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Notes -
Yes, Christianity is deeply patriarchal. The children do not understand the wisdom of the father, and they don't want to get their vaccines, because the needle hurts, and they do not comprehend the suffering they are being saved from. So they need to trust in the wisdom of the father, and trust that he loves them, even if they don't understand why he asks the things he asks.
Yet this is a very hard sell in a deeply individualized society that rejects patriarchy.
The problem with that metaphor is that in human experience, you are actually supposed to catch up to your father one day. Even in a patriarchal society. He will teach you all he knows, and then he will be old, weak and mind-addled (if he lives that long) while you are young, strong and wiser than you were.
I don't agree with that. The goal of becoming an adult is to fulfill your potential, which can be more, equal or less than that of your father.
In the relationship with God, one can never equal or better, but the crucial part is fulfilling your potential, which is possible.
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