
I know a woman who survived a bear attack. Her injuries were horrific and life threatening. Even after multiple surgeries, she still carries the scars from meeting a bear in the woods.
This is why I was shocked by an online debate during, “Sexual Assault Awareness & Prevention Month.” Women were asked a hypothetical question, “If you were walking through the woods, would you rather meet a man or a bear?”
Remembering the scars I had seen following the bear attack, I assumed women would prefer to meet a man. I was badly mistaken. A large majority of the women surveyed answered that they would rather take their chances with a wild bear than with a civilized man.
I was not the only person shocked by the unofficial survey. Men came out of the woodwork complaining. “That is not fair! Not all men are beasts!” But the numbers do not lie.
Rick Pidcock wrote, “In 2020-2022, bears killed 8 people in North America. Even if all 8 were women, that’s not even close to the 12,000 women who were killed by men in that time period.”
I worry about church. Would women feel safer alone in a church with a bear or with a man? Honestly, the church has not always been a safe place for women. And not because of bears.
Cleverly masked terms like complementarianism and biblical submission, can give men an excuse to dominate, and yes, abuse women. The church is not always a safe place for women.
Maybe we should invite more bears and fewer men to church. It would hurt the collections but at least women might feel a little safer.
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Mark Ross
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