Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Homemaking Program Controversy

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, one of the nation's largest Southern Baptist Seminaries, is including a 23-hour homemaking program at its campus in Fort Wort, Texas. The program consists of classes in nutrition, meal preparation, and textile design. The controversy concerning this program is based on the fact that it is only opened to women.

Rachel Hamman, happily married and a stay-at-home mother of two children and author of Bye Bye Boardman: Confessions from A New Breed of Stay At Home-Moms and Mom's Night Out, seen on TheToday Show, August 25, 2007, argued against Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's Homemaking program.

I contacted Mrs. Hamman about her appearance, on The Today Show, and her stance on Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Homemaking program. I asked Mrs. Hamman why she thought that the program was such a bad idea?

Ms. Hamman said that, "The course itself, is not fundamentally a bad idea for someone who wants to learn cooking or sewing skills. The point I was trying to make was that if it is designed to lower divorce rates (like the President of the college stated at the beginning of The Today Show's segment¨) then the course is incomplete at best."

Mrs. Hamman is referring to Paige Patterson, President of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Mr. Patterson is also quoted as saying on Fox News, August 17, 2007, that "If a woman chooses to say home and she chooses to devote her energies to her husband and to her children and to the development of her home that is noble and not ignoble and we feel that she should ought to have the opportunity. Information found at http://www.subts.edu

I asked Mrs. Hamman if she thought her views on the Southwestern Homemaking program would change if their classes were opened to men? Mrs. Hamman stated that, "Opening the course up to men would be the first step towards making the course less of a sexist statement."