My daughter's flute teacher uses classroom space at a local Baptist (SBC) church. Today there were some daily devotional booklets on the table near where I sit and read while she's in her lesson.
I noticed some … differences between the materials for men and the materials for women.
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Not shown: different internal articles (manly triumphal / intellectualish articles for men, patience / joy / suffering for men), different readings on each day, even different adverts — but both are from Lifeways (the publishing arm of the SBC), and almost all the same folk are listed in the masthead.
I half expected to peer in the sanctuary and see a screened-off area for the women to stand quietly during the service.
It's not that women (as a generalized group) might not have some specific interests or cultural preferences in looking at spiritual matters. Ditto for men. But I would also expect a lot of overlap, and the assumptions about men want/need to know or consider in their spiritual life vs women strikes me as … more than a bit heavy-handed and intentional.
I can just imagine the brouhaha if this sort of thing were the sole devotional materials at my Episcopal parish. There would be a thumping of the rector about the head and shoulders by some of the ladyfolk.
"A Woman's Guide to Intimacy with God" vs. "God's Challenge for Today's Man"
I guess I only get challenged, not intimate. (Sigh.)
+Dave Hill I think you mean 'women' in the second part of the first parenthecised phrase.
I was an election judge in a place billed as "independent, evangelical, non-denominational baptist" (which was already trouble) and got to read their tracts on "why jesus had short hair" and "why snake handlers are going to hell". It was educational.
+Travis Bird Yes, I did, thanks, corrected.
+John Bump Not only short but, I suspect, a sort of tawny blonde, right?
Yeah, the fact that he was a blond, blue-eyed caucasian went without saying.