The Question of Equality Books

And so is the word of God, which she painstakingly explores. Ruth Tucker is a woman who has fearlessly and thoroughly studied the Word of God and what it has to say about women. The result is this book, which wonderfully and wittily answers so many questions that women are afraid to ask about our places in God's plan.

The chapters themselves are phrased as the questions that are so often posed in regards to women. Tucker not only explores the meaning of Biblical passages in original Greek, but also the rather simple meanings of the passages in English. You may be surprised to see how easily people have twisted passages to make them seem repressive to women, when in fact they are quite clearly the opposite when viewed the correct way.

Tucker also points out how easily people with agendas cherry pick different parts of Scripture and even blatantly write off some commandments as cultural while simultenously uplifting others, sometimes just a few sentences later, as meant for all time! (For example, note how so many have written off Peter's admonishment for women not to wear jewelry or braids as "cultural, just meant for the times", whereas Paul's declaration that he didn't allow women to preach has been given enough significance to deny women ministry for all time!) Tucker carefully examines the tenses used in Biblical phrases to determine whether or not certain commandments really were meant for all time. She also, to my great delight, reveals the true meaning of a wife as "helper" and even points out that husbands are often helpers, too; the role of helper is quite interchangeable and easily applies to both spouses.

I highly recommend this book to any, especially a woman who struggles to know her identity. Tucker is a smart, vibrant woman who presents the truth of Scripture in ways that are wonderfully clear and easy to understand. Thank you, Ruth, for helping lead us out of the maze :)

I wholeheartedly recommend this book! Not only for women, but for men, too. As an evangelical believer, I found myself truly challenged and rethinking many things I've always believed without question. I was fascinated, encouraged, perplexed and excited after reading it! I wish every Christian I know would read this book!

This book powerfully shaped my view of gende

Judge Frank M. Johnson achieved national recognition for his decisions that supported Martin Luther King and other leaders of the civil rights movement, and for his defense of the individual rights of women, students, prisoners, mental health patients, and poor criminal defendants. Because these decisions expanded the scope of those Constitutional amendments that assert individual liberties and proclaim the equality of all citizens, Judge Johnson is often viewed as one of the great liberal judges of the Twentieth Century. On the contrary, as Tony Freyer convincingly demonstrates in his analytical introduction and conclusion to this selective collection of Judge Johnson's writings and public statements, Johnson's core values were fundamentally conservative, in that they were "based on individual freedom defined in terms of equal opportunity and equality under law."
The law, of course, is the U.S. Constitution, and Johnson's decisions, as his essays indicate, were informed and circumscribed by a profound understanding of the mechanics of the law. As Johnson told Bill Moyers in a 1980 public television interview, the transcript of which is published for the first time in this book, Johnson realized certain limitations when he opposed busing as a tool of desegregation because "when you make a child, or children, get up at five o'clock in the morning and wait for a bus to haul them 10 or 15 miles, past schools to which they were formerly eligible to go, then I think you are doing tremendous damage". Striving for judicial clarity above and beyond moral fervor, Johnson also said that he had never been inside of a prison or a mental facility because he "needed not to go there," but to make his decisions on "the basis of evidence that's presented during the adversary proceeding."
Judge Johnson's momentous injunction in Williams v. Wallace that ordered Governor George Wallace to allow a four-day civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery (from March 21 to March 25, 1965), led by Dr. King along Highway 80, was rendered in a carefully crafted opinion based on the principle that the right to protest on public property should be "commensurate with the enormity of the wrongs that are being protested and petitioned against."
As these essays make clear, Judge Johnson believed that the role of the American judiciary and of the entire legal profession should be one of activism, not on the side of morality, but to maintain the supremacy of the law. Johnson wrote that " the lawyer should remember that a disrespect or disregard for law is always the first sign of a disintegrating society."Throughout his forty-one years on the bench, Judge Johnson sought to decide the cases that came before him solely on their particular merits. His injunctive orders that sought to remedy deplorable conditions in prisons and mental health facilities were taken because, in his view, elected officials had failed to discharge their designated and constitutional responsibilities for fair and equitable governance. Judge Johnson clearly believed that all citizens, including the mentally retarded, the insane, and those convicted of felonies, still have certain basic rights to include sanitary living conditions, freedom from unwarranted punishment, and, if feasible, the right to rehabilitation. As he eloquently concluded his essay "Equal Access to Justice," the promise inscribed on the Supreme Court Building of "Equal Justice Under Law" cannot be fulfilled unless there is equal access to justice.
Towards the end of his judicial career, Judge Johnson wrote: "If we abdicate responsibility to address the difficult questions of our time, those in need of refuge from the torrents of political, economic, and religious forces will find no haven in the law and the law will no longer be supreme. . . . A judge must always be consumed by a passion for justice which propels judgment toward the just conclusion." This forceful summation of an American judge's responsibilities is elaborated in this artfully chosen collection of Johnson's insightful and thought-provoking essays. This is a valuable addition to the biographic literature on Frank Johnson that should be welcomed by all students of recent American History.

Federal Judge Frank Johnson achieved national recognition for his decisions that supported Martin Luther King and other leaders of the civil rights movement, and for his defense of the individual rights of women, students, prisoners, mental health patients, and poor criminal defendants. Because these decisions expanded the scope of those Constitutional amendments that assert individual liberties and proclaim the equality of all citizens, Judge Johnson is often viewed as one of the great liberal judges of the Twentieth Century. On the contrary, as Tony Freyer convincingly demonstrates in his analytical introduction and conclusion to this collection of Judge Johnson's writings and public statements, Johnson's core values were fundamentally conservative, in that they were based on individual freedom "defined in terms of equal opportunity and equality under law." The law, of course, is the U.S. Constitution and Johnson's decisions, as his essays indicate, were informed and circumscribed by a profound understanding of what the law does and does not permit. As Johnson told Bill Moyers in a 1980 public television interview, published for the first time in this book, Johnson opposed busing as a tool of desegregation because "when you make a child, or children, get up at five o'clock in the morning and wait for a bus to haul them 10 or 15 miles, past schools to which they were formerly eligible to go, then I think you are doing tremendous damage." Johnson also said that he had never been in a prison or mental institution because he "needed not to go there," but to make his decisions on "the basis of evidence that's presented during the adversary proceeding." This is a valuable addition to the biographic literature on Frank Johnson, that should be welcomed by all students of recent American History.

A mix of politics and history, this volume comprises four essays, along with 15 shorter, first-person pieces by activists who recall key moments of the struggle for gay and lesbian rights and visibility. Published as companion piece to a documentary on the lesbian and gay movement since 1969, the book is more informal, more eclectic, and better illustrated than an academic study, but more serious and substantial than the usual coffee-table volume. The voices it highlights tend to be those associated with "gay liberation" and big-city street activism, but the richness and authenticity of those voices make this book a valuable chronicle.