Wednesday, January 18, 2012

"Be Strong and Act Like A Man!" - Are We Crazy?


Are We Crazy?

Having lived through the moral revolution of the 60's and the feminist revolution in the decades following, I agree with what Robert Bly wrote in Iron Man back in 1990:

 "The grief in men has been increasing steadily since the start of the Industrial Revolution and the grief has reached a depth now that cannot be ignored."

We spent a decade, maybe two, after that pooh-poohing the poor grieving men. Some said they had it coming (due to the legacy of racism and authoritarian paternalism). But that simply means we believe it is justifiable to make the children pay for the sins of their fathers and grandfathers - or more appropriately for young males today - their great-grandfathers and great-great-grandfathers.

Unfortunately one of the hot beds of perpetuating racism and authoritarian paternalism has been the Evangelical and Pentecostal churches (including some, but not all, Charismatic churches). 

Equally unfortunate the greatest defense of our culture's unbiblical mythologies of what it means to be a man has come from the men, pastors, and hierarchies in the church - both conservative, orthodox, and liberal churches. This continuum of churches may hold and defend different visions of what it means to be a man, but all are equally unbiblical and thus destructive.

The article by Jamie Johnson at Christ In The Quaker Church provides a vivid biblical treatment of what the Bible says about being a man. I strongly recommend you read it.

Will we waste another decade before correcting the damage of the past?


Will it be another thirty years before we acknowledge the truth:

We have defective mythologies that ignore the depth of masculine emotion...
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Photo:I can’t get enough of this smile … by © ishehot @webshots.com

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