Seeking women’s equality an act of Western Imperialism?

Dr. Vishal Mangalwadi in his lectures entitled, “Must the Sun Set on the West?” made the following profound observation about the secular West’s rejection of God yet insistence upon the equality between men and women:

You reject the biblical worldview, reject the New Testament worldview, but the idea of equality between male and female comes from the same worldview. If you reject that worldview, and make a statement, “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men and women are evolved equal,” that statement makes no sense, because by definition, evolution is explanation of inequality. Why are species unequal? Evolution is an explanation of inequality. Why are men and women equal? There is no ground for believing and affirming equality of human beings except that both were created in God’s image and they share the likeness of God. So even though they are biologically different, intellectually there might be differences, economically, physically there might be differences, there is a moral equality, which is equality before God, equality before law, etc. etc., which is desirable. So in rejecting the biblical worldview, the notion of equality has also got to be rejected—will be rejected. For West to demand that other cultures—Muslim culture, Hindu culture—should treat men and women equal is Western Imperialism. West is imposing its value of equality on other cultures. United Nations is becoming an agent of America and the West in imposing equality. Unless! Unless, equality in fact is a metaphysical truth, which is, of course what the Bible is teaching.

When I consider how the many people in the West who celebrate women’s equality are often associated with paganism (e.g. Wicca), I think what a shock it would be for them to find out that the liberation they so cherish is not found in paganism but the very Christianity that they have so desperately attempted to be separate from. In fact, it is one of the peculiar elements of New Testament theology that women are placed on equal footing with men.

As for thinking globally about things, things that I consider to be a gross mistreatments of women, like widow burning (sati) or female circumcision, which have been practiced and/or are continuing to be practiced, it is the equality inherit in the concept of male and female being created in the image of God that ultimately offers the moral basis for why people should rally the world to stand against such mistreatment of women.

Peace.