Women Political Leaders of the World
Richard Hollerman
Most of our readers are aware that God our Creator is responsible for both males and females in the world. But I suppose that it will be a shock to you as it was to me to learn that so many nations had chosen women to lead their countries.
We might first of all point out that God does look at life differently from we do. We know that He views all things in a different way that we do and His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). But does this fact change the way we live? Not at all. Most people in the world do not care what God thinks. They are unconcerned about His views, His desires, and His concerns. They seemingly are indifferent to God’s will in our life situation.
National Women’s Leaders
Before we proceed any further, let’s notice some of the leaders of state t1960s
Sri Lanka
Sirimavo Bandaranaike, 1960
India
Indira Gandhi, 1966
Israel
Golda Meir, 1969
1970s
Argentina
Isabel Perón, 1974
Central African Republic
Elisabeth Domitien, 1975
Portugal
Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo, 1979
United Kingdom
Margaret Thatcher, 1979
1980s
Dominica
Eugenia Charles, 1980
Iceland
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, 1980
Norway
Gro Harlem Brundtland, 1981
Malta
Agatha Barbara, 1982
Philippines
Corazon Aquino, 1986
Pakistan
Benazir Bhutto, 1988
1990s
Ireland
Mary Robinson, 1990
Lithuania
Kazimira Danutė Prunskienė, 1990
Nicaragua
Violeta Barrios Torres de Chamorro, 1990
Bangladesh
Khaleda Zia, 1991
France
Édith Cresson, 1991
Poland
Hanna Suchocka, 1992
Burundi
Sylvie Kinigi, 1993
Canada
Kim Campbell, 1993
Rwanda
Agathe Uwilingiyimana, 1993
Turkey
Tansu Çiller, 1993
Haiti
Claudette Werleigh, 1995
Guyana
Janet Rosenberg, 1997
New Zealand
Jenny Shipley, 1997
Latvia
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, 1999
Panama
Mireya Elisa Moscoso Rodríguez, 1999
Switzerland
Ruth Dreifuss, 1999
2000s
Finland
Tarja Halonen, 2001
Indonesia
Megawati Sukarnoputri, 2001
Senegal
Mame Madior Boye, 2001
São Tomé and Príncipe
Maria das Neves, 2002
Peru
Beatriz Merino, 2003
Macedonia
Radmila Šekerinska, 2004
Mozambique
Luísa Diogo, 2004
Germany
Angela Merkel, 2005
Ukraine
Yulia Tymoshenko, 2005
Chile
Michelle Bachelet, 2006
Jamaica
Portia Simpson-Miller, 2006
Liberia
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, 2006
South Korea
Han Myung-sook, 2006
Moldova
Zinaida Greceanîi, 2008
Croatia
Jadranka Kosor, 2009
2010s
Australia
Julia Gillard, 2010
Costa Rica
Laura Chinchilla, 2010
Kyrgyzstan
Roza Otunbayeva, 2010
Slovakia
Iveta Radičová, 2010
Trinidad and Tobago
Kamla Persad-Bissessar, 2010
Denmark
Helle Thorning-Schmidt, 2011
Kosovo
Atifete Jahjaga, 2011
Mali
Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé, 2011
Thailand
Yingluck Shinawatra, 2011
Malawi
Joyce Banda, 2012
Slovenia
Alenka Bratušek, 2013
Brazil
Dilma Rousseff, 2014
Mauritius
Ameenah Firdaus Gurib-Fakim, 2015
Namibia
Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, 2015
https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2016/06/politics/women-world-leaders/
What Does God Say?
We have seen above that numerous countries of the world have women political leaders in their nations. Some of these were in the recent past while others are in the present. We’ll make reference to this when we complete our survey.
Let’s just make a quick reference to a few of the well-known and prominent presidents, prime ministers, or queens in the world:
- Israel
- India
- Argentina
- Portugal
- United Kingdom
- Norway
- Philippines
- Pakistan
- Ireland
- Iceland
- Poland
- France
- Canada
- Turkey
- New Zealand
- Finland
- Indonesia
- Peru
- Germany
- Chile
- South Korea
- Australia
- Costa Rica
- Denmark
- Malawi
- Brazil
- Thailand
If you noticed the above listing, you will remember that there were several dozen other countries with female heads of state. This would include presidents, prime ministers, and others.
God’s Will Regarding Women Leadership
Whether we call the woman heads of state we are noticing by different titles, we know that the positions are displeasing to God. This would refer to female presidents, vice-presidents, prime ministers, premiers, or the like.
The questions that we must pose would be these:
Would a woman be able to submit to her husband and yet be insubmissive to her husband while she leads? We know that a woman must “submit” to her husband and would this possible if she were a president? (1 Timothy 2:11-15).
Would it be possible for a woman to fill the position of the presidency while not teaching over the man (1 Timothy 2:11-15)?
The woman is not to voice a prayer in public (1 Timothy 2:8). Would this be a restriction for a woman who insists on her filling a position of leadership?
A woman must not be the “head” over the man (1 Corinthians 11:3). Would this restriction be possible if she were to submit to God’s instructions in this verse?
A woman is to be subject to her husband and yield to his authority or headship Ephesians 5:22-24). Would this be possible if she were the head of state?
The woman is to “respect” her husband (Ephesians 5:33). Would this be possible if she were over her husband?
The woman is fitting in the Lord if she submits to her husband (Colossians 3:18). Could this be done if she were over him and have authority in such things?
The woman is not to be an “overseer” in the assembly (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9). Would it be consistent for a woman to refuse to be overseer over her husband and still be overseer over a nation?
A woman is to be submissive under her husband but would it be consistent for her to be submissive like this but freely take the authority over men in a country (1 Peter 3:1-6).
Of course, we could go on and on but this does raise a number of pertinent issues that should be answered by those who are considering placing a women into a position of authority!
We maintain that it would be utterly impossible for a woman to please God and be submissive to the opposite sex while at the same time taking the lead or authority over the man or over her husband. It just would be totally inconsistent!
Some may reply, “Why would there be so many women who choose to place themselves in authority over the man or are willing to be placed into a position of leadership—if, in fact, it is utterly sinful and inconsistent for a woman to be in such a position? The answer surely would be that nearly all the countries of the world are under Satan’s control. As the apostle wrote, “We know that we are of God and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19). In other words, the “evil one” (Satan) has totally captivated both the men and the women of the world in his wicked ways. So thoroughly have they been brainwashed that they seem to be unaware of their own spiritual deception!
We can see how a woman may choose to disobey the plain will of God in Scripture if they are atheists. Or if they are secularists. Or if they are liberal Protestants or Catholics. Or if they belong to a cult that allows for women leadership—such as the Mormons, the Witnesses, the SDAs, the Pentecostals, the Wesleyans, or others. We can see how a woman may choose to disobey Scripture if they belong to a world religion that allows this sort of open defiance of God’s will. This would be nearly all of the world population! Yes, it has been a long journey since women began to exert their leadership one or one and a half centuries ago. But much has happened since that time!
May God help His people—few though they be—to escape from the blindness that has overtaken them to such an extent that they can’t seem to see. They blindly go about their work and blindly are overcome with spiritual wickedness! They seem to think that this blatant disregard for God’s pure word is fine and even commendable.
It is time for those who respect God’s Word to wake up and see the truth that is right before them—before their eyes. This is the only way to live. This is the only way to claim allegiance to God for His will in Christ!
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