gengwall

pinklight,

I can maybe answer to a degree from the male perspective (since the vast majority of male supremecists are male). I think there are several factors that come into play.

1. Some of the text generally can be seen in a comp light IF it is not reconciled with the rest of scripture. Since Christians often tend to cherry-pick anyway, a tunnel visioned look at the pertinent scriptures can easily lead to comp conclusions.

2. Pride and control – men struggle with pride, especially when it comes to admitting we are wrong. Heck – look at Adam. Once we come to a conclusion, ESPECIALLY one that gives us power, it is very, very difficult to go back.

3. Tradition – when men look back at “the good old days”, we have a hard time seeing a problem with “the way it has always been”. Since we have never had to be on the receiving end of authoritarian patriarchy, we are blind to the pain it causes.

4. Male ego – this is a little different than pride. This is the sense we have that we really are superior to women. The reality is that we are simply different than women, but we see the differences as being “better”.

None of this should come as a surprise. God said it would happen. Such attitudes are really the “norm” when we are living in our fallen state. Enlightenment to the truth in scripture and a view of male/female relationships that mirrors the unfallen state in the garden requires that we live in the Spirit, but that takes effort for a fallen man. It is much easier to believe that God commanded males to “rule over” females for their own good. As fleshly human males, that perspective “feels” right. Sad, but true.

There is good news in all of this. I think all men have a yerning deep inside to return to the garden. I believe that much of the equivocation and politically correct gymnastics you see many pastors going through when talking about these issues indidcates that many, many men really struggle with the comp perspective they have grown up with (and even have been taught in their seminaries). I know many other men who, although spouting the comp line “headship”, actually live fairly egal lives with the women in their circle. I believe they struggle every day trying to understand what really is the truth and it is almost as if they are just dying for someone to say the comp view is wrong so that they can stop living that lie.

The complimentarian perspective is a paradox for many men, I believe. The comp life feels right (in the flesh) and wrong (in the spirit) all at the same time. This is one of the most obvious manifestations (in men) of the battle Paul describes in Romans 7, IMO. The degree to which a man sees the lie of the comp paradigm is, I believe, a great indicator of how successful he is in battling his flesh. I think commentators such as Neo are not having a very good go of it currently.