Kristin

The same applies to your spouses and puts you in a co-dependent relationship where, instead of persuing knowledge and embracing the free-will of choice, God’s desire/mandate becomes the raison d’etre for everything.

“God wants me to go to Brazil” is the coward’s alternative to speaking the truth: “I’ve stepped through some worm-hole and no longer know who I am or what I’m doing and have doubts about myself, my faith and the purpose of my life”. In fact, living under the guise of His visage precludes any honest conversation or dialog from ever taking place, let alone giving one’s partner the freedom, distance, ability to confront their issues in any rational and supportive way.

Religion is not therapy, praying is not self-meditation/introspection. Both of the later is what provides self-awareness and self-confidence. Both of the former do little more than transfer one’s bondage from society-writ-large to that of God; if for no other reason than convenience.

From my distant vantage-point, these stories only re-affirm that each of us lives w/in the confines of our own pain-body.
(listen to Eckard Tolle for an alternative voice)

That we get screwed up from birth and burdened with the baggage of the generations preceeding us (our parents, their parents …).
That this legacy should carry with it the old and exhausted belief that women are 2d-class and need protecting (read: domination) is the poison that directly contributes to the horrid conditions of more than 1/2 the world’s population (women) and their offspring.

How children are raised and how they are educated is the sole determining factor to breaking this viscous cycle of role-models as biblical stereotypes. There is a place for belief and faith, for the desire to live a graceful life. But it has nothing to do with respect for Authority as much as it does for fellowship, love and empathy. When an Institution relies on guilt it undermines those ideals for a higher, ulterior, motive.
Seeing the hypocracy of the last 8 years between the words and deeds of the Evangelical Elders only re-inforces my belief that it’s been a con from the start; women will never find their rightful place until they educate and assert themselves and find meaningful roles in the world besides spawning ever more children out of pride and misplaced duty.

Your and Vykie’s bravery is astounding. Your stories have left me appalled, frightened, confused and many other adjectives, but most of all humbled.

I don’t know if I would have that kind of strength. I hope I won’t ever have to find out.

Thank you for sharing this.
MikeG (LabBoy)