" Decoding Gender Marginalization" by Toni Kay Attanasio ARCWP

Marginalization or better phrased, oppression toward others has been in existence since the creation of human kind. Unfortunately, oppression seems part of the human condition, in one way or another.  

Gender marginalization toward women began with the Adam and Eve story (Eve being created from the rib of man)  and later with Eve being beguiled by the serpent in the Garden of Eden. These stories of women being painted in a "less than" light goes on throughout much of the scriptures.  Women historically have been treated as less than, and have been and continue to be subservient to men in many ways, even in modern society.  

The author focuses on gender in chapter 7, (Christianity's Dangerous Memory, Diarmuid O'Murchu)and continues tying in yet another form of oppression, gender, into his continuing discussion on the Companionship of Empowerment. 

I believe the greatest oppression in existence is one thing... human beings living among other human beings who do not have a strong spiritual connection to God / Divinity or whatever Higher Power or Source one might believe in.  This, in my view is the root cause of people treating each other without love or caring, or without kindness, patience, gentleness or benevolence. The lack of a spiritual connection, and human beings living without any type of spiritual connection is the root cause of all oppression, every type.

It is not enough to change the language in the scriptures to reflect a gender neutral   reconstruction of Christian history.  

To be clear, people or systems that are entrenched in an oppressive* point of view on any given topic the author has touched upon cannot  be changed until and unless they are in a place where their hearts and minds can be opened to more than just their own narrow point of view.  

Richard Rohr once said, and I loosely paraphrase, that the greatest love and the greatest pain causes human beings to change, to look to God.  I believe it is the reflection that occurs during or after love and pain that opens the heart to change, to consider God, to consider Divinity and to know truly that there is something transcendent beyond the self and the "system."

Each human being is given one life to live.  I have come to believe that unless we make personal evolution (spiritual evolution) of prime importance in our life we stay stagnant and reactive.

We must begin with ourselves.  We discover who we are, and how to live; and when we do that, we radically change.  That change radiates to others who are touched by this state of being (called love) and by one encounter at a time, the world is changed.

All oppression the author calls attention to is like an inverted pyramid. All oppression is at the top and the self at the bottom, under a heavy imbalanced weight.  When we look at all the ills of the world through an inverted pyramid model, the whole thing topples over and what is solved?  We need to get out of the way or get crushed.

I prefer the image of the sacred spiral or nautilus, with Divinity, God, Spirit at the center radiating out endlessly, ever enlarging, ever growing.  I realize, ultimately, that this is a simplistic answer to the age old concern of "man's inhumanity to man."  But if we start somewhere, it has to be with the self.

Louis Hay (RIP) always said, "Change your thinking, change your life."  So if we change our thinking into one that embraces and accepts and is open to God, then we can be changed.   When we change, the world around us changes and we become limitless beings.

We do this one moment at a time, one opportunity at a time,  one vote at a time, one march at a time and sometimes, a single word, or a smile or a touch at a time. Then, collectively, when each one of us engages in continuous small acts of loving goodness, we can impact our world.  

The author calls this the Companionship of Empowerment.  That works.  I guess I call it walking in the light and sharing that light with others who, in turn, become illuminated and this illumination spreads endlessly.

*patriarchy, imperialism, domination systems, race, economic, political, gender, militarism and every other kind of oppression.