Former President Carter: "It is ironic that women are now welcomed into all the major professions and other positions of authority but are branded as inferior and deprived of the equal right to serve God in positions of religious leadership"

In an address to a gathering sponsored by the World Parliament of Religions (PWR) last Friday, former US President Jimmy Carter has once again blamed traditional religion, particularly Southern Baptists and Roman Catholics, for “creating an environment where violations against women are justified.”

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Although in a July column in The Observer Carter admits to “not having training in religion or theology,” in his address to the PWR Carter appeals to his authority as someone who has “taught Bible lessons for more than 65 years.”

In opposition to the vast majority of authentic scholars and historians, Carter asserted: “It’s clear that during the early Christian era women served as deacons, priests, bishops, apostles, teachers and prophets.” He added: “It wasn’t until the 4th century or the 3rd at the earliest that dominant Christian leaders, all men, twisted and distorted Holy Scriptures to perpetuate their ascendant position within the religious hierarchy.”