Sarah Palin is not the first female vice presidential candidate, but her presence on the Republican ticket has caused political and cultural controversy, bringing to mind questions of women’s leadership in society – and in the church.
As a social conservative, Palin has rallied the evangelical vote for McCain and dominated over 50 percent of the headlines for the second week in a row, according to a recent Pew analysis. But some of those headlines have pointed out to some a seemingly contradictory view of female leadership roles within the church.
Though women cannot serve as pastors in denominations such as the Churches of Christ, the Southern Baptist Convention, the Presbyterian Church in America and most non-denominational churches, most evangelicals are fine with a woman leading the country.
“Would Palin be acceptable as vice president because she would still be under the ultimate authority of McCain as president, like the structure of authority that occurs in some of your churches?” asked David Gushee, professor of Christian ethics at Mercer University, in a USA Today article titled, “The Palin Predicament.”
John McKinley, a Bible professor at Biola, teaches on the role of men and women in his theology class. He said the issue of women leading outside of the church is not an issue.
“God has stated certain qualifications in Scripture for some specific leadership positions in the church – being male, having spiritual maturity, able to teach – but they don’t apply to how roles and relationships of men and women are ordered outside of the church and home,” he said.
Politically, Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, wife of 20 years and mother of five, has brought a new dynamism to the Republican ticket, says Dave Peters, six-time former mayor of La Mirada and professor of political science at Biola.
“She is vibrant, attractive and vivacious,” said Peters, explaining how she has tried to embody a Harry Truman-type candidate, coming out as the underdog that America loves so well.
With leadership roles aside, another issue brought to the table is whether Palin, as a mother of five, one with special needs, will be sending the wrong message to American women on motherhood.
A Pew survey shows Republicans are far more troubled than Democrats by the long-term trend toward mothers of young children working outside the home. In a 2007 survey, 53 percent of Republicans described this trend as bad for society, compared with just 38 percent of Democrats who felt the same way.
“In order to win an election, [conservatives] have sold the core of what is right and true about the defining issue of our generation — the family!” Doug Phillips, president of Vision Forum, a family and home-educator ministry, wrote on his blog.
Bible professor Joanne Jung’s take on a mother leading the country is different from Philip’s.
“I don’t know Sarah Palin,” said Jung. “She’s not on my speed dial. I would want people to be informed of her as the other candidates. But to single her out as a woman, I would want to think of it as, ‘Could this be God’s calling for her?’ If it is, it could be an exciting thing to witness.”
