Yesterday I finished up the two day workshop on mainstreaming gender into the church. There was this one really interesting discussion/debate on whether pastors need to review the wedding vows - particularly the part about "in sickness and in health." It would seem that in Zimbabwe this verse is interpreted as "a woman must stick by her husband and obey all of his wishes including unprotected sex and reproducing children even if he is ill; and even if he is HIV+ and exercising these rights means that the wife will become infected. This isn't exactly the framework I was thinking of on my wedding day... Personally I feel that these conjugal rights are related to lobola. If you buy your wife, you probably feel like you have the right to do whatever you want to her/with her whenever you want, right?
There was also an interesting discussion on paternity leave. One guy spoke up and said, "but if you have 6 wives, you'll be on paternity leave all year, and that will severely affect production and the economy of the nation." True... I guess if you're in that situation, you just really have to get your timing right!
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3 comments:
I have been enjoying the challenge of your posts and considering how I would approach the situations you raise. I only have a little understanding of the context but I wonder if this might be an approach to the "wife ownership" issue.
Since Christ has already "bought" and "paid for" the wife with His blood then the husband becomes something of a trustee, and as such anything which damages her is vetoed by the "higher contract"
Please feel free to delete this as it is hard to understand a culture from the outside and it may be totally inappropriate.
Thank you for the time and effort you spend in sharing your journey and may God bless you always.
John and Rochelle,
I found your blog this last week, via a rather circuitous route, and it has me captivated.
I have asked the question constantly as to what makes two educated individuals, who in their homeland would have the world at their feet, do what you two are doing. Of course, I know the answer (well I think that I do) but this contemporary outwork of ‘giving up my all to follow’ is truly inspirational.
Your life and its insights; the questions that you raise and the answers that your lives give is both condemning and challenging of me as an individual. The wonder is that what He gives you is there for us all, if only we would avail ourselves of it.
Thank you for allowing us into your lives; prayers aplenty here that God will continue to give and give again!
Be blessed and kept!
Davidson
that's an interesting thought...
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