Yesterday afternoon I attended a wedding between two Jehovah's Witnesses. Although I feel as though it is cult-like, brainwashing machine of a religion, I wanted to go into the event with an open mind.
Let me set the stage: The event was held in their "church" a building called the "Kingdom Hall." This particular Kingdom Hall, which in the Witness world is simply referred to as "the hall" is made up with a lot less fanfare then most churches, synagogues, temples, ect. The building was very plain, with the meeting room containing chairs and a small stage.
Although all of the Witnesses were very friendly, things started to go downhill rather quickly. Ya know the slippery slope has begun when the ceremony begins with the "woman is created from man's rib" lil' diddy.
The man performing the ceremony, who may I add spoke with a distracting lisp, then continued on to define the roles of the man and woman in the marriage. This is when the true fun began...
Well, much to my shock, he said the MAN was the quintessential "Master of the Home" and the WOMAN was to "compliment the man." To compliment. As if she is here on earth solely to make her hubby look good. The diamond cuff links on her master's suit.
The lispy guy then went on to explain how the woman is in [and I kid you not] "subjection" to her husband. Subjection..... subjection.... Really folks? I felt like I was attending a wedding ceremony in 21 A.D. or something. It just didn't seem real that these people, these WOMEN could actually stomach what the Bible is supposedly telling them.
Cindy Brady then charmed us with a little metaphor to further illustrate the point. It went something like this: "The man and wife are like the pilot and co-pilot of a plane. You couldn't fly the plane without one another.." Gee, I wonder which one is supposed to be the co-pilot. And all that time, while all the bull was spewing from this guy's mouth, the bride, an extremely successful, talented and intelligent woman, sat there smiling and nodding. Another one bites the dust.
Now, I am all for both people pulling their weights in a marriage. If a wife wants to quit her job to become a stay-at-home mom, then I can respect her. Just because you don't receive a paycheck each week, doesn't mean you don't have a job. Arguably, a housewife/mother is the most difficult job in existence. BUT, to allow yourself to be submissive yo your husband? To hand over your identity to be his trophy, because, wait for it.... the BIBLE tells you to? I guess the group of chauvinistic dudes sitting around the table writing that farcical piece of literature really had a game plan in mind.... I felt like the woman's movement was set back one hundred years. I was waiting for the horse and buggy to arrive.
So, subjection, submission, co-piloting... where do I sign up?
