Republicans might want to give some thought to how women might respond to Harrison Butker's remarks as commencement speaker at Kansas' Benedictine College before using them in campaign ads. Oops, too late.
Butker's ideology was certainly reflective of conservative thinking about the roles of women in society and culture, a hundred years back. But the fact of the matter is that society and culture have changed. For one thing, the ideology he was promoting, from a religious perspective and influence, is not actually the kind of role that the Christian gospel creates for men and women, when it is relieved of the cultural influence of western civilization, which is the lens through which it is usually interpreted.
But the Bible, and most specifically the Christian gospel, wasn't written under the contextual influence of western civilization. It was written in the ancient middle east, in the middle of a patriarchal society that viewed women as property and assets in making deals between men. Remarkably, in that cultural environment, that also accepted military conquest as the primary means by which humanity was capable of governing itself, the Christian gospel, and its eventual expression as the Christian church, set women free from that kind of bondage.
The idea that while a woman can pursue an education and a career, her ultimate fulfillment is in submitting to a man, taking care of his household and having and raising his children, and that's somehow more pleasing to God than any other kind of lifestyle that a woman can pursue is not an idea that is consistent with the Christian gospel. There are a few passages, written by the Apostles during that first century of the Christian church, which define the roles of men and women in the church, and much of that gives strong consideration to the way women were viewed in the culture and society of the day in which it was written.
But, for those who believe there's a little more visionary perspective given by the Christian gospel, including the recognition that women were also unique creations of God, created in his image for a purpose in life that brings glory to God, not that makes women subservient to men. And any interpretation of scripture which does not recognize, and take into full consideration the perspective of how women were viewed in the culture and society in which the scripture was written, and remove the influence of that society's view to get a pure interpretation of the way Jesus, as the Christ, viewed women and intended for his church to view them, is an incorrect interpretation.
Butker's statements have already been evaluated as a huge step backward for women. One of the things that hard line conservatives have extreme difficulty understanding, and then accepting, is that we live in constitutionally-guaranteed freedom, and that people can choose to live their life exactly as they want to live it. It seems like conservatives take it personally when the choices they have made for their life are not the same ones they've made. It's like they require others to choose to live the same way, and accept the same values in order for them to validate their own feelings and choices.
Personally, as far as I am concerned, what that looks like is resentment, perhaps caused by the fact that they've allowed themselves to be bound by arbitrary restrictions they think appease some imaginary god they've defined on their own terms. I was raised Baptist, and I can't even begin to count the number of times my behavior was controlled by being made to feel guilty about crossing some imaginary line that actually didn't exist in the Bible. It's taken a lot of effort to deconstruct all of that mentality. But there's nothing like experiencing freedom from that kind of bondage.
But, people believe what best fits their own ideology. If there are women in this country who think their life is fulfilled by serving a man, then they have the freedom to live that way. But, if the far right think this is going to be a campaign selling point for Republicans, they're going to be sadly mistaken.
The Supreme Court has already done Democrats a huge favor by overturning Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs decisions. The votes that has gathered for Democrats, and the elections it has won for them, are getting into the uncountable territory. This isn't going to provide a surge of women voters oppressed by their current level of freedom and prosperity. But I believe it will help sharpen the focus on exactly why the far right and its social agenda has no business getting candidates elected to office.
Harrison Butker has every right to express his religious views, especially at a Catholic girls school in Kansas, where they were somewhat more likely to be accepted and applauded than they would be at more mainstream Catholic universities where graduates are preparing for the real world. The alleged "doxing" incident that the Missouri Attorney General is pursuing, is inexcusable, by the way, though it should be noted that the far right has been doing this same thing, including attempts to do it to members of Trump's trial jury in Manhattan. Nor should this have any effect on his position on the Kansas City Chiefs, for whom he plays.
I doubt if he will accept any thanks for his help after the election is over.
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