Why Christian conferences are sexist.

Denny Burk asks the simple question, Are Christian Conferences Sexist. He asks this question in response to Jonathan Merritt’s post, Are Christian Conferences Sexist? ‘The Nines’ Controversy Prompts Reflection.

Merritt calls The Nines fiasco of having only 4 women speakers out of over 110 speakers “flat out embarrassing” and a “blunder”.

Burk’s argument is that ministries who believe that women should not teach men should be left alone. They are simply trying to obey scripture, which Burk supports. His conclusion is that “it’s not sexist to obey scripture”. For Christian conferences to emphasize male teachers “may not line up well with the egalitarian spirit of the age, but it does align well with scripture.”

As I frequently argue, the problem here is the hermeneutic being used that perpetuates a sexist ideology. Rather than opening their eyes to actually perceive the injustices that are occurring at their own hand, they would continue to allow their sexist hermeneutic to rule the day.

As this cartoon suggests, the problem isn’t just that women don’t have fair representation, but that this unfair representation goes all the way to the top.

Men make the decisions.