Bartholomew's Notes

…If a woman can’t be the head of a small group of people such as the family or church, how can she, Biblically, be the head of a country with millions of people?!

I think spirit of Jezebel is getting stronger and stronger in the United States which means some women want to have power and control over everything and be the head of everything. I can see it in the US culture, which is a spirit that wants to get the HEADSHIP of the country. But this is NOT from God, nor is it Biblical. I believe every one can be a leader, women and men, and women are amazing and wonderful leaders, but God gave the HEADSHIP to men. So there is a difference between leadership which women and men have and the headship which God gave to men. That’s the nature that God created in us.

Don’t vote for Hillary Clinton. Don’t give the HEADSHIP of a country to this woman.

I believe in equality of women and men but there are differences in how God orchestrated the leadership of our homes and life so that we can function in an orderly manner.

This is (or ought to be) a delicate subject for man who pleaded guilty to a domestic abuse charge in 2007 following an argument about a laptop, and whose now-former wife has accused him of long-term “physical, emotional, psychological, and sexual abuse through… addiction to pornography”. Naghmeh Abedini claims that the abuse continued even while her husband was imprisoned in Iran and their contact was limited to phone calls, and in January she wrote that

Three months ago Saeed told me things he demanded I must do to promote him in the eyes of the public that I simply could not do any longer. He threatened that if I did not the results would be the end of our marriage and the resulting pain this would bring to our children.

Naghmeh Abedini filed for a legal separation on the day of his return to the USA from Iran; her preferred way forward was marriage counselling, but her husband apparently declined and he carried through his threat by filing for divorce just a couple of weeks ago.

Saeed Abedini was famously a prisoner of conscience in Iran from 2012 to January 2016, when he was released as part of a deal. His imprisonment brought him not just support and sympathy (although there were concerns that his account of prison conditions had been embellished), but also celebrity: on his return he was greeted by Franklin Graham (who, true to type given his recent defences of Trump, cautioned against taking the claims of abuse at face value), and his Facebook statements are regularly covered by Christian media.

In May, a post by Abedini about how Christians must support Israel ahead of the End Times was covered by the Christian Post, while just a few days ago, Charisma News reported under the headline “Saeed Abedini Waxes Prophetic on Trump vs. Clinton Presidential Race” that

The United States presidential election closely mirrors God granting Israel kings, pastor Saeed Abedini says.  

“If they were walking with God and were depending on and repentant to God, He allowed them to rule accordingly,” Abedini says in a recent Facebook post. “If people were wicked, God gave them a wicked leader. If they were humble they would get a humble leader.”

…”First we need to humble ourselves before God before we can expect others to humble themselves. We need to stop judging and take care of our own problems.” 

In his most recent post, immediately following the third election debate, Abedini states that Trump and Clinton are both “amazing”, but – just as his distinction between “leadership” and “headship” is obscure –  it’s difficult to reconcile this generous assessment of both candidates with his view that Clinton is associated with Jezebel, the great villainess of the Hebrew Bible whose evil manifested in dominance over her husband. Abedini previously criticised Clinton in June, again invoking Jezebel and at that time complaining that she had not been in contact with him during his first months of imprisonment.

Abedini’s latest “Jezebel” post is illustrated by a remarkable portrait photo. Abedini sits dressed in a white suit at a white desk in a white room; in front of him is a white Apple laptop – unhappily bringing to mind the 2007 incident – and to his right (our left) sits a copy of the NIV Dad’s Devotional Bible. In the background, we have on our left an American flag and on the right the “Christian flag” that was designed at the end of the 19th century. Between them sits a white display cabinet, on which has been placed two small Israeli flags, another small US flag, and a print by Nancy Cupp, entitled Isaiah Sixty One Verse One. The image shows a crucifix that morphs into a sword, breaking chains of bondage.