Bob McDonnell's banishment from Eden

Although I know and like people who are solid Bob McDonnell supporters ( not so much his wife, tho), I have to say we should have seen his conviction coming from a mile away.  Rachel Maddow said last night she didn't think he'd be convicted, but we all should have. Why?

The answer came to me last night. His defense was from the story of Adam and Eve. "She made me do it. It was her fault, she said this was good so I took a bite. Then I took another. She's to blame!"  Fits perfectly for a man who touts Christian values and traditional marriage as the cement of civilization. Many, many Christians blame woman for original sin.  I am not surprised by this defense, but am saddened. No, not saddened. Sickened.

I attended an old and respected women's college. The then-college chaplain was a tall, imposing man of quiet rectitude. The students uniformly admired and respected him. I was invited to one of his small get-togethers,  much to my surprise since I didn't have any classes with him.  We were chatting, the chaplain and I, when he turned the topic to original sin, and he informed me that all sin was the fault of Eve and therefore, of all women.  I may have been all of 19 years old, but I asked him what he was doing at a women's college, if he felt that way. He turned his back and stalked off. I have never felt the respect that many of my friends still have for the man.

Blaming women for all the world's ills isn't new. It's at the root of the degradation of women in every level of society, every culture.  Maureen McDonnell maybe an unpleasant person, but she's not the root of all evil. Bob McDonnell made his own bad choices.

Isn't it time we took away all power from the Adam and Eve myth?

This blog is so worth reading. . .

Check out bellejar.ca for a spot on dissection of the theft and publication of nude pics of some famous women, including Jennifer Lawrence.  This must stop. As a society, we must rise in outrage and stop people who think all women are fair game.