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On June 20, Bishop TD Jakes (aka Thomas Dexter Jakes Sr.) uploaded a 57-minute sermon, titled Real Men Pour In, on Father's Day. However, a clip from the video, where he expresses his controversial take on women's place in society, has recently sparked heavy online backlash against his orthodox notions about societal traditions.
Jakes elaborated in the clip that when men have to be led by women or be supported by them, "the divine order" is broken. In his sermon, the megachurch pastor encouraged women not to attempt to replace men.
The 65-year-old pastor later gave the analogy of Adam and Eve. He said that 'sin' exists as Adam ate "out of his wife's hand." He claimed that men are not designed to 'receive' from women.
TD Jakes expresses orthodox notions about women's role in society
In his sermon on June 18, TD Jakes focused on how "real men pour in." He explained:
"If Adam had not allowed Eve to pour into him, sin would have never come into the world. Sin came into the world because Adam broke the order…We were not designed to receive from women. Your self-esteem is compromised when you have to ask your wife for lunch money. ... And Adam, all of a sudden, has allowed the curse to come because he stopped pouring."
According to TD Jakes, women are supposed to take just about anything from men and make it better. He later clarified that the lack of adherence to this social order goes against what God wants and apparently "destroys families."
As per the video, the attendees applauded Jakes as he spoke about how women progressed in the corporate world and began earning for themselves, but sacrificed their families in the process. He added:
"This breaks all the sociological order of the culture we are living in now because we are raising up women to be men. And you are not applauded for your femininity. You are applauded in contemporary society by how tough, rough, nasty, mean, aggressive, hateful, possessive you are. And you're climbing the corporate ladder, but we are losing our families."
Amongst other backward notions about women's value in the social hierarchy, TD Jakes further added how women should not lead men as it breaks the "divine order." Later, he spoke about how women should not use children to be vindictive towards their husbands. The Potter's House of Dallas pastor explained how a court's order for child support could force men to send money but not the support the children would need as they grow up.
Netizens react to TD Jakes' views on the societal position of women
As expected, the views of the Dallas megachurch leader sparked severe controversy online. The comments from Jakes' supporters on his YouTube video, however, seemed to agree with the ideas expressed in the sermon. Interestingly, a few women also sided with the pastor in that they should subordinate themselves to men in their family.
The conflict reflected in the reactions on Twitter as well. While the majority of responses criticized TD Jakes, a few agreed with his viewpoints and even defended him online.
Some claimed that the inherent idea behind Jakes' views stemmed from the ego of some men who would want women to be subordinate to them. Meanwhile, others questioned how religious people still attend churches and agree with such backward notions.
