I stumbled upon this one when I was checking where the traffic for my site was coming from. No, this blog didn't link me. But rather someone else was searching something concerning John Eldredge and Ransomed Heart Ministries and I followed their google search to this place. I really like some of the things Laura Robinson has to say about the book "Captivating".
Choosing Priest Instead of Princess: The Pitfalls of Ransomed Heart Ministries
Some time back I did a series on Wild at Heart and John Eldredge. I have a love/hate relationship with his ministry.
Showing posts with label John Eldredge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Eldredge. Show all posts
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Sunday, June 24, 2012
An Old Article from Christianity Today
I'll link it here for those who have not seen it yet.
I like this author's approach and brief history of the men's movement.
Jesus for Real Men
I like this author's approach and brief history of the men's movement.
Jesus for Real Men
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
"Save Men from the Evil Feminine"
This is a quote from a blog post that critiques "Wild at Heart".
The author has listened to interviews of John Eldredge, read both WAH, and Captivating and has come away with a bad taste in her mouth.
http://lklouise.com/231/christian-masculinites-wild-at-heart/
As I mentioned, I enjoyed Wild At Heart. But I never really thought about the side of it that said that the problem with men is feminizition.
If that really was his message, then all I can say is that I'm glad I missed that part. Also, if Eldredge really thinks that, all I can wonder is, how did women become so powerful that they were able to destroy the masculine in men? How many women would even want to if they had the power?
Women never were that powerful. And most women have no desire to destroy the masculine in men. There is something else going on. I want men healed and delivered. But I know you don't have to blame women in order to get there. In fact, blaming women for it only confuses the problem and makes it harder to get to a real solution.
The author has listened to interviews of John Eldredge, read both WAH, and Captivating and has come away with a bad taste in her mouth.
http://lklouise.com/231/christian-masculinites-wild-at-heart/
As I mentioned, I enjoyed Wild At Heart. But I never really thought about the side of it that said that the problem with men is feminizition.
If that really was his message, then all I can say is that I'm glad I missed that part. Also, if Eldredge really thinks that, all I can wonder is, how did women become so powerful that they were able to destroy the masculine in men? How many women would even want to if they had the power?
Women never were that powerful. And most women have no desire to destroy the masculine in men. There is something else going on. I want men healed and delivered. But I know you don't have to blame women in order to get there. In fact, blaming women for it only confuses the problem and makes it harder to get to a real solution.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
A Deeper Magic
There is another phrase from the Chronicles of Narnia that I feel applies to this whole John Eldredge, "Wild at Heart" discussion.
Just as an explanation, when the Hero, Aslan the Lion, defeats the Snow Queen He does it by applying a "Deeper Magic" than the magic the Snow Queen knows.
What I love about John Eldredge's book, "Wild at Heart" and what Eldredge is trying to do is to heal the deep wounds of the hearts of men. Now, I'm sure most of you know that many men would rather jab their eye repeatedly with a sharp object than to talk about their feelings. Yet, Eldredge is able to open up his heart and get to the heart of many men through his book. So, in the end, this is what I love about "Wild at Heart".
Some of the negative reviews that I have read about "Wild at Heart" accuse Eldredge of being 'shallow'. I could not disagree more. The things of the soul are very deep and hidden from view. "Wild at Heart" deals with the deep places of a man's heart and the deep wounds that a man can acquire as a boy, specifically from his father. And, though he never uses the phrase from the Narnia books, Eldredge appeals to a "deeper magic" than even the level of the soul. He points men to draw on the deeper things of the Spirit and get their healing from God their heavenly Father.
As a person who also looks to the Father, the Spirit, and to Jesus as the Healer, the over all message of Wild at Heart is much appreciated.
The short comings are that Eldredge focuses a bit much on the wounds that a father gives to the neglect of other wounds, like from a mother, or from culture. There are so many things that can wound a child. It can be one or both parents. It can be passed down curses or family dynamics. It can be negative ancestral influences. It can be cultural influences.
My point is this. When a child is conceived and given birth to, there is much foundation building in the early part of the child's life. Anywhere along the way, things can be missed or abuses can be committed. What the child should have been given, in the way of development was withheld. Also what the child might have developed naturally, if just given a stable environment, can be destroyed by someone or something in the child's surroundings.
Anyway, whatever goes on that wounds or even destroys the child, this is a deep wound in a deep place of who the child is. It takes something deep to reach that soul realm. The soul is very deep. But there is "a deeper magic still" that is found in the spirit realm.
And we are encouraged in the Bible to look at and trust in that which is deep an not readily seen.
2 Corinthians 4:8 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things that are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds (ages) were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.
Sometimes going deeper is intimidating or even frightening. But I believe in the deeper things of the Spirit.
Just as an explanation, when the Hero, Aslan the Lion, defeats the Snow Queen He does it by applying a "Deeper Magic" than the magic the Snow Queen knows.
What I love about John Eldredge's book, "Wild at Heart" and what Eldredge is trying to do is to heal the deep wounds of the hearts of men. Now, I'm sure most of you know that many men would rather jab their eye repeatedly with a sharp object than to talk about their feelings. Yet, Eldredge is able to open up his heart and get to the heart of many men through his book. So, in the end, this is what I love about "Wild at Heart".
Some of the negative reviews that I have read about "Wild at Heart" accuse Eldredge of being 'shallow'. I could not disagree more. The things of the soul are very deep and hidden from view. "Wild at Heart" deals with the deep places of a man's heart and the deep wounds that a man can acquire as a boy, specifically from his father. And, though he never uses the phrase from the Narnia books, Eldredge appeals to a "deeper magic" than even the level of the soul. He points men to draw on the deeper things of the Spirit and get their healing from God their heavenly Father.
As a person who also looks to the Father, the Spirit, and to Jesus as the Healer, the over all message of Wild at Heart is much appreciated.
The short comings are that Eldredge focuses a bit much on the wounds that a father gives to the neglect of other wounds, like from a mother, or from culture. There are so many things that can wound a child. It can be one or both parents. It can be passed down curses or family dynamics. It can be negative ancestral influences. It can be cultural influences.
My point is this. When a child is conceived and given birth to, there is much foundation building in the early part of the child's life. Anywhere along the way, things can be missed or abuses can be committed. What the child should have been given, in the way of development was withheld. Also what the child might have developed naturally, if just given a stable environment, can be destroyed by someone or something in the child's surroundings.
Anyway, whatever goes on that wounds or even destroys the child, this is a deep wound in a deep place of who the child is. It takes something deep to reach that soul realm. The soul is very deep. But there is "a deeper magic still" that is found in the spirit realm.
And we are encouraged in the Bible to look at and trust in that which is deep an not readily seen.
2 Corinthians 4:8 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things that are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds (ages) were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.
Sometimes going deeper is intimidating or even frightening. But I believe in the deeper things of the Spirit.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Not a Tame Lion
I'm pretty much winding down as far as talking about Eldredge's "Wild at Heart" except for a couple things.
One of the phrases that Eldredge uses is from C.S. Lewis's "The Chronicles of Narnia". Aslan, the representation of God in Narnia, is a lion which is symbolic of Jesus being the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. One of the things that is said about Aslan is that He is not a tame lion. And Eldredge uses this to refer to men, that like Aslan, men were not created to be tamed and controlled by culture and civilization.
The saying about Aslan was that He was not tame, as in controlled. But He was good. Very, very good. And Eldredge uses this to call men to be their own wild and free selves, yet to remember that they are to be good in this deliriously wild freedom.
I have difficulty with this, not because Eldredge tells men they don't have to be 'tame' and controllable but rather that the implication that can be picked up is that women ARE to be tame and controlled. Whereas men can represent themselves in God's image as a lion, women are left to represent God as lambs. And this is a completely false correlation. Both lions and lambs come in male and female versions.
Jesus is referred to as both a lion and a lamb. Both men and women are referred to as sheep in the Bible. And both men and women can think of themselves as being as bold as lions when they walk in the righteousness of Christ.
Certain men, with itching ears, do not have the right to claim "lion" status for themselves while relegating women to "lamb" status. Men who do this are creating false structures that nature, God's own creation, witnesses against.
I'm not a tame lion either. I'm not subjugated and controlled by the men and culture of this earth. I run wild in the lioness freedom that Jesus, the Lion and the Lamb, my older Brother... I run wild in the Spirit Wind freedom that He bought me. And I'm not going to let arrogant little whelps tell me any different. Those that try to take my lion status away in order to give me a lesser role are preaching a different gospel.
Now, after this rant, you may think that I really do hate Eldredge's book. But I don't. I only hate what others have done with it and how they have misused it. The next post is about the good in his book and why my love for it eventually does win out over my frustration.
One of the phrases that Eldredge uses is from C.S. Lewis's "The Chronicles of Narnia". Aslan, the representation of God in Narnia, is a lion which is symbolic of Jesus being the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. One of the things that is said about Aslan is that He is not a tame lion. And Eldredge uses this to refer to men, that like Aslan, men were not created to be tamed and controlled by culture and civilization.
The saying about Aslan was that He was not tame, as in controlled. But He was good. Very, very good. And Eldredge uses this to call men to be their own wild and free selves, yet to remember that they are to be good in this deliriously wild freedom.
I have difficulty with this, not because Eldredge tells men they don't have to be 'tame' and controllable but rather that the implication that can be picked up is that women ARE to be tame and controlled. Whereas men can represent themselves in God's image as a lion, women are left to represent God as lambs. And this is a completely false correlation. Both lions and lambs come in male and female versions.
Jesus is referred to as both a lion and a lamb. Both men and women are referred to as sheep in the Bible. And both men and women can think of themselves as being as bold as lions when they walk in the righteousness of Christ.
Certain men, with itching ears, do not have the right to claim "lion" status for themselves while relegating women to "lamb" status. Men who do this are creating false structures that nature, God's own creation, witnesses against.
I'm not a tame lion either. I'm not subjugated and controlled by the men and culture of this earth. I run wild in the lioness freedom that Jesus, the Lion and the Lamb, my older Brother... I run wild in the Spirit Wind freedom that He bought me. And I'm not going to let arrogant little whelps tell me any different. Those that try to take my lion status away in order to give me a lesser role are preaching a different gospel.
Now, after this rant, you may think that I really do hate Eldredge's book. But I don't. I only hate what others have done with it and how they have misused it. The next post is about the good in his book and why my love for it eventually does win out over my frustration.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
A Window Into My Soul
I have an Internet persona and keep my personal life very private. But for the sake of explaining the appeal of Wild At Heart to me personally, let me tell you about myself.
Even though I now live in the fertile prairies of the Heartland, I was not born here. I was born in one of the Plains states. It is rugged and wild country that I love. And most people not from that country have a hard time appreciating the beautiful, untamed, desolation of that area. John Eldredge is also from the wild country in Colorado. So when he described chasing a deer over that country, it set my heart on fire and made me remember my roots. They are roots that my friends from the Heartland, or the South, or the East Coast don't understand. My ancestors cut out an existence in those unforgiving plains. They went through the Dust Bowl for Pete's sake. They were strong and stoic and sometimes I get impatient with the spoiled heartland dwellers who have only known green and tamed terrain.
In my next post I'm going to link a Rich Mullin's song about the beauty of the plains. One of the lines goes like this, "How the Lord takes by its corners this old world and shakes us forward and shakes us free to run wild with the hope that this thirst will not last long that it will soon drown in a song not sung in vain." The state I was born in is listed in this song.
Rich was an anomaly. A Quaker boy born in the green, moist and tame Heartland wouldn't normally have an attraction to the desolate plains. But Rich did. He appreciated it and he wrote a song about it and about praising God that makes my heart sing. Funny. Other people are not nearly as stirred by that song as I still am.
Further back in my past, my family is from Denmark. Another rugged and desolate place of warriors and Vikings. Their men weren't just fierce, so were their women. They had to be to survive. I read a book that was made into a movie call "The Thirteenth Warrior" and was amazed at the feeling of affinity I had with some of the Viking thought processes. In the next post, along with the Rich Mullins link, I'll link an ancient sounding song with images from the old country which also touches a terrible deep place in me.
Why am I telling you this? I'm explaining the structures in my life, set up by my culture and my heritage that are not dissimilar to the structures in John Eldredge's life. But where he tries to make these structures into Biblical foundations, I know better. They are extra-biblical. This doesn't make them bad. I'm proud of my heritage. But these foundations are not Biblical. And they are not sturdy foundations to build a house of wild, spiritual, freedom on. The word of God is quick and active and sharper than any two edged sword and is able to cut between the soul and spirit (Hebrews 4:12).
Hopefully, after the post with the song links, I can present Bible verses that promise us freedom. These verses ARE a firm foundation and are not someone else's culture and perspective. They are a spiritual foundation and aren't given to us to cancel out other people's cultural influences.
Even though I now live in the fertile prairies of the Heartland, I was not born here. I was born in one of the Plains states. It is rugged and wild country that I love. And most people not from that country have a hard time appreciating the beautiful, untamed, desolation of that area. John Eldredge is also from the wild country in Colorado. So when he described chasing a deer over that country, it set my heart on fire and made me remember my roots. They are roots that my friends from the Heartland, or the South, or the East Coast don't understand. My ancestors cut out an existence in those unforgiving plains. They went through the Dust Bowl for Pete's sake. They were strong and stoic and sometimes I get impatient with the spoiled heartland dwellers who have only known green and tamed terrain.
In my next post I'm going to link a Rich Mullin's song about the beauty of the plains. One of the lines goes like this, "How the Lord takes by its corners this old world and shakes us forward and shakes us free to run wild with the hope that this thirst will not last long that it will soon drown in a song not sung in vain." The state I was born in is listed in this song.
Rich was an anomaly. A Quaker boy born in the green, moist and tame Heartland wouldn't normally have an attraction to the desolate plains. But Rich did. He appreciated it and he wrote a song about it and about praising God that makes my heart sing. Funny. Other people are not nearly as stirred by that song as I still am.
Further back in my past, my family is from Denmark. Another rugged and desolate place of warriors and Vikings. Their men weren't just fierce, so were their women. They had to be to survive. I read a book that was made into a movie call "The Thirteenth Warrior" and was amazed at the feeling of affinity I had with some of the Viking thought processes. In the next post, along with the Rich Mullins link, I'll link an ancient sounding song with images from the old country which also touches a terrible deep place in me.
Why am I telling you this? I'm explaining the structures in my life, set up by my culture and my heritage that are not dissimilar to the structures in John Eldredge's life. But where he tries to make these structures into Biblical foundations, I know better. They are extra-biblical. This doesn't make them bad. I'm proud of my heritage. But these foundations are not Biblical. And they are not sturdy foundations to build a house of wild, spiritual, freedom on. The word of God is quick and active and sharper than any two edged sword and is able to cut between the soul and spirit (Hebrews 4:12).
Hopefully, after the post with the song links, I can present Bible verses that promise us freedom. These verses ARE a firm foundation and are not someone else's culture and perspective. They are a spiritual foundation and aren't given to us to cancel out other people's cultural influences.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Made of the Same Stuff
The Greeks were one of the most misogynic cultures known back in the day. The philosophers taught that men and women were not even made from the same substance.
The Jewish culture knew better because they had the creation story. But the Greeks? They had Pandora and taught that men were made of higher material and women were made of lower substance.
This is one reason Paul's letter to the Ephesians is so important yet it's significance is so lost on us. While modern day teachers try to force hierarchy on Ephesians 5, the concept of men and women being made of the same stuff and are even from the same body is completely overlooked.
The Head and the Body are part of the same thing. They aren't made of different things nor were they made in different places, like Eldredge says. The head wasn't made outside the garden while the body was made inside.
So Ephesians 5 is more evidence of the closeness and connectedness of the male and female in God's creation. And it is the New Testament foundation that defies John Eldredge's claim that men and women are polar opposites and originated in different places. They aren't. They are different expressions of the same creation.
Now, hopefully, in a future post, I'll be able to deconstruct Wild at Heart's claim verses cultural conditioning. And I don't mean male/female conditioning. I mean wild/tame conditioning.
These conditionings are forces to be reckoned with, but they absolutely, positivily are NOT biblical foundations.
The Jewish culture knew better because they had the creation story. But the Greeks? They had Pandora and taught that men were made of higher material and women were made of lower substance.
This is one reason Paul's letter to the Ephesians is so important yet it's significance is so lost on us. While modern day teachers try to force hierarchy on Ephesians 5, the concept of men and women being made of the same stuff and are even from the same body is completely overlooked.
The Head and the Body are part of the same thing. They aren't made of different things nor were they made in different places, like Eldredge says. The head wasn't made outside the garden while the body was made inside.
So Ephesians 5 is more evidence of the closeness and connectedness of the male and female in God's creation. And it is the New Testament foundation that defies John Eldredge's claim that men and women are polar opposites and originated in different places. They aren't. They are different expressions of the same creation.
Now, hopefully, in a future post, I'll be able to deconstruct Wild at Heart's claim verses cultural conditioning. And I don't mean male/female conditioning. I mean wild/tame conditioning.
These conditionings are forces to be reckoned with, but they absolutely, positivily are NOT biblical foundations.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
My Continued Ambivalence
As Darcy brings up, there's a lot to love about Eldredge's Wild At Heart. It helped me. I absolutely cannot deny it and will always have a soft place in my heart for it for what it has done for me. But unfortunately it has been a catalyst for some very bad behavior in men, including mine. I could go into stories but I thought this heart rending review would give a better understanding. And as the reviewer said, it wasn't the book that caused the problems, but rather it was gasoline thrown on already smoldering embers. This reviewer's experience is on the extreme end. Many women and children have suffered lesser versions of this. (The link will jump to the place to make a comment. Just scroll up.) http://www.amazon.com/review/R2H72YKWGDT2NW/ref=cm_cr_pr_cmt?ie=UTF8ASIN=0785268839&nodeID=&tag=&linkCode=#wasThisHelpful
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Link Ransomed Heart Ministries
As I have a heart to see women free, John Eldredge has a heart to see men free which I respect. I just wish his work wasn't so easily used by other men to bring women under bondage. http://www.ransomedheart.com/
My Main Issue with "Wild at Heart"
As I mention in my 4/1/11 post, I read a book called Wild at Heart by John Eldredge. There is a link in the 4/1/11 post to the book on Amazon.
I mentioned that Wild at Heart has been used by men like Mark Driscoll to form a religion giving emense freedom to men while continueing to supress women in a puritianical strangle hold. And I speak of my frustration with such men.
But even knowing that John Eldredge is the author of a book that other men have abused for their own personal gain, I still can't hate Eldredge. As I read his book, I read what came from his heart. He wanted people to be free, men and women. And he understood at least one thing. If men aren't free, they sure as heck aren't going to allow their women to be free. Whatever degree of bondage men are under, they will most likely turn and place their women under worse bondage.
Even so, I disagree with the foundation of sand Eldredge laid for his doctrinal house. He made the claim that since man was made outside the garden, he was fundamentally wild and free. Women, however, were made INSIDE the garden and therefore were fundamentally domesticated.
This is pure speculation and amounts to nothing more than shifting sands and I'd like to address the error with actual scripture.
When God brought Eve to Adam, he wasn't amazed at their differences or in the different places they were created. What he said was, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called Woman Because this one has been taken out of Man." (Genesis 2:23)
Adam gloried in their similarities, not their differences. He majored on how much alike and a part of him she was, not in the cute or annoying little things about her that made her different. He didn't jump up and down and start defining and building a box or role for her. God brought him a companion, one like him that he could be with.
The fall completely broke this so that when God confronted him, he turned on this one made like him and betrayed her in front of both God and her. It was as though he betrayed himself. And the drive to push her away and make her different, foreign and less continues to this day.
This is an Old Testament proof against Eldredge's premise. I also have a New Testament proof.
I mentioned that Wild at Heart has been used by men like Mark Driscoll to form a religion giving emense freedom to men while continueing to supress women in a puritianical strangle hold. And I speak of my frustration with such men.
But even knowing that John Eldredge is the author of a book that other men have abused for their own personal gain, I still can't hate Eldredge. As I read his book, I read what came from his heart. He wanted people to be free, men and women. And he understood at least one thing. If men aren't free, they sure as heck aren't going to allow their women to be free. Whatever degree of bondage men are under, they will most likely turn and place their women under worse bondage.
Even so, I disagree with the foundation of sand Eldredge laid for his doctrinal house. He made the claim that since man was made outside the garden, he was fundamentally wild and free. Women, however, were made INSIDE the garden and therefore were fundamentally domesticated.
This is pure speculation and amounts to nothing more than shifting sands and I'd like to address the error with actual scripture.
When God brought Eve to Adam, he wasn't amazed at their differences or in the different places they were created. What he said was, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called Woman Because this one has been taken out of Man." (Genesis 2:23)
Adam gloried in their similarities, not their differences. He majored on how much alike and a part of him she was, not in the cute or annoying little things about her that made her different. He didn't jump up and down and start defining and building a box or role for her. God brought him a companion, one like him that he could be with.
The fall completely broke this so that when God confronted him, he turned on this one made like him and betrayed her in front of both God and her. It was as though he betrayed himself. And the drive to push her away and make her different, foreign and less continues to this day.
This is an Old Testament proof against Eldredge's premise. I also have a New Testament proof.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Wild at Heart Link
I couldn't make the link work in the previous post so here it is for anyone who has never heard of John Eldredge's book
http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Heart-Discovering-Secret-Mans/dp/0785268839
Yearning for Freedom
Once a person embraces the rigid structures of religion, he/she wilts under its weight and wonders if this is all there is.
Puritanical religion doesn't just hurt women, it also hurts men so men look for a way to get out from under the burden.
One of the latest moves among men is led by a man who wrote the book, Wild at Heart.
http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Heart-Discovering-Secret-Mans/dp/0785268839
Now I read Wild at Heart and enjoyed it and took the message to heart for myself, that I also needed to be wild and free in the Lord and that it wasn't just limited to men, even though the author implied that it was men who needed to let loose their spiritual wild side, not women. But I hold no grudge toward the author. Not when his book was used to help me shake off some false structure that had attached itself to me.
However, I do hold a grudge towards certain preachers that have taken the Wild at Heart message, ran with it and excluded women from the freedom they feel men need to walk in.
Mark Driscoll is just such a preacher. While he teaches that it's okay for men to burp and fart and cuss and drink beer and a whole lot of other wild manly things, he still holds women to a structured, religious oppression and even calls on them to be saved by fulfilling a role.
Mark Driscoll Quote: "Women will be saved by going back to that role that God has chosen for them. Ladies, if the hair on the back of your neck stands up it is because you are fighting your roll in the scripture."
Through slight of hand, men like Driscoll allow themselves some Dionysian freedom from Apollonian over structure while making sure their women remain under rigid structure and control in order to fulfill the needs, wants, and desires of men. While the men get some level of freedom, women continue to wilt under puritanical control.
Actually, there is one place that Mark pushes for Dionysian freedom to the hurt of women, as my friend Jane pointed out. One place and one place only. This place is in the bedroom where she must throw off all inhibitions and change from a mild and meek mouse and turn into a nymphomaniac porn star. All for the sake of satisfying men and keeping them from straying off to real porn stars.
So, here is the dynamic of Apollonian and Dionysian being used and manipulated so that the man gets the best benefits of both principles and the woman must conform to the structures men create for them.
This building of structures on the sand of human thinking is hurting and even destroying many. This is why it is needful to see the false structures and false dynamics for what they are. Human, man made, and false.
We have looked at a couple of overviews of Apollonian/Dionysian thought and structure. I hope to look at a few specific arguments used against women.
Puritanical religion doesn't just hurt women, it also hurts men so men look for a way to get out from under the burden.
One of the latest moves among men is led by a man who wrote the book, Wild at Heart.
http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Heart-Discovering-Secret-Mans/dp/0785268839
Now I read Wild at Heart and enjoyed it and took the message to heart for myself, that I also needed to be wild and free in the Lord and that it wasn't just limited to men, even though the author implied that it was men who needed to let loose their spiritual wild side, not women. But I hold no grudge toward the author. Not when his book was used to help me shake off some false structure that had attached itself to me.
However, I do hold a grudge towards certain preachers that have taken the Wild at Heart message, ran with it and excluded women from the freedom they feel men need to walk in.
Mark Driscoll is just such a preacher. While he teaches that it's okay for men to burp and fart and cuss and drink beer and a whole lot of other wild manly things, he still holds women to a structured, religious oppression and even calls on them to be saved by fulfilling a role.
Mark Driscoll Quote: "Women will be saved by going back to that role that God has chosen for them. Ladies, if the hair on the back of your neck stands up it is because you are fighting your roll in the scripture."
Through slight of hand, men like Driscoll allow themselves some Dionysian freedom from Apollonian over structure while making sure their women remain under rigid structure and control in order to fulfill the needs, wants, and desires of men. While the men get some level of freedom, women continue to wilt under puritanical control.
Actually, there is one place that Mark pushes for Dionysian freedom to the hurt of women, as my friend Jane pointed out. One place and one place only. This place is in the bedroom where she must throw off all inhibitions and change from a mild and meek mouse and turn into a nymphomaniac porn star. All for the sake of satisfying men and keeping them from straying off to real porn stars.
So, here is the dynamic of Apollonian and Dionysian being used and manipulated so that the man gets the best benefits of both principles and the woman must conform to the structures men create for them.
This building of structures on the sand of human thinking is hurting and even destroying many. This is why it is needful to see the false structures and false dynamics for what they are. Human, man made, and false.
We have looked at a couple of overviews of Apollonian/Dionysian thought and structure. I hope to look at a few specific arguments used against women.
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