Masculine Spirituality

[elshiva]

Robert Bly wrote about the "male mother." The male mother is a leader like King Arthur who treats his followers as equals, brothers (the round table was round so there was no "head of the table" when all was assembled). In one legend King Arthur gave his arm to nourish his knights.
To me the male mother is the ultimate model for men's leadership. The ultimate male mother is/was Jesus Christ.
JK is very much the male mother. When he first got on the swift boat his first words were, "how can I be of service." He did not act superior to the others because of his class, but saw all as equals. This carried over to his leadership in anti-war protests up to today in the Senate. He is a great listener and never shuts someone off because s/he is of a different party, race, gender, or sexual identity.

[Sydnie]

1. Damn -- that is spot on!

thanks for posting that. It feels good to hear someone saying what I am thinking.

[elshiva]

2. Blessings, Sydnie

JK and Jimmy Carter are people who truly live their faith as loving male mothers. It is an inspiration.

[CBHagman]

3. Also the nurturing parent, a la George Lakoff.

I'm sure most of us here have at least heard of "Don't Think of an Elephant," which discusses the importance of framing in political debate. Anyway, to make a long story short, the current Republican leadership runs on the strict father model, whereas the Democrats prefer the nurturing parent.

Also, this thread brings to mind a conversation in the TV adaptation of "Sharpe's Rifles." The Irishman Patrick Harper tells his commanding officer, Richard Sharpe, that he, Sharpe, will make a "fine killin' officer." Sharpe is taken aback at this until Harper explains that a killing officer would only lose men due to mistake or bad luck, whereas a murdering officer might get his men killed due to deliberate planning, even due to principle.

I suspect none of us needs to wonder at who is the killing officer and who is the murdering officer in today's politics.

[elshiva]

6. Thanks, and the She-Bear

Wellstone was a nurturing parent. Howard Dean is very nurturing and so many of his followers are young. To me the male mother is the male version of the nurturing parent.
For female leaders its the fierce she-bear spirituality. The she-bear is very nurturing, but if you pull any bull about her or her cubs she pounces hard. Think about Senators Boxer, Mikulski, H. Clinton as well as our late, great Reps. Shirley Chisholm and Elizabeth J. Holtzman.

[ginnyinWI]

4. seems true, if you look at JK's life

his loyalty to those he is leading/serving. His dedication and responsibility to those who've entrusted themselves to him. That's why I believe he didn't just run away from an election fraud fight. He considered everything and made the only prudent choice. He just didn't have proof, and no prosecutor goes to trial without a good case.

But he won't abandon us--he's still going to fight for fair elections,as well as all the other stuff he's committed to. His integrity is very important to him, contrary to a certain chimp I could mention, whose word means absolutely nothing. You can tell HE is lying because he's opened his lying mouth.


The second term has started, and John Kerry will be the leader I will put my trust in for the next four years.

[TheDonkey]

5. Intresting, not like what is common in America

where masculinity is characterized by dominance and brute force.

[elshiva]

7. That's the problem

dominance and brute force are the powers of destruction and rape.
Too many men use their bodies as weapons and not the sources of the life force God created them to be.