Charisma News, an online news resource for “passionate, Spirit-filled Christians,” recently published an article about how women need to stop tempting men in church with their cleavage:
Here’s Shawn A. Akers:
“Any man who says he isn’t at least slightly affected by a scantily dressed woman… is either a eunuch, gay or someone who isn’t telling the truth.”
Victim blaming? Check.
I think that we can all agree that, no matter which way people choose to dress, it in no way requires them to be responsible for any dirty thoughts they might inspire. However, it is this very ideology that is taught in many religious doctrines and continues to be pervasive in society as a whole.
One of the reasons why the feminism and skepticism crowds overlap is because they both fight against this sort of backwards thinking that a woman who dares to show some skin is, to quote Akers, “like drinking alcohol in front of an alcoholic or taking a man who has trouble with pornography or is struggling in his marriage out to lunch at Hooters.”
Even if women were to be more “modest” at church, does anyone really think Akers would stop there? Next thing you know, he’ll be upset about women who wear makeup. Or women who wear their hair down. Or women who make eye contact with him.
At some point, Akers needs to look at himself and other men and tell them to just control their urges if they can’t deal with the way women dress. They may be able to pass modesty rules within the church, but at some point, they have to step outside the bubble.