Equality and Diversity v The Bible

Never a one to take the Bible as an appropriate reference point for advice on issues of equality in the workplace I was still shocked to be reminded today of the words of Paul's letter to Timothy in 1 Timothy in the New Testament "But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have authority over the man, but to be in silence."

The meaning of these words, particularly with regard to the translation of  the word Paul uses for "authority"  is of course the subject of much analysis and debate with secularists, complementarians and egalitarians arguing the toss - an interesting effort here from some "feminist Christians" -

http://christianfeminism.wordpress.com/2008/07/04/the-mistranslation-of-1-timothy-211-12/'

The debate centres mainly on the role of women in the church, but with "faith schools" becoming  more prevalent it seems pertinent to a wider consideration of the role of religion in any educational setting.