Feminism.... because of my daughter

The reason Feminism matters as I see it is because of my daughter
Now before you say "yeah, that's what every father should say" you should understand that I am not married, don't have a daughter, in fact I don't even have a girlfriend.  But to me feminism matters because if I, some day, have a daughter I want her to be able to have a life of equality.  I want her to make as much money as the man doing the same job as her.  I want her to have a voice that carries over the men in the world who are trying to keep her voice quiet.  I want her to know that she is more than a good looking object that is to be below a man who knows better.  It matters to me because I know as a father I would kill anyone who treated my daughter as an object.

But more then that I want my daughter to be able to know and understand she is an equal
I want her to know that without the many women in the Bible we would have no hope for tomorrow. And I want her to understand that yes Easter and Ruth and Deborah played huge parts in God's plans but I also want her to understand that there are other important women in scripture.  Women like Mary and Martha.  I want her to understand that Jesus could be considered the first great male feminist as he used those two women, Mary and Martha, to find his empty grave and show the men that he was alive again.  I want her to be able to understand that Jesus views her and loves her as an equal. I want her to know that when Peter denied Jesus three times and was no where to be found at the cross there stood four women weeping at the death of Jesus {1}  And most importantly I want her to see herself as an equal to any one, not above or below.

So then what is at stake?  Everything!
Everything is at stake to me.  Because without equal rights for women we are missing the point of the Bible.  Without equal rights I feel we are missing out on hearing voices that must be heard.  Without equal rights for women how can we as Christians ever talk about equal rights for all races when we can't fight for the rights of people in our race of origin.  Without equal rights for women my daughter may never dream of being president.

The reason why I am a Feminist is because before I was alive someone died for my equal rights
Before I was Jesus died to make Jew and Gentile equal.  He broke the old law that kept someone like myself, a Gentile, separated from God.  Jesus died in order to make equal rights possible for me and called me to follow him to the cross and fight for equal rights.

So for my daughter I want you to know you are loved
I want you to know you are equal to any man and that your voice needs to be heard because you have something amazing to say. I want you to know that you are greatly loved.  I want you to know that no matter what the TV tells you you are more than your body.  I want you to know that there will be people who try to silence your voice because they fear what you have to say.  I want you to know that you should never stop speaking up, never stop being who you are.  Never bow under the foot of someone who views you as less than themselves.  I want you to know that you are loved by the maker of all things and he sees you as equal to any man.  And finally I want you to know that I love you enough to die for you because when my time comes to leave this earth I want your voice to be able to be heard on an equal playing field.  So to my, future, daughter I long to see you look back and me with the confidence to go change the world and with a love that asks for nothing back.  I love you.

(This post is part of #Femfest a three day blog conversation about feminism.  I hope you enjoyed it and here is the link to the link up that will lead you to much more reading.  Enjoy.  http://www.fromtwotoone.com/2013/02/femfest-day-two.html)