Pastor Joel Webbon thinks half of Americans should be stripped of the right to vote. Not coincidentally, it is the same half whom the Supreme Court has denied the right to bodily self-autonomy. This diminishment of women’s political rights is the position of a beta male. A man whose only route to significance is a biblical beat down of women.
Real men like real women. They are not scared they will be less because other people have what they have. But glass-chinned wonders like Webbon are terrified that if the law and their book do not shield them, they will be exposed as the spineless, sadistic buffoons they are.
Let us have a look at what this weak man is crying about. In an interview (I do not know who was asking the questions, so I will call him Uriah Heep for convenience), Webbon commented on the political future of women in a Christian nationalist America.
Uriah Heep: “Let’s say you can wave your Christian nationalist wand, we wake up tomorrow in a Christian nation, a Christian nationalist nation, as you’re describing. All right? There’s a lot of fears people have. Here’s one of them. Will women have the right to vote tomorrow if you wave that magic wand?"
Webbon: “No.”
Thus, in one sexist moment, Weddon turns the clock back a century. Heep asks for elaboration, which Webbon provides.
Uriah: “OK. Why not? I want to get into why not? Yeah, that’s great.”
Webbon: “Because if we had a Christian nation tomorrow, and women did have the right to vote, we would not have a Christian nation within 50 years.”
I like an officially religion-free America — the one the Founders envisioned. But Webbon obviously does not. Heep wants details.
Uriah (expelling breath): “Oh ho ho. Elaborate a little bit on that.”
Webbon: “Uh, because the husband has been appointed by God the head of his home. And no-fault divorce, and women suffrage, more than anything else, ultimately split the household.”
Uriah: “Hmm.”
Should we base our political arrangement on God’s directive? I think not. After all, God’s cure for leprosy involved a live bird, a dead bird, blood, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop. If Webbon wants to live biblically, he ought to quit modern medicine and use a sling for self-defense.
He should also do some research. If a divorce defines a split household, the Bible Belt lags. While those Godless heathen couples in NY & MA are hanging in there.
At this point, the rationally minded will think Webbon is pissing on women. He says he is not.
Webbon: “So we’re not talking about women not having a say in society. We’re talking about representative government.”
Uriah: “Right.”
Webbon: “Right now there are people in Williamson County, Texas, where I’m a resident who represent me. No one gets to represent themselves every single scenario.”
Uriah: “That’s right.”
Those who cannot see where this is going — I was one — do not have to wait long for Webbon’s logic.
Webbon: “We are all represented by somebody else, whether we like it or not. So why not have women and children represented by a man who loves them, and is willing to die for them, protects them, and provides for them?
I would love to be represented by just one person, in civil government, who has that level of commitment to me. So it’s not about men to vote and women don’t. But no, it’s about the household vote. The individual building block of society, according to the word of God, is not atomistic individuals. It is the molecule, not the atom, but the molecule of the family.
Uriah: “Yeah.”
I have questions. I assume Webbon thinks unmarried women should not have the right to vote. But what about widows? Does a mother — I am not talking about never-married mothers. I know what Webbon thinks about them — lose her political representation if her husband dies? What if she has no children?
What if she remarries a widower who has minor children? Does he now get two votes (one for his family and one for hers)? Does she inherit her husband's vote? Or do she and her children get folded into the blend?
Webbon does not go into details. Instead, he turns his attention from personal to national politics. He reflects on America’s two-party system. (Spoiler alert: He is against it)
Webbon: “But the family unit should not be separated. What God has joined together, let no man put asunder. I believe that women’s suffrage was just one liberal attempt, by people who hated Christ, to sever the covenant bond between husband and wife.
And that’s what happened. We would not have one Democrat [sic] President — this is a statistic fact — we would not have one Democrat president in the last 50 years if women couldn't vote.”
Uriah: “Oh, hoo.”
Like seemingly every fundamentalist Christian, Webbon misses the target with his opprobrium. A fault he spices with hypocrisy and ignorance. In 1976 Carter won the men’s vote by 4%. Clinton won a plurality of men’s votes in 1992. Obama won a plurality of the men’s vote in 2008. Those are statistical facts.
Additionally, the only American Presidents who severed the “covenant bond between husband and wife,” were two Republicans — Reagan and Trump. Those are more facts.
In addition, women’s suffrage, like all significant social movements in the US, including the right to choose, was informed by its adherents’ interpretation of the Bible. It was not just the bigots who found God’s support for their political philosophy. Scripture is an equal opportunity tool.
In conclusion, the waspish Webbon drops all pretense that he is God’s spokesman and admits he wants a society ordered according to his preferences.
Webbon: “So I don’t want women to vote because I want strong marriages. I want cohesive households. I want representative government all the way down to the family. And I also want babies not murdered. I don’t want drag queen story hour. I don’t want Rainbow Jihad. And none of that could happen, if women couldn’t vote.”
I want. I want. I want. Webbon sounds like a bilious toddler. How about we take the vote away from men. Then we could get rid of society of the baleful influence of low-T, gun-nut, wife-beating, liberty-strippers. America would be a non-Christian nation practicing Jesus’ philosophy of care for the poor, the downtrodden, the powerless, prisoners, and immigrants.
You can find that in your book Webbon — read the whole damn thing.
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Written by The Critical Mind. Cross-posted from Daily Kos.
