Kelly - Esther 1

I try not to read the Bible through militant feminist eyes -- but it's rather a difficult task in this chapter.

A drunk man in power and his drunk male advisors strike out against Vashti because she refused to obey immediately and they were afraid other women wouldn't obey following her example.

I don't honestly believe that even in "ancient times" pure obedience was part of most marriages. This may be different in the case of the king's household...but most often I believe that people who lived their lives together had to learn to compromise and share regardless of their respective genders. The male writers of the scritpures would not have spent so much energy instructing wives to be obedient if obedience were part of the social norm.

We'll see how things progress this week -- but as I remember the story of Esther, I don't think that King Xerxes of Persia is going to grow on me much.