Or as I call it "A session girls worst nightmare."
by nintendo87
Steven Anderson, a pastor of the Faithful World Baptist Church wanted to arm wrestle women. This is not friendly competition; he wanted to prove male superiority . The Faithful Baptist Church in Phoenix Temple, Arizona is one of many Christian fundamentalist churches in the United States. These churches are known for their bigotry , rejection of science, and the desire to end separation of church and state. Sermons sound more like rants about how the world is decadent due to leftism, feminism, and human evolution. Anderson in 2019 did an odd challenge. He dared the women of his congregation to arm wrestle him. According to his view, religion dictates that men have authority over their wives. Known for his sexist and homophobic views he is not uncommon among this political group. Basically, Anderson believes men have a right to dominate women based on physical strength alone. This argument is ludicrous considering every human has the right to be free. Listening to this only makes a person realize that religion is not compatible with modern society. Men may be stronger on average, but their are some powerful women. Pastor Anderson should be given more formidable competition.
Pastor Anderson complained that the word misogyny is not valid. Then incorrectly claimed it is a new word. The etymology of the word stems from a 1620 English play Swetnam the Woman-Hater . The word would reappear during the second wave feminist movement in the 1970s. The word and concept is not new. It has been around for centuries. There was a period in history in which religion did not have misogynic beliefs. The monotheistic religions erased the goddesses of ancient civilizations. Athena, Isis, Nike, and Neith are a few of many goddesses that humanity recognized. When monotheism emerged, women status was lowered in society. Religion has been used to justify women subordination. The reason Steven Anderson acts like the word does not exist is based on the conviction that women’s status is naturally subordinate. Every culture has a creation myth. The difference with Christianity, Judaism, and Islam is that it was marketed better. This explains why certain deities became relics of archeology. However, he then uses a biological sexist view to make his point attempting to show women are physically inferior.
What makes this more comedic is that he brags about beating five women at arm wresting. During the sermon he even forced his wife to arm wrestle. There are women who are really into fitness that may be eager to challenge Anderson. Women seem to be already beating men at arm wrestling. Measuring biological superiority that way will not work. The idea does not exist, just like the imaginary friend that the devout thinks acts upon events.
Pastor Wants To Arm Wrestle
The video has been marked as private on his Youtube channel . It could be that he just got tired of the criticism. The original sermon stated:
” I challenge any woman right now to come up and arm wrestle me right now. I’m going to make the challenge that I’ve made over and over again. I’m not the strongest man in the world. Any woman can come up and arm wrestle me right now. And if you can come up and defeat me in an arm-wrestling match right now, I’ll admit women are as strong as men. I’ve had about five women take me up on that over the years and they went down and they went down hard, alright? Ha ha.“
The world is a large place and there are man types of women. Some are actually professional arm wrestlers. If he was looking for a serious challenge Sarah Backman comes to mind. She has arm wrestled both men and women too many times to count. The challenge should be more interesting. Anderson could challenge MMA fighters, bodybuilders, weightlifters, and crossfit athletes. Arm wrestling is about technique also. Torque and leverage are just as important as strength.
Steven Anderson would have trouble beating trained women. During this sermon, he even made is own wife arm wrestle. Apparently, she was not interested at first but was pressured. Some women just have poor selection choices in relation to husbands.
“I even made my wife arm wrestle me.” . She didn’t want to do it but I said ‘No, you’re gonna arm wrestle me honey, and you’re gonna try your hardest because I’m gonna show you baby.”
Christian fundamentalists seem to be getting desperate . The fact that his wife was so easily bullied into this shows that this belief system is not a positive one for women. Either Anderson’s wife needs a divorce or to start training. This poor woman probably does everything he says without thought. Church congregations today seem like conformist gathering centers.
Steven Anderson ‘s comments and convictions demonstrate a masculine insecurity. What covers it is a vitriolic homophobia and a need to have women be controlled. Before women’s liberation, much of masculinity was tied to how well a man could either dominate women. Obviously, the desire for freedom was too great for that system to last. Women began to advance politically and socially, this put masculine identity in crisis. What is worse is that now ludicrous terms such as “toxic masculinity” are used to ignore this problem. What third wave feminists are describing is machismo, which does not require new terminology. If toxic masculinity exists, then toxic femininity is real. The masculine identity crisis was brought about through economic instability , declining family structure, and a power feminism that was not about equality. This explains why more men gravitate to extremist political or religious ideology. Women rising to power in politics, business, and the wider public sphere has caused backlash. However, when women step out of a gender boundary the repudiation gets more intense. Negativity even comes from the people who consider themselves “liberal” or “open” minded. Muscles and physical strength on a woman make some men feel insecure.
Physical prowess was thought to be the one area in which women could not enter. The muscular woman shatters the idea of male physical superiority. The strength gap between the average man and woman was used to justify man control over females. Women do not need large muscles to assert their freedom. All they need to do is resist. A woman who is physically powerful makes men who believe in their superiority, vexed because they come to the realization men are not better than women. Complementarianism does not really fit in a world that is transforming rapidly. Some rather not be married or even have a relationship. This should not scorned or viewed as odd. Raising a family or having a religion just may not be part of everyone’s thoughts.
Anderson hold the view that seeing as women are weaker than men, males are designed to be better leaders. Leadership does not require physical strength. Considering the world has female presidents and prime ministers the statement has no factual basis. Literal interpretations of the Bible have led some to think Noah could fit large amounts of animals on an ark or that Eve came from Adam’s rib. The negative view of women translates into public policy. The majority of Christian fundamentalists want to see a reduction of reproductive rights and a reversal of the gains of the second wave feminist movement. Their obsessive hatred of gay, lesbian, and transgender people is used to get more people to join their causes. If abortion were to be abolished, then the next target would be contraception. The men of the movement want to use religion to preserve male dominance, even though it is in gradual decline. During times of extreme stress and instability people normally turn to demagogues or extremist movements. The economic deterioration, political ineffectiveness, and the permanent state of warfare around the globe results in a more powerful evangelical far-right Christian movement . Steven Anderson is a product of all of these forces.
If Steven Anderson is serious about his belief he should be willing to challenge multiple women. Arm wrestling should not be the only challenge. The events should be tug of war, wrestling, and push-up contests. The women can come from a variety of strength sports. Talkers like to brag, but when it come time to perform they are crushed. Unless you are the size of Ronnie Coleman, a trained woman would be able to be Anderson.
This would not be a David and Goliath scenario. Steve would lose. That is not the only losing battle he is having. The resistance to modernity will fail. There could be a time when religion just fades into insignificance. The more science, technology, and education advance, the less likely people are to hold on to such beliefs. The problem is that the religious fundamentalist movement is better organized than people who support rationality. This faction makes up a huge portion of the American right-wing. Some on the left attempt to counter this with liberation theology, yet it is not an effective organizing tool. Based mostly in Latin America the movement was persecuted under military dictatorships during the Cold War. A Roman Catholic movement would not have the same impact in Protestant America. The American American churches were the closest to this ideology being involved in the abolitionist movement and the struggle for racial equality. The schism came in the 1960s, with the rise black nationalism and later womanism. There is no war of Christmas or plot to destroy Christianity. Steve Anderson desires a world of the 1950s and those days are never coming back.
Steven Anderson : The Pastor That Wants To Arm Wrestle Women
