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On Sunday, Beth Moore -- a nationally known evangelical leader based in Houston -- tweeted her disdain for Christian leaders who continue to support Donald Trump.

The parking lot was so packed that the line of SUVs, minivans, pickup trucks, and sedans had spilled out onto the freeway feeder road as carloads of women waited patiently to be directed into a parking space. Once out of their cars they were legion. All walking at a brisk clip, mostly white, mostly well dressed, many wearing chunky Southwestern jewelry and cowboy boots. Every one of them eager to get settled into a good seat with full view of the stage.

No, this wasn’t a Carrie Underwood concert. It was a Beth Moore Bible study at Houston’s First Baptist Church.

When Moore, a celebrity evangelist and best selling author, came out on Twitter calling out male evangelical leaders' failure to denounce Donald Trump’s revolting remarks, I was reminded of the first time I saw her speak, over ten years ago, in Houston.

— Beth Moore (@BethMooreLPM) October 9, 2016

As I settled into my seat that night, Moore — petite, bedazzled, and charming as all get-out, called the room to order and looked around. “We got another one,” she said, and directed her gaze toward the lone man in the auditorium.

Two thousand women strained their necks and twisted in their seats to get a look. Giggles erupted. Moore rolled her eyes. More giggles. She told the man that First Baptist offered a Bible study for men and offered to direct him to it. The lone dude didn’t budge. Moore picked up her manuscript and began teaching.

Because I came late to Christianity, at the ripe old age of 26, I didn’t know much about Christian theology, and I certainly didn’t know that Moore’s comment was the manifestation of a doctrine called complementarianism — the belief that God created men and women “complementary in function” with different roles and responsibilities, rather than simply equal.

It’s a controversial position to be sure, and one that churches, if they hold to this belief, rarely advertise. You’ve got to do a little digging to find it, usually on the “What We Believe” page, buried somewhere under “Church Government.” It’s what some church leaders use to explain why women can’t be preachers, can’t be elders, and can’t “teach men.” This is why the man in the Bible study was unwelcome. Moore was upholding her denominational view that even though she was an internationally celebrated speaker and author, she was unfit to teach a man. Any man. Even the one in the audience that day.

I bring you this brief lesson on theology to make a point: If you're one of the evangelical Christians baffled that many other evangelicals defend Donald Trump, consider that doctrine. It might seem harmless on the surface, or when it’s cheerily explained during a church membership meeting, but it’s not harmless.


Not long before I attended that Beth Moore Bible study, I began to serve my church as a volunteer music minister. I “led music” for years before someone asked if I believed that women should teach men. It seemed like a ridiculous question. What else was I doing every time I lead the church with songs and hymns? Wasn’t I teaching, through the lyrics and music, the essential tenets of the Christian faith? It wasn’t until I began pursuing a theological degree that I understood where the question was coming from, and how deeply it sits at the root of most evangelical expressions of faith.

When evangelicals say that men and women are different, when we prescribe what one gender can and cannot do (i.e., lead, teach) we echo the slogan of racial segregationists who claimed “separate but equal.”  Make no mistake: Separate is never equal. Viewing women as other than men is a short hop from seeing women as less than men, and an even shorter hop to seeing women’s bodies as the “biblically ordained” property and responsibility of men. No thanks.

In my experience, anyone can use any passage of the Bible to justify anything. And no one reads the Bible without bias — no one reads anything without bias, for that matter.

I take my understanding of this issue from what I believe trumps (no pun intended) fancy theological footwork. Love. Equality. Justice. Men and women are equal under God, should be equal under the law, and their bodies, personhood, and sexuality should be equally respected.

I think all American women have struggled this week. I’ve certainly struggled. For me, Trump’s comments and the ensuing melee triggered memories of unwanted touch and attention, of catcalling and other forms of sexual aggression that I and most women have endured. I found Trump’s comments revolting, but unsurprising.

What shocked and surprised me was the defense he received from Christian men. While I was thrilled to see Beth Moore’s brave tweets, one of which revealed that she herself is a survivor of sexual assault, I hoped she would take it a step further and look at the roots of this issue. She is a powerful leader, and a hero to many. She could do much to unknot these deeply damaging ideas.

Houston is home to the biggest churches in America. Those churches have almost incomprehensible influence over the hundreds of thousands who attend weekly services and studies. It’s time our churches saw how damaging it is to teach “separate but equal” when it comes to gender. It’s time our leaders, men and women, stood up for equality. It’s time to stop using “biblical authority” to justify systemic misogyny. If we don’t, we shouldn’t be surprised to find ourselves under the political authority of a man like Donald Trump.

Cameron Dezen Hammon is a writer and musician living in Houston. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming from The Literary Review, NYLON, Role/Reboot, and elsewhere. She is at work on a memoir about religious culture shock. Find her at @camerondhammon, and www.camerondezenhammon.com

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