Thursday, November 4, 2010

Hillary is (one of) my Hero(s) Part 2

In part one I mentioned my friends Lewis and Darcy and their blogs taking the big name Patriarchy peddler to task for attacking a survivor of the misguided Patriarchy movement.

This survivor is named Hillary McFarland and she has written a book from a daughter's point of view exposing the fact that Patriarchy often sets up systems that are bad for the health of women, especially little women, the daughters of patriarchy. Her book is called "Quivering daughters" and can be viewed here:

http://www.quiveringdaughters.com/p/book-ordering-information.html

In this book Hillary opens up for all to see what the Patriarchy/Quiverful movement has done to her. But rather than being a bitter book of resentments, it's a book of hope and healing, pointing daughters back to God, the real God who loves them and wants to heal them. And it points them away from the god of patriarchy who prefers sons and only made daughters to stand on the sidelines and serve men.

Hillary has nearly 200 followers for her blog. And quivering daughters are finding hope and healing in her words both in the book and on the blog.

Hillary is following her Lord Jesus and doing the work of His ministry as laid out in Isaiah 61:1 under His anointing.

Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and opening of the prison to them that are bound;

Quivering daughters are bound. They are bound up by oppressive doctrines that deny them their personhood. Hillary's book calls to those daughters telling them that God has not called them to this bondage. This bondage is made by men.

She knows. She lived it herself. And she escaped.

But not without cost.

And her book is also about the cost, about the wounding and the rejecting, along with the healing.

You see, the reason I look upon Hillary as a hero is because I recognize her journey to healing. It is the journey of a wounded hero.

The wounded hero is the one who takes the journey of healing, in the face of great odds, then, not satisfied with keeping the healing to her/himself, turns and lends a healing hand to those who are not through it yet. Often it is the wounded hero that can speak with more authority and clarity into the lives of those with similar woundings.


Another thing that makes Hillary and girls like her heroes is that they take this journey with no support from their family.


Quoting Sierra again, who I mentioned in Part 1:

"Stories about valor and courage never tell you that the hero feels like the villain most of the time. There is no doublespeak in heroic tales. ..... Valorous persons never feel like they’re the ungrateful, hard-hearted, demon-possessed, selfish, bitter, angry, defensive ones."


These girls are heroes because of the tenacity of their own hearts and with support (if they can find it) OUTSIDE their family. Because their own families view heroic behavior in women as demonic. Their families call good evil and evil good.


Now I want to explain why I used the confusing title "Hillary is (one of) my Hero(s)".

It's because I wanted to point out my approval and admiration of not only Hillary, who is facing public persecution, but all the others who have come and are still coming through their own private hell. They are all wounded heroes on the journey towards Life and Light.

All quivering daughters who are throwing off human tyranny are my heroes.

And not just them, but also my friends like Lewis and Shadow and Charis and Jane and Suzanne who have all been hurt one way or another by either Patriarchy or some other aberrant doctrine.


These are my heroes because they are speaking out and healing. And even more than that, they are not turning against God but pursuing Him and His gifts and calling others to see the One, True, Just, God. They are pointing to the Everliving and Everloving God Who holds Healing in His hands and is generous to give it out to anyone who calls upon His name. They are fighting the false god of patriarchy and the idol of quiverful, working to open the eyes of the blind who have been led astray by this false teaching.


I also admire all the lurking, walking, wounded from this movement, who are only at the beginning of their healing journey. They are my heroes too.


All I can say to you refugees from the ghost town is this, "You go, girl (or boy in some cases)! You've got what it takes for this journey. I'm confident in this very thing. That He who began a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6)."


I thank God when I think of you (Ephesians 1:15-23).

6 comments:

Lewis said...

Beautiful, Mara. Quivering Daughters, ALL of them, are my heroes too.

Gem said...

The feeling is mutual, Mara!

Love, Charis

shadowspring said...

I appreciate you too, Mara!

JaneDoeThreads said...

You are all doing healing/restorative work, in love, providing hope for so many who so desperately need to See the Love of Christ in action, not just hear scriptures, texts and commands, etc.

It also helps those 'outside' the movements [such as myself] to see others stand up, support and hold up their brothers and sisters, especially in a world where it's to each their own.

Keep up the putting the light of the Word out there--it helps numerous others who are effected by evil in other ways, through other forms as well.

Love, Jane

smoore2213 said...

I am so glad these things are being said, finally. Patriarchy is such a dangerous organization and, I fully believe, violates the first commandment--you shall have no other gods before me.
The more we talk, the more we're open that this is a lie, the more we support those who have walked out of the lifestyle. As a regular contributor to Free Jinger I started there and have now branched off to my personal blog in critically evaluation much of patriarchy and its teachings, and I enjoy reading those who have done the same.

Mara Reid said...

Welcome smoore.
I also like seeing the increase in people speaking against the lie of patriarchy.

I get happy every time I meet a new blogger and member of the "Expose Patriarchy" club.

[thumbs up to you!]