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| The Mystery within... |
My Random House Dictionary of the English Language
(copyrighted 1966) defines patriarchy as:
"1. a form of social
organization in which the father is the supreme authority in the family clan or
tribe and descent is reckoned in the male line, with the children belonging to
the father's clan or tribe.
2. a society, community or
country based on this social organization."
Now in 2016, I Goggled Merriam-Webster's definition of
patriarchy: a family, group, or government controlled by a man or a group of
men; a social system in which family members are related to each other through
their fathers."
Patriarchy doesn't change but thank God we humans are
capable of intellectual and spiritual progress.
In the mid 1990's I remember seeing for the first time
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the General Assembly of
the United Nations in1948, that begins:
"Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of
the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation
of freedom, justice and peace in the world, …"
When I read that declaration, during the time patriarchy
was coming to the forefront in my life, my first thought was I don't even have inherent
dignity and equal and inalienable rights in my family, or then church, where I
was also active in justice and peace concerns. But now it helps me understand why progress toward ending racism
and homophobia is coming before ending sexism that is held onto through the
patriarchal hierarchies of religion.
Which brings to mind the late
Jesuit priest/scientist and mystic Teilhard de Chardin who was silenced by the
church. Chardin saw man’s embrace
of woman as consummating a union with the Universe, and in turn, growing to a
world scale. He believed that if
each of us can believe that we are working so that the universe may be raised, "
. . . then a new spring of energy will well forth..." and "The whole
great human organism, overcoming a momentary hesitation, will draw its breath
and press on with strength renewed.”
What if we all questioned our
relationship with patriarchy and ask ourselves, "What can I do to promote
freedom, justice and peace in the world?
