Where did the anti-family vibe come from?

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If you want to discuss the problems the Church has with those nuns – there probably is a thread for that already in progress somewhere on this site.
If the all-male clergy in the Vatican is simply trying to suppress the innocent women religious in order to pump up their own fragile egos with pride, then we don’t even have to consider the content or logic of their criticism. There would be nothing to discuss. You can’t reason with male chauvinists, right? You can only wag your finger at them with disapproval in public and hope their reputations are then too tarnished to exercise any authority.

(This isn’t off-topic. I trust that you see the point.)
 
I just thought about something too while I was at work. It seems alot of the arguements against women working really could be summed up as Mens pride and ego. I mean does anyone else see that in some of these comments? Like oh no if women work and have equal value to men our egos will be damaged!! I mean that is not literally what people are saying but it seems to me pride and ego are the real arguments here.
Dear Calliso,

Hello again.

Is it not possible, dear friend, that you have either wittingly or unwittingly allowed your mind to become imbued with radical aberrant feminist propaganda, which is perhaps why you consider arguments against married women working originating with mens pride and ego?

The spurious world-view of feminism now plagues our Western Society and is rampant everywhere, thus it is hardly surprising that many modern Catholics have been influenced by its pernicious doctrine. The best antidote to this unwholesome ideology is to read something like the encyclical *Casti Connubii *1930, which supports the position that the ideal and natural family arrangement is one where the wife/mother remains at home devoted to the care of children and domestic affairs. It truly is a tract for our times and I would encourage all viewing this thread to read and mark it carefully, for it providentially anticipated the godless feminism of our age. Moreover, it is still a part of the ordinary magisterium and has not been officially abrogated by Holy Mother Church - it continues to be valid and authoritative Church teaching.

The real arguments, dear friend, against married women working have to do with a recognition of the proper sphere of women and the divine role of motherhood. Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition help inform the mind as to correct views upon this matter. It is ignorance or/and a disregard of this wholsome teaching that has been the occasion of so many women “abandoning the duty of housewife, for which they were fashioned” (Benedict XV, Letter Natalis Trecentesime, 1917). We are not a better society for this, as everyone knows only too well. The urgent need of the hour is a return to the old paths, wherein is the good way.

God bless.

Warmest good wishes,

Portrait

Pax
 
Dear Calliso,

Hello again.

Is it not possible, dear friend, that you have either wittingly or unwittingly allowed your mind to become imbued with radical aberrant feminist propaganda, which is perhaps why you consider arguments against married women working originating with mens pride and ego?

The spurious world-view of feminism now plagues our Western Society and is rampant everywhere, thus it is hardly surprising that many modern Catholics have been influenced by its pernicious doctrine. The best antidote to this unwholesome ideology is to read something like the encyclical *Casti Connubii *1930, which supports the position that the ideal and natural family arrangement is one where the wife/mother remains at home devoted to the care of children and domestic affairs. It truly is a tract for our times and I would encourage all viewing this thread to read and mark it carefully, for it providentially anticipated the godless feminism of our age. Moreover, it is still a part of the ordinary magisterium and has not been officially abrogated by Holy Mother Church - it continues to be valid and authoritative Church teaching.

The real arguments, dear friend, against married women working have to do with a recognition of the proper sphere of women and the divine role of motherhood. Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition help inform the mind as to correct views upon this matter. It is ignorance or/and a disregard of this wholsome teaching that has been the occasion of so many women “abandoning the duty of housewife, for which they were fashioned” (Benedict XV, Letter Natalis Trecentesime, 1917). We are not a better society for this, as everyone knows only too well. The urgent need of the hour is a return to the old paths, wherein is the good way.

God bless.

Warmest good wishes,

Portrait

Pax

Dear “Portrait” – you sound like a broken record. “Radical feminism” – bla - bla - bla. “Radical feminism” – bla - bla - bla – bla – bla – etc. etc. etc.
 
Portrait, I thougt of you this weekend while I was listening to a talk by Father John Ricardo. He said that almost all of the problems that we have in modern society (abortion, falling apart of the family etc.) finds it cause in absent and abusive fathers. Would you agree with this? You say that everything wrong in modern society is caused by feminists. I would hope that you wouldn’t also blame absent and abusive fathers on anything other than absent and abusive fathers.
Dear LucyLight,

Cordial greetings and a very good day. Hope all is well.

Father John Ricardo certainly has a vaild point, absent and abusive fathers are indeed a source of many social problems today. However, I do not think that feminism can be exonerated, for it also has a great deal to answer for and is a scourge on our Western society.

Lucy, I do not recal stating in any of my posts that everything wrong in modern society is caused by feminists.

God bless.

Warmest good wishes,

Portrait

Pax
 

Dear “Portrait” – you sound like a broken record. “Radical feminism” – bla - bla - bla. “Radical feminism” – bla - bla - bla – bla – bla – etc. etc. etc.
Wow. This is despicable behavior. You sound like a child throwing a temper tantrum. The disparity in class and respectfulness between your post and the one you quoted is shocking.
 
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Walking_Home:
Dear “Portrait” – you sound like a broken record. “Radical feminism” – bla - bla - bla. “Radical feminism” – bla - bla - bla – bla – bla – etc. etc. etc.
Wow. This is despicable behavior. You sound like a child throwing a temper tantrum. The disparity in class and respectfulness between your post and the one you quoted is shocking.

Meh. I’ve come across “Portrait” – often enough – in various topics – to say that yea – he sounds like a broken record.
 
Dear Calliso,

Hello again.

Is it not possible, dear friend, that you have either wittingly or unwittingly allowed your mind to become imbued with radical aberrant feminist propaganda, which is perhaps why you consider arguments against married women working originating with mens pride and ego?

The spurious world-view of feminism now plagues our Western Society and is rampant everywhere, thus it is hardly surprising that many modern Catholics have been influenced by its pernicious doctrine. The best antidote to this unwholesome ideology is to read something like the encyclical *Casti Connubii *1930, which supports the position that the ideal and natural family arrangement is one where the wife/mother remains at home devoted to the care of children and domestic affairs. It truly is a tract for our times and I would encourage all viewing this thread to read and mark it carefully, for it providentially anticipated the godless feminism of our age. Moreover, it is still a part of the ordinary magisterium and has not been officially abrogated by Holy Mother Church - it continues to be valid and authoritative Church teaching.

The real arguments, dear friend, against married women working have to do with a recognition of the proper sphere of women and the divine role of motherhood. Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition help inform the mind as to correct views upon this matter. It is ignorance or/and a disregard of this wholsome teaching that has been the occasion of so many women “abandoning the duty of housewife, for which they were fashioned” (Benedict XV, Letter Natalis Trecentesime, 1917). We are not a better society for this, as everyone knows only too well. The urgent need of the hour is a return to the old paths, wherein is the good way.

God bless.

Warmest good wishes,

Portrait

Pax
Yes but the thing is we have to understand views on women weren;t so good in many parts of the world. IN some cases still aren;t Women for much of history were second class citizens in many parts of the world. We were seen as less then men. So you have to ask yourself to such thoughts as those in your post really come truly from the desire for what is best for the family. Or do they originate more in the idea of keeping women under control? I think its easy to forget that is wasn;t that long ago that it was seen as perfectly normal and ok in many parts of the world for a husband to beat his wife. And I think as late at the 1980s even in the USA in some parts you could not accuse your spouse of rape. Heck it was less then a hundred years ago that women got the right to vote in the USA. So what I am saying is we can;t ignore the fact that some of these views may come from a culture that saw women as second class citizens. I donlt think anyone on this thread feels that way about women personally.
 
I got married 5 years ago to my wonderful wife and now we have 2 beautiful children. We have a nice house with a big backyard in a neighborhood full of other kids and we have a great sense of community here. I’m not rich (enlisted military) but I make a decent amount and it’s stable so I can keep my family well taken care of. I love life. Seriously, this is the happiest I have ever been.

I wrote that not to brag, but to lay out the next part of my post. Why on earth would anyone be against this kind of life, or not want it, or make disparaging remarks and prefer to be single or at least married-with-no-kids? I just don’t get it, it totally boggles my mind. There is such a strong anti-family sentiment especially amongst younger people and intellectual types.

I don’t understand this general idea prevalent in society, in some parts more than others (IMO, the attitude is more widespread in non-Latin Europe), that glorifies being single and living for yourself. How does such an unnatural and abhorrent ideal come to be so widely accepted?

It’s just not normal- pretty much all other cultures in the world glorify family and hold it to be life’s greatest good. I studied Chinese for 3 years in college and the character for “good” consists of a woman, a child, and a roof. I’m not making this up.

It doesn’t make sense historically, nor does it make sense experientially… I love my kids. Sure they irritate me sometimes, but I love them beyond words and they bring so much joy to my life. How could anyone not want joy, love and happiness and prefer self absorption and a very shallow kind of autonomy? So many people seem to want to hang on to a teenage lifestyle well into their 30s now, what a depressing existence!

Please… someone help me understand where this idea came from, why so many people believe in it, and what the heck is wrong with the world!
It sounds like you just need to move or atleast do activities outside of your neighborhood. Most places I have been and have lived embrace families and single people. I would just hang out with other families from Church and get out and about. It sounds like you just picked a bad neighborhood to live in, but there are remedies for that.

Enjoy your family and don’t worry about others.
 
Yes but the thing is we have to understand views on women weren;t so good in many parts of the world. IN some cases still aren;t Women for much of history were second class citizens in many parts of the world. We were seen as less then men. So you have to ask yourself to such thoughts as those in your post really come truly from the desire for what is best for the family. Or do they originate more in the idea of keeping women under control? I think its easy to forget that is wasn;t that long ago that it was seen as perfectly normal and ok in many parts of the world for a husband to beat his wife. And I think as late at the 1980s even in the USA in some parts you could not accuse your spouse of rape. Heck it was less then a hundred years ago that women got the right to vote in the USA. So what I am saying is we can;t ignore the fact that some of these views may come from a culture that saw women as second class citizens. I donlt think anyone on this thread feels that way about women personally.
Dear Calliso,

Cordial greetings and a very good day. Thankyou for your response above.

Certainly there were injustices that needed to be addressed and this I would not stop to deny, dear friend. However, we now find ourselves in the situation where women are bombarded with false notions of femininity and the aggressive attempt to virtually eliminate the God-given differences between men and women. Thus the feminist lobby would urge women to move away from their natural femininity and boldly embrace a more harder and ‘masculine’ identity; it says, “Be a contender with men. Be aggressive, be assertive, be out there in the workplace and the world, taking men on. Don’t focus on marriage, the family or children. That is the old stereotypical model, belonging to the old oppressive world, and to opt for it is to be a failure as a woman. Be independent, you now have a right to self-determination, you do not even need a man”.

Attempting, dear friend, to erradicate the distinctions between men and women is not only an affront to Almighty God who gave these distinctions in the first place, but will ultimately not bring true fulfillment to a woman. Moreover, the experiment to wipe out gender differences has, alas, been attempted many times before and it has not brought lasting happiness to women. One of the experiments that took this up was that of the kibbutz system in Israel. After the Second World War the kibbutz system was established in the newly founded state of Israel. These were communities where men and women lived and worked together - and it set out to do away with gender roles. The ordinary nuclear family in some of these communities was eliminated, but a half a century later, that kibbutz system has dwindled. Now how de we account for its decline? I am given to understand that it was largely the women who got rid of it. They led the way back to demanding more time with their children and back to insisting that they wanted particular roles within the traditional domestic sphere. Clearly, the ‘women are the same as men’ philosophy failed to satisfy them and they became, at length, disillusioned. That, dear friend, ought to teach us something, namely that gender roles are built into our very fabric, being put there by the divine providence and even the forces of radical aberrant feminism are powerless in wiping them out.

It is historically true that one of the foundations of a stable and healthy society is the influence of good women. I remember reading something that Mikhail Gorbachev, the former leader of the Soviet Union, said back in 1987. In the old USSR this seeking to play down the differences between male and female was part of the original revolution of 1917. The Communist experiment failed. However, this is one of the things that Mr. Gorbachev said: “We have discovered that many of our problems - in children’s and young people’s behaviour, in our morals, culture and production - are particularly caused by the weakening of family ties and slack attitude to family responsibilities. This is a paradoxical result of our sincere desire to make women as much the same as men in everything”.

I say, is not that jolly strange, dear friend? He is in effect saying, “Look, we have set out in this direction with sincere hearts, wanting to do good and yet it led in the wrong direction - it has not worked”. The fabric of society is greatly undermined if we are not careful when we play around. The Christian, of course, realizes that such things are bound to happen, for we are tampering with something fundamental which God has put there from the beginning. Family roles are not accidental or societal; male and female were planned by the divine providence. The feminine has vast power for good in society, but we need to be clear as what is authentically feminine. Sadly our contemporary Western culture has lost sight of what is is to be authentically feminine, thanks to the constant stream of godless ideology and propaganda emanating from the secular feminist lobby.

God bless.

Warmest good wishes,

Portrait

Pax
 
Dear Calliso,

Cordial greetings and a very good day. Thankyou for your response above.

Certainly there were injustices that needed to be addressed and this I would not stop to deny, dear friend. However, we now find ourselves in the situation where women are bombarded with false notions of femininity and the aggressive attempt to virtually eliminate the God-given differences between men and women. Thus the feminist lobby would urge women to move away from their natural femininity and boldly embrace a more harder and ‘masculine’ identity; it says, “Be a contender with men. Be aggressive, be assertive, be out there in the workplace and the world, taking men on. Don’t focus on marriage, the family or children. That is the old stereotypical model, belonging to the old oppressive world, and to opt for it is to be a failure as a woman. Be independent, you now have a right to self-determination, you do not even need a man”.

Attempting, dear friend, to erradicate the distinctions between men and women is not only an affront to Almighty God who gave these distinctions in the first place, but will ultimately not bring true fulfillment to a woman. Moreover, the experiment to wipe out gender differences has, alas, been attempted many times before and it has not brought lasting happiness to women. One of the experiments that took this up was that of the kibbutz system in Israel. After the Second World War the kibbutz system was established in the newly founded state of Israel. These were communities where men and women lived and worked together - and it set out to do away with gender roles. The ordinary nuclear family in some of these communities was eliminated, but a half a century later, that kibbutz system has dwindled. Now how de we account for its decline? I am given to understand that it was largely the women who got rid of it. They led the way back to demanding more time with their children and back to insisting that they wanted particular roles within the traditional domestic sphere. Clearly, the ‘women are the same as men’ philosophy failed to satisfy them and they became, at length, disillusioned. That, dear friend, ought to teach us something, namely that gender roles are built into our very fabric, being put there by the divine providence and even the forces of radical aberrant feminism are powerless in wiping them out.

It is historically true that one of the foundations of a stable and healthy society is the influence of good women. I remember reading something that Mikhail Gorbachev, the former leader of the Soviet Union, said back in 1987. In the old USSR this seeking to play down the differences between male and female was part of the original revolution of 1917. The Communist experiment failed. However, this is one of the things that Mr. Gorbachev said: “We have discovered that many of our problems - in children’s and young people’s behaviour, in our morals, culture and production - are particularly caused by the weakening of family ties and slack attitude to family responsibilities. This is a paradoxical result of our sincere desire to make women as much the same as men in everything”.

I say, is not that jolly strange, dear friend? He is in effect saying, “Look, we have set out in this direction with sincere hearts, wanting to do good and yet it led in the wrong direction - it has not worked”. The fabric of society is greatly undermined if we are not careful when we play around. The Christian, of course, realizes that such things are bound to happen, for we are tampering with something fundamental which God has put there from the beginning. Family roles are not accidental or societal; male and female were planned by the divine providence. The feminine has vast power for good in society, but we need to be clear as what is authentically feminine. Sadly our contemporary Western culture has lost sight of what is is to be authentically feminine, thanks to the constant stream of godless ideology and propaganda emanating from the secular feminist lobby.

God bless.

Warmest good wishes,

Portrait

Pax
Well it does seem though in your examples the women weren;t really given much of a choice am I right? It was just you will do this and thats thats! At least that is the impression I get. Because there are plenty of women who do wish to work and do feel satified working outside the home. I think the key thing here though is choice. Noone is going to be happy if they are forced into a certain role you know? Also what is wrong about being assertive? Assertiveness is a good thing women shouldn;t have to be doormats. But I donlt think anyone here is for aradicating gender differences. But requiring women to stay at home and limiting their freedom hasn;t lead to good things in the past. As at least a couple posters here have pointed out with their own experiences. Once again no one is for making men and women the same however if you give one gender too much power in this case men over women you can guarentee it will be abused which is exactly what we saw in the past.
 
Wow this threaad sure has legs. No way I can read through all these posts so this point may have already been brought up.

My take. We are a product of our environment. Our modern world idolizes beauty power, toys, celebrity and more. The family person (man or woman) to some degree, steps away from these desires when he/she elects to become a family person. The person seeking beauty would find it difficult to get to the gym (for example) hours a day to keep thier body buff. The person seeking power would have to step away from these desires in order to properly balance family life an career. The person seeking celebrity also becomes compromised for these same reasons.

My experience (and unfortunately I have many years of it ;)), many of the the people (not all) seeking these other desires (desires of the self - as opposed to desires of the other) often regret it when they see thier counterparts who are perhaps not as beautiful, not as wealthy and not as popular, in loving relationships with thier families, thoer children and god-willing thier grandchildren.

We will not see a change until we stop overly glamorizing the celebrity, the athlete, the beauty contentant, the reality TV show superstars and begin again, to respect the working class hero, the mother and father who put themselves a distant second to thier family members and the children whoo honor thy father and mother.

Seems like God got it right once again. 🙂
 
Dear LucyLight,

Cordial greetings and a very good day. Hope all is well.

Father John Ricardo certainly has a vaild point, absent and abusive fathers are indeed a source of many social problems today. However, I do not think that feminism can be exonerated, for it also has a great deal to answer for and is a scourge on our Western society.

Lucy, I do not recal stating in any of my posts that everything wrong in modern society is caused by feminists.

God bless.

Warmest good wishes,

Portrait

Pax
I believe he also said that this was a cause of a lot of secularism because it’s hard to believe in a fatherly god if your father was inadequate. Anyways, the reason why I mentioned this is because you only appear to be blaming feminists. I haven’t read all of your posts but they all seem to be pointing to one thing…feminism. So I was curious what your thoughts on this would be.
 
Well it does seem though in your examples the women weren;t really given much of a choice am I right? It was just you will do this and thats thats! At least that is the impression I get. Because there are plenty of women who do wish to work and do feel satified working outside the home. I think the key thing here though is choice. Noone is going to be happy if they are forced into a certain role you know? Also what is wrong about being assertive? Assertiveness is a good thing women shouldn;t have to be doormats. But I donlt think anyone here is for aradicating gender differences. But requiring women to stay at home and limiting their freedom hasn;t lead to good things in the past. As at least a couple posters here have pointed out with their own experiences. Once again no one is for making men and women the same however if you give one gender too much power in this case men over women you can guarentee it will be abused which is exactly what we saw in the past.
Dear Calliso,

Hello again and thankyou for your response.

First, the women who participated in the kibbutz system did so voluntarily, it was an experiment and there was no coercion involved. Therefore, dear friend, it stands as a testament to the disillusionment and lack of fulfillment experienced by women when gender distinctions are eliminated and ignored, and herein lies its lesson for us today who live in a society permeated with aberrant feminist ideology. Gender roles are in the very warp and weft of our being and have been put there by our Maker, thus when we rebel against them and reject them, there are consequences to be had, for sure.

The point about the old USSR is that the original revolution attempted to minimize the importance of gender distinctions (much like our present age) and this reaped a bitter harvest in terms of youth behavioural problems and morals etc. They tampered with something fundamental put in place by God and paid a price for so doing. That is the moral for us living in these days of fanatical feminism, dear friend. Family roles are providential, not accidental and were planned by our Maker for the good of society and we disregard them at our peril.

True, there are enticing rewards for married women who continue to be part of the workforce, no doubt, but that does not mean that it is morally right for them to work, even if they do find it satisfying in the short term. The Devil will always make disobedience to God’s providential order appealing, otherwise his way would not seem better to sinful man - we are not ignorant of his devices, old chap. He is a past master at deception and he will always make the grass appear greener on the other side of the fence.

Married women have a choice either to obey or disobey God’s providential order, but if they are women of faith, they will gladly submit themselves to being “workers at home” (Titus 2: 4,5), humbly accepting the role of housewife as being best for them and best for the wider society. If they are desirous of pleasing God and doing the right thing for their offspring, they will not feel that they are being “forced into a role”. It is only a woman who revolts against God’s providential order that will feel miserable about having to devote herself exclusively to the divine role of motherhood, dear friend. A truly pious women will not feel that way.

No one is suggesting here that a woman must be a feebly submissive person who does not say boo to a goose and who is afraid to voice an opinion. All this emotive talk of women being ‘doormats’ is, dear friend, designed to further the feminist cause and discredit men. It elicits an emotional response which is neither fair nor conducive to rational thinking. Professing Catholics of all people should desist using it as it furthers the case of the enemies of religion.

We must needs also distinguish between standing up for oneself and being ostentatiously self-assertive, which is in complete contrast to St. Peter’s description of a woman as “a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious” (I Pet. 3: 1-7). Indeed, the apostle terms this lovely disposition and “imperishable jewel”. Would to God that there were more women of this ilk in our confused and troubled times.

To see married women who stay at home and devote themselves to motherhood as having their freedom restricted is to totally misunderstand a woman’s proper sphere. A pious Catholic woman would simply not look at this way, dear friend, because she would see motherhood as the role assigned to her by the divine providence and not question the wisdom of her Creator. It is as if a man questioned the Creator’s wisdom in assigning him the role of breadwinner and prefered instead to be homemaker. Be under no illusions, rebellion and discontent are at the very heart of the feminist movement, with its blurring of gender roles. In point of fact it is its very driving force, which is why it is so anti-Christian, dear friend.

The man, according to Christian teaching, is the head of the household, but that does not mean that he has to be, to use the modern parlance, a ‘control freak’. As head of the house, he can still be a loving devoted husband who treats his wife with the dignity and consideration that she deserves as the “weaker vessel” (I Pet. 3: 7). Nevertheless, wives are still exhorted to “be submissive” to their husbands (I Pet. 3: 1; cf. Eph. 5: 22-24; Col. 3: 18), as befits those accept the divine pattern as seen in the original design of the Creator.

Within the context of a God-fearing home marked by the love of Christ, where both the husband and the wife are desirous to please the Lord (including a humble acceptance of their God-given roles), spousal abuse would, I suspect, be highly unlikely.

God bless and goodbye for now, dear friend.

Warmest good wishes,

Portrait

Pax
 
Dear Calliso,

Hello again and thankyou for your response.

First, the women who participated in the kibbutz system did so voluntarily, it was an experiment and there was no coercion involved. Therefore, dear friend, it stands as a testament to the disillusionment and lack of fulfillment experienced by women when gender distinctions are eliminated and ignored, and herein lies its lesson for us today who live in a society permeated with aberrant feminist ideology. Gender roles are in the very warp and weft of our being and have been put there by our Maker, thus when we rebel against them and reject them, there are consequences to be had, for sure.

The point about the old USSR is that the original revolution attempted to minimize the importance of gender distinctions (much like our present age) and this reaped a bitter harvest in terms of youth behavioural problems and morals etc. They tampered with something fundamental put in place by God and paid a price for so doing. That is the moral for us living in these days of fanatical feminism, dear friend. Family roles are providential, not accidental and were planned by our Maker for the good of society and we disregard them at our peril.

True, there are enticing rewards for married women who continue to be part of the workforce, no doubt,** but that does not mean that it is morally right for them to work,** even if they do find it satisfying in the short term. ** The Devil will always make disobedience to God’s providential order appealing,** otherwise his way would not seem better to sinful man - we are not ignorant of his devices, old chap. He is a past master at deception and he will always make the grass appear greener on the other side of the fence.

Married women have a choice either to obey or disobey God’s providential order, but if they are women of faith, they will gladly submit themselves to being “workers at home” (Titus 2: 4,5), humbly accepting the role of housewife as being best for them and best for the wider society. If they are desirous of pleasing God and doing the right thing for their offspring, they will not feel that they are being “forced into a role”. It is only a woman who revolts against God’s providential order that will feel miserable about having to devote herself exclusively to the divine role of motherhood, dear friend. A truly pious women will not feel that way.

No one is suggesting here that a woman must be a feebly submissive person who does not say boo to a goose and who is afraid to voice an opinion. All this emotive talk of women being ‘doormats’ is, dear friend, designed to further the feminist cause and discredit men. It elicits an emotional response which is neither fair nor conducive to rational thinking. Professing Catholics of all people should desist using it as it furthers the case of the enemies of religion.

We must needs also distinguish between standing up for oneself and being ostentatiously self-assertive, which is in complete contrast to St. Peter’s description of a woman as “a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious” (I Pet. 3: 1-7). Indeed, the apostle terms this lovely disposition and “imperishable jewel”. Would to God that there were more women of this ilk in our confused and troubled times.

To see married women who stay at home and devote themselves to motherhood as having their freedom restricted is to totally misunderstand a woman’s proper sphere. A pious Catholic woman would simply not look at this way, dear friend, because she would see motherhood as the role assigned to her by the divine providence and not question the wisdom of her Creator. It is as if a man questioned the Creator’s wisdom in assigning him the role of breadwinner and prefered instead to be homemaker. Be under no illusions, rebellion and discontent are at the very heart of the feminist movement, with its blurring of gender roles. In point of fact it is its very driving force, which is why it is so anti-Christian, dear friend.

The man, according to Christian teaching, is the head of the household, but that does not mean that he has to be, to use the modern parlance, a ‘control freak’. As head of the house, he can still be a loving devoted husband who treats his wife with the dignity and consideration that she deserves as the “weaker vessel” (I Pet. 3: 7). Nevertheless, wives are still exhorted to “be submissive” to their husbands (I Pet. 3: 1; cf. Eph. 5: 22-24; Col. 3: 18), as befits those accept the divine pattern as seen in the original design of the Creator.

Within the context of a God-fearing home marked by the love of Christ, where both the husband and the wife are desirous to please the Lord (including a humble acceptance of their God-given roles), spousal abuse would, I suspect, be highly unlikely.

God bless and goodbye for now, dear friend.

Warmest good wishes,

Portrait

Pax

Again – with your usual “modus poperandi”. Imposing restrictions on women – which the Church does not. And I dare say – you have an unhealthy fixation/obsession – with dominating/controlling women
 

Again – with your usual “modus poperandi”. Imposing restrictions on women – which the Church does not. And I dare say – you have an unhealthy fixation/obsession – with dominating/controlling women
Yeah that is what is confusing me. In all my time reading here through all the feminism thread. Never have a gotten the idea that in modern times the church teaches that a woman working is sinful. Maybe that is ideal for a woman to stay at home but never sinful. Really there is a need to differentiate between opinions that were heavily influenced by the culture of the time. And actual set in stone church rulings. I found this vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_let_29061995_women_en.html
Today as well. This I believe is more modern then the docoments Portrait is using. Notice what he says about working women? Now if it was truly set in stone sinful and immoral for a woman to be working do you think a Pope would be saying those things? Praising working women? I seriously doubt it a Pope praising something that is considered a sin would be great controversy indeed! But once again never have I gotten the idea that the church considers working women a sin. And surely if it was there would have been alot more people on this thread proclaiming it so. The fact that most seem to disagree at least to a degree with Portrait tells me that maybe he is the one in the wrong. I mean there are plenty of people here very knowledgable in their faith.
 
Greetings,

Fortunately for Portrait (and the rest of us) orthodoxy does not rest upon popularity.

If you look at another, more authoritative document from Bl John Paul II, his encyclical Centesimus Annus, you’ll find this:
A workman’s wages should be sufficient to enable him to support himself, his wife and his children. “If through necessity or fear of a worse evil the workman accepts harder conditions because an employer or contractor will afford no better, he is made the victim of force and injustice”.
I don’t argue that it is intrinsically evil for a married woman to work outside the home in absolutely every circumstance, and from what I know of Portrait, I don’t believe that he does either.

As the Catechism of the Council of Trent states, “The wife should love to remain at home, unless compelled by necessity to go out; and she should never presume to leave home without her husband’s consent.”

In some cases, as when a husband is the victim of an unjust employer which Bl. John Paul II pointed out, there may be a necessity for a wife to go to work outside the home. This necessity does not negate the ideal.

Say my son falls out of tree that he is climbing and injures himself. I get him in the car to go to the Emergency Room. Along the way I’m stopped at a red light. No traffic is coming. Based upon the circumstances, there may be a necessity for me to run the red light, so that I can get my son to the hospital faster and have his injuries treated. It does not logically follow that we should all run red lights whenever we want for any reason whatsoever.

Pax Christi
 
I got married 5 years ago to my wonderful wife and now we have 2 beautiful children. We have a nice house with a big backyard in a neighborhood full of other kids and we have a great sense of community here. I’m not rich (enlisted military) but I make a decent amount and it’s stable so I can keep my family well taken care of. I love life. Seriously, this is the happiest I have ever been.

I wrote that not to brag, but to lay out the next part of my post. Why on earth would anyone be against this kind of life, or not want it, or make disparaging remarks and prefer to be single or at least married-with-no-kids? I just don’t get it, it totally boggles my mind. There is such a strong anti-family sentiment especially amongst younger people and intellectual types.

I don’t understand this general idea prevalent in society, in some parts more than others (IMO, the attitude is more widespread in non-Latin Europe), that glorifies being single and living for yourself. How does such an unnatural and abhorrent ideal come to be so widely accepted?

It’s just not normal- pretty much all other cultures in the world glorify family and hold it to be life’s greatest good. I studied Chinese for 3 years in college and the character for “good” consists of a woman, a child, and a roof. I’m not making this up.

It doesn’t make sense historically, nor does it make sense experientially… I love my kids. Sure they irritate me sometimes, but I love them beyond words and they bring so much joy to my life. How could anyone not want joy, love and happiness and prefer self absorption and a very shallow kind of autonomy? So many people seem to want to hang on to a teenage lifestyle well into their 30s now, what a depressing existence!

Please… someone help me understand where this idea came from, why so many people believe in it, and what the heck is wrong with the world!
I really don’t know. I am also married and I have a baby boy. Sure sometimes I get a bit jealous of my friends going out having fun. But they do it all the time and the I remember… oh wait I HATED that life! So I get the fact that it can be tempting and alluring from the outside looking in. But it’s not that great when your’e on the inside looking out. I guess the grass is always greener. The fact is there is a point in time when you have to grow up and when that time comes who wouldn’t want a family? I just don’t get it either really…
 
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Walking_Home:
Again – with your usual “modus poperandi”. Imposing restrictions on women – which the Church does not. And I dare say – you have an unhealthy fixation/obsession – with dominating/controlling women
Yeah that is what is confusing me. In all my time reading here through all the feminism thread. Never have a gotten the idea that in modern times the church teaches that a woman working is sinful. Maybe that is ideal for a woman to stay at home but never sinful. Really there is a need to differentiate between opinions that were heavily influenced by the culture of the time. And actual set in stone church rulings. I found this vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_let_29061995_women_en.html
Today as well. This I believe is more modern then the docoments Portrait is using. Notice what he says about working women? Now if it was truly set in stone sinful and immoral for a woman to be working do you think a Pope would be saying those things? Praising working women? I seriously doubt it a Pope praising something that is considered a sin would be great controversy indeed! But once again never have I gotten the idea that the church considers working women a sin. And surely if it was there would have been alot more people on this thread proclaiming it so. **The fact that most seem to disagree at least to a degree with Portrait tells me that maybe he is the one in the wrong. **I mean there are plenty of people here very knowledgable in their faith.

Yep – “Portrait” has been shown to be wrong – more than once. His views on this thread – are just another example of his wrong extremism. There are others – who hold the same type of extremist views.
 
Here’s some more support from the magisterium for the idea that a married woman ideally will stay home. From Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical Rerum Novarum:
Women, again, are not suited for certain occupations; a woman is by nature fitted for home-work, and it is that which is best adapted at once to preserve her modesty and to promote the good bringing up of children and the well-being of the family.
A few comments:
  1. Pope Leo XIII does not base his comment on social circumstances or customs which can and do change, but on the nature of a woman which does not change.
  2. Although it is quite obvious to many, especially woman who are housewives, still many others overlook the fact that being a housewife* is *work. Here the Church recongnizes it as such, so when other Popes comment on “working woman” it should be clear that it at least includes, being a housewife.
Pax Christi
 
Here’s some more support from the magisterium for the idea that a married woman ideally will stay home. From Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical Rerum Novarum:

A few comments:
  1. Pope Leo XIII does not base his comment on social circumstances or customs which can and do change, but on the nature of a woman which does not change.
  2. Although it is quite obvious to many, especially woman who are housewives, still many others overlook the fact that being a housewife* is *work. Here the Church recongnizes it as such, so when other Popes comment on “working woman” it should be clear that it at least includes, being a housewife.
Pax Christi
Well at least your not going back to 1566 here ;). I think Pope Leo XIII is being more balanced than you give him credit for. He clearly favors women working at home but notice he does not say that a woman can’t or should not work outside of the home. He only says that woman are not suited for certain occupations. And says that woman are better at housework. You could also say men are better suited for construction because of reasons x,y and z. That would not mean that men should only seek out an occupation in construction.

I will add that opinions of the nature of women have changed overtime. It was once believed that women were not as smart as men because their brains were slightly smaller. We now know that size does not matter it has to do with the makeup of the brain. It has also been a common belief that women were morally weaker than men (usually citing Eve). Put these two false beliefs together and the nature of women seems more childlike and in need of guidance, not able to be independent etc…
 
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