Another dimension to abortion that needs to be named at this time in history is the new appeal of authoritarianism or fascism. Susan Sontag defines fascism as “institutionalized violence.” Is this not what the new Texas laws are all about? Violence toward women and their bodies and their choices institutionalized by a law that skirts fifty years of established law? And encourages bounty hunters to make money chasing down pregnant women?
Violence against women is intrinsic to much of Western culture and patriarchal culture (Adrienne Rich astutely names the latter as promoting “fatalistic self hatred.”) Men operating out of unexamined consciences often project their fatalistic self-hatred onto others and especially women. Thus the compulsion to control them and their bodies. Fascism loves to talk about “Family” with a capital F. Beware!
Fascism is always anti-women and is by definition all about control. Abortion as a religious litmus test stands out as the number one religious issue for fascists. Weaponizing sexuality has become a sad mark of orthodoxy for some in the Catholic church ever since the encyclical Humanae Vitae reinforced the ban on birth control.
Patriarchy is part of any discussion about abortion. The question at hand is this: “Why do men want to tell women what to do with their bodies?” I believe the best answer to this question comes from one of the founders of Chaos Theory, mathematician Ralph Abraham in his ground breaking book, Chaos, Gaia, Eros. I will discuss that book in the accompanying video.
See Matthew Fox, Confessions: The Making of a Post-denominational Priest, pp. 385, 314, 223, 118, 163
Banner Image: Drowning in the sea of authoritarianism. Photo by nikko macaspac on Unsplash.
To read the written transcript of Matthew Fox’s video teaching, click HERE.
Queries for Contemplation
Do you have a theory why men feel compelled to control women’s bodies? How does one put an end to that compulsion?
Recommended Reading
Upcoming Events
“Wisdom, Grace, Love” – a 3-part online lecture series by Caroline Myss, Andrew Harvey, and Matthew Fox, September 8, 15, and 22, 3:00-4:30 pm Pacific (GMT/UTC-7). Learn more HERE.
7 thoughts on “Abortion and Authoritarianism”
“Glory Will Come Before We Die”
Black people die, white people sigh.
The Indigenous go where they are told.
The story must change, it’s getting too old.
Covid flares, death in the mirror stares.
Where do we go, where do we go?
The rain has stopped falling, death must be calling.
Must it be so, how do we know?
A few white men decide how we come and go.
‘Carry a passport now, we have to monitor the flow’.
Our words are getter better,
but we talk on a teather.
The prison yard is getting bigger,
the hole we dig is getting deeper.
Women now go to jail for a society fail.
The rules are made by the white male.
We have a voice,
but we don’t get a choice.
A few get rich, everyone else gets poor.
They give us jobs, but make us a whore.
Never give up, but what do we do?
Is it me for me and you for you?
It’s a mixed up world, but let’s not call it a day.
No time to sleep, not even time to play.
Give us freedom whatever that be.
Whatever the cost we have yet to see.
Glory waits as we get bold,
the rich will surely die and grow old.
A bill of goods we’ve been sold.
Liberty awaits, our story will unfold.
Let’s not wait for tomorrow to see where we are,
Let’s move forward now no matter how far.
Love and peace are the victory posts,
to those who want it, who want it the most.
Let’s walk together down the road,
it’s joy, and some blood, that creates our mould.
Glory will come before we die.
— BB.
It is observable that the mythical fruit of knowledge of good and evil has evolved cosmically, into the global established systemic injustice, we all unavoidably participate in, some of us more than others. This knowledge of self or institutional importance, Power and Wealth for the few connected, perhaps 2 billion of us at the expense of the remaining 5 billion of us. This is the evil we pray to be delivered from. There is an established simplicity to transform ourselves by joining the rest of the world and the Tree of the Life in all living species. We must begin with Food and Forgiveness shared with ourselves and others, as we are all in need of eating these combined physical and spiritual religious needs too begin the love all living things for Life and its fullness. Deacon’82 Environment and Global Interdependence.
Peter, Indeed we need to begin to, “love all living things for Life and its fullness.” Thank you for your comment, Peter!
Leaving religion and politics aside, what about the precious life of the baby. Who will stick up for their right to live? It seems all pro abortion advocates have had the privilege of being allowed to be born. I don’t believe this to be a legal matter to be prosecuted or denied. Education is needed on what abortion actually does to a human life. Help and love should be provided for the girls and women who find themselves in such a difficult situation. Love is the answer for everything. Love is!
Helen, no one is pro-abortion. Many people do believe that the woman and sometimes her doctor should be the one to choose. I just want to clarify the difference.
In the USA we see with myopic lenses. Global persecution, abuse and violence against women is not exclusive to this country. Where we are divided over abortion, all would be better served by a focus on care of women in general. }:- a.m. #imho
Amen!