In fight against patriarchy, women ‘are not listened to’

This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on August 26, 2025.

As armed National Guardsmen begin patrolling the streets of our cities at the command of President Donald Trump, many Americans are waking up to the deadly dangers of toxic white male domination bent on violent authority.

But there is one seemingly invisible group of women who are neither impressed nor surprised by what Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth are doing. They’ve been watching Hegseth’s spiritual advisers for years and warning us all from the rolling hills of Moscow, Idaho.

That’s home base for Pastor Doug Wilson, who is attempting to impose on his Idaho town the kind of theocracy he believes should rule all of America. Wilson is an unapologetic Christian nationalist.

“In some ways, I’m still stuck here in Moscow trying to save Moscow,” Sarah Bader told me in an interview for Episode 52 of “Highest Power: Church + State,” which will be released by Baptist News Global this Thursday evening.

One of Bader’s confidants for many years has been Sarah Stankorb, a journalist and the author of Disobedient Women. In an interview with BNG for Episode 48 of “Highest Power: Church + State,” Stankorb reflected: “We conceive Christian nationalism as this idea, this ideology that’s kind of sweeping. But for people in communities like Moscow, it is real and it is every day.”

Feeling the pain Wilson and his men have perpetrated, Bader laments: “The ship has sunk. And I can’t give it up. But I do understand the issue’s bigger. So for me it’s really a reminder that Moscow really screwed up. And my hope is that we as a community can heal. But I don’t think we’ll ever get back what we gave up.”

Bader is the majority owner of a podcast called “Sons of Patriarchy,” which is hosted by Peter Bell and features many stories of women who have left the grip of the cult Pete Hegseth is a part of, the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches — also known as CREC — which was co-founded by Doug Wilson.

In the vision of the patriarchs from Wilson’s Christ Church, women are to remain silent and submissive to men. These men made headlines nationwide this month after CNN released an interview where Wilson said women were “the kind of people that people come out of,” while his fellow pastors promoted the idea of household voting, in which the man casts the vote for the household. According to Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell, Hegseth “very much appreciates many of Mr. Wilson’s writings and teachings.”

So as Wilson’s teaching spreads, is there any hope for our community to heal?

‘The Sons of Patriarchy’

Bader’s podcast, “The Sons of Patriarchy,” represents a rather unique community. Bader identifies very comfortably as an atheist, while Bell reluctantly embraces the term “evangelical.” Despite their very different views about theology, they’ve managed to bring together people from a variety of theological and political persuasions for the purpose of listening to and amplifying the voices of the women who have been harmed by Wilson and his patriarchs.

Continue reading at Baptist News Global.