Ridgeway Baptist Church of Memphis senior pastor Dr. Ashley E. Ray believes that women should know their place in marriage and resist "feminist rebellion," saying this is the root cause of many of the country's problems.
"There is a divine hierarchy in marriage," Ray said as he read from the book of Ephesians. "Wives submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church."
According to Raw Story, Ray quoted passages from the Bible that support his belief, and one came from the book of Timothy: "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence."
"That's saying that the man was to lead," he explained. "When the lady led (in the Genesis creation myth), the human race fell. When Adam allowed his wife to lead him — and it's his fault not hers — but when he allowed that, the human race fell."
"I've found that women are very much superior at being women than men are," the pastor continued. "And men are superior at being men than women."
Ray believes that the promotion of transgender rights in Houston is one of the causes of women failing to submit to men. "The mayor of Houston says that her crowning achievement as mayor will be their city ordinance of equal rights and the abolishment of men's and women's restrooms," he said. "You say, well, that's terrible! I would never! But you know where all that started."
According to Ray, it all started when people considered, "I know what the Bible says but... that's just for that culture, that patriarchal society back in that day and we've come so far." Because people have come so far from the teachings of the Bible, the concerned pastor pleaded for God to help society and have mercy.
However, he clarified that he is not condoning men mistreating women and women getting less pay for the same amount of work done. He reasoned that "the Word of God does not teach patriarchalism per se," but he said it also did not "teach egalitarianism" and "mutual submission" between men and women.
"There is, whether you like it or not, a divine hierarchy in marriage," he said. "Wives must submit to their husbands. That will bring harmony."
