Alarm over scale of abuse of women
More than one in three women worldwide have experienced
physical or sexual violence, a report by the World Health Organization and
other groups says.
Read more:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22975103Not too long ago I read 'Captivating' my Stazi Ethridge about the heart and soul of a woman. It's all good but there was single passage that she wrote that struck a core and I will be paraphrasing quite loosely. But first, let me pose some questions.
Have you ever wondered why through the ages women have been marginalized and thought of as property or glorified as objects?
Has it ever struck you that most religions and I include every one for the most part rarely allows women freedom, equal standing and freedom of expression?
The mores trident the 'faith' the less women are free?
That women on the whole have to live on their bodies the insecurities of the males in their 'tribe'?
That the abuse, use and exploitation of a woman goes unpunished and the woman for the most part carry the shame?
That prostitution is the oldest profession?
That girls today continue to be held to a beauty standard that is unattainable and unrealistic yet pervasive in every toy, fairy tale and magazine cover? That a woman's view of herself is directly attached to her positive or negative outlook on life?
Mrs. Ethridge with her husband say and again I paraphrase..that woman was created as a sight to behold...beautiful and a fighting along-side companion to her husband. That Satan from the start who had been the most beautiful has been jealous of woman's unique place as a beautiful expression of God's image and he (the enemy) has taken it upon himself to seek out our destruction from the start. He is jealous and wreaks havoc on the the beauty that a women engender. Not only are we beautiful...we give life. Now you can see why abortion is the most heinous attack of what it means to be a woman. Now you can see when a woman is abused, rapped, molested she carries a scar that she can't overcome easily...she has been wounded by the enemy. It is a jealous HOT smoldering rage against our Maker who created us in Him image, beautiful.
I have always been struck and the vehemence towards woman that seems so pervasive in cultures all over the world. It isn't only because we are the weaker image bearer it is because we are the beautiful image bearer.
It is easy to be angry at the men...who carry out the vendetta of the enemy. But we as women don't help each other either. I am angry that we continue to carry out his vendetta every time we marginalize, exploit and abuse women for any reason.
Now that the enemy is clear and I realize that jealosuy is his motivation..doesn't it make you want to fight HARD against and really fight HARD for...ENOUGH.
Women....you are the image bearer of God's beauty...lift up your head.
Men...don't stand by as you did in the garden, stand up and stand beside.
