her story to the media.

The First Baptist Church dismissed Mary Lambert on Aug. 9 with a letter explaining that the church had adopted an interpretation that prohibits women from teaching men. She had taught there for 54 years.

The letter quoted the first epistle to Timothy: "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent."

The Rev. Timothy LaBouf, who also serves on the Watertown City Council, issued a statement saying his stance against women teaching men in Sunday school would not affect his decisions as a city leader in Watertown, where all five members of the council are men but the city manager who runs the city's day-to-day operations is a woman.

"I believe that a woman can perform any job and fulfill any responsibility that she desires to" outside of the church, LaBouf wrote Saturday.

Mayor Jeffrey Graham, however, was bothered by the reasons given Lambert's dismissal.

"If what's said in that letter reflects the councilman's views, those are disturbing remarks in this day and age," Graham said. "Maybe they wouldn't have been disturbing 500 years ago, but they are now."

Labouf has released a statement to the public about the matter. In it, he speaks directly to the concerns of the public at large as to how the matter relates to his role as a member of the City Council:

I am fully aware that not everyone ascribes to my view of the scriptures but I would never vilify them for having a different religious view and I would hope that if you do hold a different view that you would extend to me the same courtesy. I want you to know that my desire is to not hurt anyone or to belittle anyone but only to ensure that the scripture is upheld in our church and not compromised. … Many have drawn conclusions as to how this issue applies to my role as a Watertown City Councilmember. My belief is that the qualifications for both men and women teaching spiritual matters in a church setting end at the church door, period. Now let me explain my position of the role of women in society especially because that is where many of the discussions have centered and some false accusations have been made that need correction. I believe that a woman can perform any job and fulfill any responsibility that she desires to. …

Now I know it's a lot of fun to poke at antiquated fundamentalist beliefs, especially if you feel like I do about sexism, but I think this man ought to be left alone. Transitions with churches are always difficult. I once belonged to a church that had been an older, dying traditional church that was sort of taken over by a younger, more charismatic crowd. A lot of the older members left. Such matters are things the members must work out between themselves. Lamberton does not have to continue to be a member of that church, seeing as she is unhappy with the changes the new minister has brought. She has the right of free association, as do all the members.

The public should be concerned with what happens in the public realm, not start being thought police. This minister has not applied his belief that women should not have authority over men in the public square; therefore, it is none of the public's business. Disapproval of his religious beliefs, where those beliefs are not being imposed on the public, is not sufficient to justify the public's interference with his service on the City Council.

Posted by Becky at August 21, 2006 12:24 PM