In my previous article “Weight and Gender” I had wanted to write from an honest perspective that was not weighted with contempt. There are so many questions on this journey, many that will probably take a lifetime of searching. One of those is the huge issue of patriarchy and gender within the Church that both women and men have been deeply affected by. Wounds run deep, theological views are entrenched and yet if my heart is open I can learn from the differences. Yet that wounding also leaves scars that carry contempt, disappointment, disillusion and silence.
In some reading this week I have come across a number of quotes by Paul Smith that have held a powerful impact for me:
The war on women is not a war of men against women. We naively assume that this war has been declared by and caused by men. That’s the big lie! This war is being fought against both sexes, against all of us. Men are not the author of this war, Satan is. This cause of the war on women is Satan, who uses the fallen powers and principalities of this world to keep us in oppressive traditions and structures. Jesus has taught us to know that the enemy is always the Enemy! Pg 106/107
Both man and woman participated in the Fall. Adam and Eve were both responsible (Gen 3:6; Rom 5:15-21; 1 Cor 15:21-22). A direct result of the Fall, gender mutuality was disrupted and woman became dependent on man and man became an authority over women. Sin, not God, destroyed the partnership between man and woman. Patriarchy is worshipping the curse. Pg 109
Calling Patriarchy God’s will is like calling pornography God’s will. The analogy between patriarchy and pornography is quite fitting because the two are very similar in their effects. Pornography objectifies persons by turning them into property to be owned, demeans the feminine, trivializes sexuality, and perpetuates violence toward women. This is precisely what patriarchy does. Patriarchy treats women as objects, demeans and trivializes them, and provides a subtle theological framework for the right to abuse women. Calling patriarchy God’s will is theological pornography! pg 114
All quotes from Is it Okay to Call God Mother? Considering the Feminine Face of God
By Paul R. Smith
How does the church begin to change? How do I begin to change? How do I influence others around me? All I know right now is that I want change, I want to be an agent of change and only waiting in Holy Presence, continuing to ask and listen and be willing to sit in that tension zone, can I find truth as I sift through it all.