The Boxer Rebellion is one of those seldom remembered and easily ignored conflicts in which the United States played a minor part. The "rebellion" was a nationalist uprising by Chinese against the influence and power of Western nations (and Japan) over trade and commerce in China. It lasted from 1898 to 1901. The Chinese killed and mutilated foreigners in an effort to drive them out of their country. The Western powers (six European nations, the United States and Japan) responded with overwhelming violence and force. As part of that violence thousands of Chinese women and girls were raped by the western soldiers (the Chinese did not rape Western women). The Japanese were appalled, though they would later use rape as a weapon in Korea and China in the 1930s. The French leadership said that the rape was merely a result of the "gallantry of the French troops. United States reporters refused to write about the rapes because they were too abhorrent.
While this story ought to disturb us, it ought not to surprise us. It ought not to surprise us because even today rape is still used as a weapon of war. Places such as the Congo have seen thousands of women and girls raped not only by rebel forces but by the African Union forces who were supposed to be protecting them. In addition every year around the world more than 500,000 women and girls are trafficked as sex slaves with 40,000 – 50,000 of those coming to the United States. If one adds in female genital mutilation, honor killings, physical and mental abuse of women, it ought to appear that something is wrong.
I say it ought to appear that something is wrong because for many persons this is the way life is supposed to be. Men are supposed to dominate and subjugate women. We see this not only in developing nations but in certain sectors of our nation as well. There are many fundamentalist Christian denominations that while speaking out against abuse of women, are clear that women if not inferior, are at least not equal to men. They point to some of Paul's letters and church tradition to make their point. Unfortunately what they fail to understand is that the scriptures make it clear that the dominant/subservient model of male/female relationships is the result of sin…sin which Jesus came to address.
The design of God for the relationship between men and women was first that they were equal. In creation story one (Genesis chapter one) we learn that men and women were created at the same moment. Other than physical differences they were equal in every respect. In creation story two (Genesis chapter two) we see that the male of the species was incomplete and needed a "woman" to do what he could not do. While the word "help mate" is often used to describe the woman's role, the sense of the word translated as "help mate" never implied subservience or submission. It implied completion. Woman completed man. In the New Testament Jesus treats women with great respect (they were among his most loyal followers) and the Gospel writers make sure we know that it was the women who were the first to see and believe in the risen Jesus. Jesus also makes it clear that no believer (of either sex) is to dominate (lord it over another) anyone else. Instead we are to sacrificially love one another. Finally even though Paul is often seen as being anti-woman, the fact that he declares that in Christ there is no difference between men and women, that he accepts female Apostles and teachers and that he blames Adam and not Eve for the fall, offers us a fresh look at his views.
The challenge before the church then is to look at the goal of God which is to restore right relationships between men and women. This right relationship is that of mutual love and respect between the sexes. It is to recognize that God created men and women as equals and called them to share in the blessings and the work of the kingdom. To see this relationship otherwise is to ignore what Christ accomplished on the cross; the reconciliation of all persons with God and with one another.
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