Here is the ugly reality:
Under the new morality pushed by many “enlightened” churches women are now equal to men in all ways. That is not what genesis through acts says. In fact the sweep of the bible is that women’s original sin is a tendency to rebel against authority, a rebellion that results in disaster. That is why in acts Man is the head of women and Christ is the head of man, a point ignored in modern marriage oaths and by the so called enlightened churches. Society has fallen apart under this new morality and there is precious little reason for a man to get married today.
Under the old rules while women were assumed to be under the charge of their husbands, they functioned as the senate so to speak. Any married man who has a obedient wife well knows that one does not keep a happy household without listening to the wife and making accommodations where possible. Maybe not perfect but Western civilization managed to prosper and resulted in about the best fairest society in the world, not perfect, but better than most. Certainly the rights of women under these old supposedly oppressive rules were better than all of the societies western man ran across in his exploration of the world.
Now under the so called complementation doctrine we have the simple fact that all the western societies are falling apart, and the one thing women must do to perpetuate those societies (have children and raise them well in a married household) they are not doing. By revolting against male headship they have removed the reason for males to get married to them, something the churches seem to be encouraging (not all but most).
This is not to say men are not without sin, they are. The churches are very capable of pointing out male defects while they ignore and encourage female propensity to sin and rebel against their husbands and fathers.
Something to ponder.
(1) you said: "the sweep of the bible is that women’s original sin is a tendency to rebel against authority..."
I do not see that the Bible says that "a tendency to rebel against authority" is a propensity of only women. Yes, this was Eve's sin, she rebelled against God's authority. But Adam committed the same sin of rebellion against God when he listened to Eve and also ate of the fruit.
Twisting the meaning of 1 Timothy 2:14, which says, "It was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being quite deceived, fell into transgression", some have suggested that because Eve was tricked by the devil, women have a stronger propensity toward deception. Others have gone so far as to insist that women are to blame for all the evil in the world and are therefore under a greater curse than men. The Bible clearly states that Adam and Eve were both held guilty by God for their disobedience, and they were both punished.
(2) you said: That is why in acts Man is the head of women and Christ is the head of man"
Eve's sin is certainly not the only reason that God decreed "Man is the head of women and Christ is the head of man". Nor does this imply inequality or male domination. Eve was created to be a helpmate or companion to Adam, this does not imply that Eve's only purpose in life was that of a domestic servant. She was created to be a co-worker with Adam so that they might rule together over creation as God commissioned them to do. There are other reasons.... In the Jewish culture there was a concept of Headship which meant that the male is the one who represents his descendants. This concept is carried out in, for instance, it was Eve who first sinned. But sin entered the world through Adam, not through Eve. Romans 5:12 says, "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned." This is because Adam represented humanity and creation. When Adam fell, we inherited sin, we fell.
Another reason, it says in Gen. 2:24, "For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh." When a man and woman get married, they become one flesh. There is a unity between them. But, it is the man who is the head of the family which is why it says that the man is the head of the woman. Paul makes it clear that the headship is related to the created order: "For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man; for indeed man was not created for the woman's sake, but woman for the man's sake. This headship is not about having the upper hand, nor is it to mean that a woman has no rights or is a second-class citizen. On the contrary, God tells the husband some very serious commands: "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her; that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless," (Eph. 5:25-27).
Finally, the headship issue is an issue of order, not who is better or more important. The husband is the head of the wife in the family, and he has the responsibility of guiding his family to a closer relationship with the Lord. God will require it of him on the day when all our deeds are judged by God.
(3) you said: "The churches are very capable of pointing out male defects while they ignore and encourage female propensity to sin and rebel against their husbands and fathers.
While what you said is for the most part true, it is the way you say it that leads me to cringe a bit.
First of all allow me point out that the Church I belong to is not hesitant to remind us women of our responsibility to accept our husband as head of the family.... and rightly so! But understand that as I clearly laid out in #2 above, the husband has his responsibility toward the wife as well, and for many women it is difficult to submit to an unloving, ungodly husband. I don't know what the answer to that dilemma is, I am fortunate to never having to face it.
Next (and here is where the cringing part comes in), allow me to say that the propensity to sin is not a sin against the husband. The propensity is to sin is against God. It is not the husband who has the right to command the submitting, it is God who commands it. And I think that women who come to understand this concept, will then have no problem in submitting.
Then you speak of "rebelling against their fathers". I believe that the scriptures command us to honor our father and our mother.
Believe me, Frederick, when I say that I understand that morality has fallen apart and am appalled that many churches are not teaching as they should. Should we be surprised that this is happening, after all Jesus told us that it would happen in the end days. I only took exception to Bert's comments because he was blaming it all on women when the truth is, men and women are to blame.