Friday, August 22, 2014

Doctrine of Separation Cures Everything (The IFB's Strange Woman)




This post is part of a series examining the “strange woman” doctrine.

The concept of a “strange woman” is an unofficial doctrine** held by some Independent Fundamental Baptists concerning sexually abused girls: They become human garbage and things to be used, to be dispensed with in whatever way is convenient to those who have charge over them. Note that many doctrines in a high demand group are not formally documented but become part of the oral tradition or the hidden curriculum** of their culture and are often more powerful rules than the formally stated ones.

Ron Williams of Hephzibah House offers a very lengthy sermon about this insidiously taught doctrine causing pastors confront occurrences of sexual abuse in their congregations and in educational settings. (Full sermon transcript available HERE. Audio available HERE.)


Violation of Doctrine of Separation as an Excuse for Human Error / Sin

Don't get too close to impure people who don't live right or think just like you do. You might get sin cooties!

QUOTE: Part II, The Significance of Shechem
Yes, he’s at Shechem. Only one day away from Bethel, but that’s the principle of compromise. He should have been at Bethel, and not at Shechem. He could have said “well I’m within the bounds of obedience, I’m close.” But God wants us to stay as far away as we can from the world. . . A lot of things going on there, the coming and going of lots of different people, and so it was a rather interesting place. It was a place of this world, no question about it.
[. . . ]
They have this unequal relationship with this Pagan community, and he knew it was wrong to live that close to Canaanites.
[. . . ]
He should have kept his family away from Canaanites. He should have kept his family away from the world. But instead he puts a booth here.
[. . . ]
Jacob is here a Shechem on a spiritual vacation and his family went with him.


QUOTE: Part II, The Significance of Shechem
And not only did he [Esah] consort with Canaanites, he married a couple of them. And that brought such shame and disgrace on his family his mama contemplated suicide.

QUOTE: Part II, A Charge to Fathers, Family Protectors
If you have a television in your home you are not protecting your family against evil influences. You are not fulfilling that role of being God’s protector, because every moment you turn that on you’ve got evil, Canaanite influences coming into your home and your family and you are failing as God’s protector.


QUOTE: Part II, Far Country Disease
Now according to the Jewish historian Josephus, there was a feast or a festival in Shechem, and as our text tells us here she went out to see, that’s the idea of learning their manners, learning their customs, learning their fashions, in other words Dinah was not a separatist.

QUOTE: Part II, Far Country Disease
See a person that’s content with God, content with family, content with home, content with what they’ve been taught is not going to go out curiosity seeking how do the Pagans of this world live. Because that’s dangerous. But rather she would have been content to stay at home, she would have been content to be a separated person. . . . But Dinah didn’t, as she went out to see the daughters of the land, she should have known that we live in a world filled with sin. And believe me, we do.

QUOTE: Part II, Proper Discipline of Children is Complicated by Wrong Marriages
Jacob failed as a protector. He allowed fraternization with this world; he allowed idolatry in his own house. And that’s because he in his own life emphasized the flesh instead of the spirit. And this produced a daughter who did the very same thing and she ended up acting like a strange woman.