Our Daughters Need A New Narrative!

It's late but the thoughts are coming fast and I can't sleep because I keep thinking about my daughters. I refrained from commenting publicly on Don Miller's post about how "girls" can live a better love story because, well, I was wrapped up in Bolivia. But I read it. And his words shook me to my core. You have to understand, I loved Don Miller.

I mean, I've read every single one of his books. Blue Like Jazz was one of the first books I read coming out of the fundamentalist cult of my childhood. It gave me hope that there could be a Different Way for me to experience my faith.

And now I'm sitting here asking myself: are we still here? I mean, REALLY?! Are my daughters still going to have to deal with the same kind of patriarchal crap I had to deal with in my twenties?

Is there some sort of freak resurgence of patriarchal oppression that is so seductive it's even winning over men like Don Miller?

I cannot bear to imagine that even mega-popular Christian authors like Don Miller are still being allowed to publish such horrifically degrading material. Yeah. I said ALLOWED. Who are the Christian publishers and Christian clearing houses and churches and conferences that keep PAYING men to broadcast their hurtful, anti-Christian, anti-woman ideas?

When does a Christian publishing house finally say: ENOUGH! We will no longer publish authors who have written material that is harmful and hurtful to women and children--even if it was only on a "whim" on their blogs?

Yes. I am shaking mad. I held it off for two weeks because I wanted to devote my sole attention to Bolivia. But now I'm home. And I'm raising my daughters. I have to be honest: I fear for my daughters.

I saw firsthand in Bolivia what oppression of women looks like and you know what? It's horrific. I thought the church in America had progressed far beyond what I saw in Bolivia, but after reading Don Miller's posts and worst of all, seeing the HUGE outpouring of support and love and acclamation he received---I honestly fear that the church in America is in danger of resurrecting the old oppression.

Mothers! We cannot let this happen!

OUR DAUGHTERS NEED A NEW NARRATIVE.

Who will give it to them? Who will encourage them to write their own narrative? I want to say how proud I was of my friend, Rachel Held Evans, who spoke up against Don's post.

I also want to say thank you to the Godly men I have the privilege of knowing in real life and here on this blog for whom the oppression of women is a scourge they work daily to rectify.

Please. Help us write a new narrative for our daughters! We can do this!

p.s. if you haven't read the now-deleted Don Miller posts, I'm not sure how to retrieve cached articles--my apologies--I'm sure someone super smart and techy will post a link to them in the comments, yes? updated: thanks to my techy readers, i was able to link to the cached article. thanks, yo! y'all are the bomb-diggity!

p.p.s yeah, i know i said i was going to keep comments closed for awhile. but then i kept coming up with all these new posts that just beg for discussion! so COMMENTS OPEN!