Summer Book Club: Something Wicked

I often get comments from readers who share my views on feminism but believe that First Wave feminism was “good” or “necessary.”

I want to say that I support and understand this view, but the truth is that feminism was never good, and it has also never been inconsistent with the Christian worldview.

Quite the opposite.

While many Christians assume that First Wave feminism was “just about” securing the vote for women, in reality it was a movement founded by women with avid interests in occultism, heretical theology, and alternative sexual lifestyles.

From its inception, feminism has always been directly aimed at destroying traditional Christian social structures that honored and protected women for centuries and has always named it plainly (when not watering down its language to appeal to the culturally Christian masses).

This is the plain history laid out in Carrie Gress’ Something Wicked: Why Feminism Can’t Be Fused With Christianity, which we are going to be reading together this summer and discussing over the next five weeks (and I’d appreciate if you purchase with my affiliate link!)

Gress expertly outlines the radicalism of early feminism, as well as the heretical leanings of many of its original founders, the most orthodox of whom were Trinity-denying Unitarians, while many of the average “Founding Mothers” of the feminist movement were abject occultists and spiritualists determined to undermine Christian traditions and patriarchy.

Here is an excerpt from the book’s description:

Feminism has quietly captured the minds and hearts of women by mimicking aspects of Christianity. Through its own “commandments,” “virtues,” “evangelization,” and even “a sacrament,” feminism has become an exceedingly powerful megachurch.

While Christians have targeted the specific products of the feminist ideology, such as abortion and transgenderism, we have missed the bigger picture of how feminism’s shadow church has captured the psyche of Western women.

Feminism is all too often perceived, even among Christians, as something virtuous that affords women true equality and freedom. Dr. Gress overturns this misconception, smashing the idol of feminism and exposing its deeply anti-Christian origins.

I know you’ll find it as enlightening and challenging as I have so far!

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This week (June 30-July 6):

Get your copy of the book, say hello in the subscriber thread (we’ve got an introduction thread going here), and familiarize yourself with Gress’ work and background if you’re interested (you can follow her on Substack!)

July 7-July 13 — Part I: The New Woman

July 14-July 20 — Part II: The Shadow Church

July 21-27 — Part III: Christian Feminism

July 28-August 3 — Part IV: Restoration

We’re going to be discussing each section on Tuesdays in the subscriber chat, where I’ll post some of my reflections and discussion questions (so make sure you’ve downloaded the Substack app).

I can’t wait to get started and hear what you all think about the book, Gress’ work has been so influential on my own writing and I know you all will appreciate her work as much as I do.

Happy reading!