“Truth is the only safe ground to stand upon.” ~Elizabeth Cady Stanton As women in America were extended more and more opportunities for higher education, there arose a group of educated, middle class women who felt strongly about the need for women's suffrage. For Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the right for women to vote was simple, clear and vital. She dedicated her life to raising her 7 children, and putting in whatever work was necessary to see suffrage for women realized. She, and other key figures like Susan B. Anthony and Alice Paul played important roles in this fight.  In the meantime, other women like Jane Addams, Dorothea Dix, and Florence Kelly were working for the poorer and ignorant classes to improve their living conditions and opportunities. As part of an attempt to improve the conditions of the lower class, Margaret Sanger, a trained nurse, felt that birth control was the best answer. Control the population, she believed, and give the women the ability to choose when they have children, and living conditions, jobs and wages would improve for all. She devoted herself and all her energy to realizing this ambition--founding the first Planned Parenthood clinics and forming the group of  philanthropists, doctors and scientists who would develop the first birth control pill.  In this podcast, Audrey sweeps across the history of women's issues in the last two centuries. She quickly covers key events, people and issues to create a backdrop for the modern Feminist movement that defines the way women think and talk about themselves today. Tune in next month when Betty Friedan and The Feminine Mystique take hold in the minds of women across the U.S. and change the framework of relations between men and women forever! Listener's Guide: Use the time stamps below to skip to any part of the podcast.  2:00      The Vote - The Next Big Thing After Education 7:30      Elizabeth Cady Stanton - First Public Figure in American Suffrage 8:47      Susan B. Anthony 10:33    The Woman's Bible: A Classic Feminist Perspective 11:25     Alice Paul 14:09    The National Women's Party 18:28    The Woman's Era 20:53    Florence Kelly 22:48    Margaret Sanger - Birth Control 26:46    Margaret Sanger's Reasons for Birth Control 29:45    Planned Parenthood 33:47    Margaret Sanger's Reasons for Birth Control 35:05    Margaret Sanger's Personal Life 37:39    The Mike Wallace Interview 41:47    Roe vs Wade Quotes from this episode: “To live for a principle, for the triumph of some reform by which all mankind are to be lifted up—to be wedded to an idea—maybe, after all, the holiest and happiest of marriages.” ~Elizabeth Cady Stanton “I would have girls regard themselves not as adjectives, but as nouns.” ~Elizabeth Cady Stanton “Truth is the only safe ground to stand upon.” ~Elizabeth Cady Stanton “The best protection any woman can have ... is courage. ” ~Elizabeth Cady Stanton “The moment we begin to fear the opinions of others and hesitate to tell the truth that is in us, and from motives of policy are silent when we should speak, the divine floods of light and life no longer flow into our souls. Every truth we see is ours to give the world, not to keep for ourselves alone, for in so doing we cheat humanity out of their rights and check our own development.” ~Elizabeth Cady Stanton “To think I have had more than 60 years of hard struggle for a little liberty, and then to die without it seems so cruel.” ~Susan B. Anthony “I do not demand equal pay for any women save those who do equal work in value. Scorn to be coddled by your employers; make them understand that you are in their service as workers, not as women.”  ~Susan B.

“When we understand rights clearly, then we don't need to be feminists or non-feminists. We don't need to stand in anyone's camp; we can stand on truth.” ~Audrey Rindlisbacher  As we move forward in time, and the freedom of women in the West expands, we see a new movement to extend greater educational opportunities to women. The voices for this advancement increased until eventually the majority of women were not only literate but had access to traditional schools and education.  But upon what does the the idea of expanded education rest for women? Rights! It is because women are also human, because they share reason and intellect with men, that they can claim not the privilege but the right to receive as much as education as they can.  That's why in this podcast we pause to introduce the origin of rights and their importance in the question of women and feminism. Once understand, the rest of the rights of women follow.  Listener's Guide: Use the time stamps below to skip to any part of the podcast.  3:35      A discussion on 'Rights' 6:09     Magna Charta 8:13      Lysander Spooner 9:42      A discussion of duty 10:55   Four Main Rights 14:05   The education of women - Daniel Defoe 23:54   Mary Wollstonecraft 28:33   Key ideas of feminism pre-WWII Quotes from this episode: “I plead not for myself but for my sex. My own personal wants, anyway, amount to very little. For many years I have regarded independence as the great blessing of life, the basis of every virtue; and even if I end up living on a barren heath, I will always guarantee my independence by contracting my wants." ~Mary Wollstonecraft “I do not wish them [women] to have power over men, but over themselves.” ~Mary Wollstonecraft “Fighting for the rights of women, my main argument is built on this simple principle: If woman isn’t fitted by education to become man’s companion, she will stop the progress of knowledge, because truth must be common to all; if it isn’t, it won’t be able to influence how people in general behave. And how can woman be expected to cooperate if she doesn’t know why she ought to be virtuous; if freedom doesn’t strengthen her reason until she understands her duty and sees how it is connected with her real good? If children are to be brought up to understand the true principle of patriotism, their mother must be a patriot.” ~Mary Wollstonecraft “Surely, sir, you won’t say that a duty can be binding without being founded on reason! Arguments for civil and political rights can be drawn from reason; and with that splendid support, the more understanding women acquire the more they will be attached to their duty, understanding it. Unless they understand it—unless their morals are based on the same immutable principles as those of man—no authority can make them act virtuously. ” ~Mary Wollstonecraft “If women aren’t permitted to enjoy legitimate rights, they will seek illicit privileges.” ~Mary Wollstonecraft “In the present state of society, it seems that we have to go back to first principles in search of the simplest truths, and to fight against some prevailing prejudice for every inch of ground.” ~Mary Wollstonecraft   “Only a strong mind can resolutely form its own principles.” ~Mary Wollstonecraft “I have often thought of it as one of the most barbarous customs in the world, considering us as a civilized and a Christian country, that we deny the advantages of learning to women. We reproach the sex every day with folly and impertinence; while I am confident, had they the advantages of education equal to us, they would be guilty of less than ourselves.” ~Daniel Defoe “But besides this, they should be taught languages,

“If every man in history had believed that women were inferior and should never be listened to, then these women would not have had the tremendous influence they did.” ~Audrey Rindlisbacher Julian of Norwich wrote the earliest surviving book in the English language to be written by a woman. She challenged the notion of a God who wanted to damn mankind and put forth the idea of a God who loved like a mother loves.  Christine de Pizan was the first female professional writer of the Middle Ages and the first woman of letters in France.  During her own  journey to understand the true role of women, she asked God, "How can everything you create be good except women?" This opened the door to her discovery of womankind's real worth. Margery Kempe was a medieval mystic and author of the first autobiography in English. Today it is considered a classic of Medieval Literature. Her devotion and faith compelled her to dramatically change her way of thinking and living, which forced others to look more honestly at themselves.  Joan of Arc was a medieval peasant who, claiming to receive visions from God, turned the tide of the Hundred Years’ War in favor of a French victory. Her actions were so heroic, courageous and good that she continues to inspire people today. As you immerse yourself in four more stories of real women who had a lasting impact for good in the lives of thousands of people during the Middle Ages and who still impact lives today, you'll be inspired to overcome the obstacles in your own life and let your own light shine more brightly! Listener's Guide: Use the time stamps below to skip to any part of the podcast.  3:50      Julian of Norwich 5:38     Christine de Pizan 8:55     Christine de Pizan's struggle to understand women's worth 13:16    Christine de Pizan's 3 arguments for woman's equality with men 17:28    Margery Kempe 18:29   Joan of Arc Quotes from this episode: “One day I was sitting alone in my study surrounded by books on all kinds of subjects, devoting myself to literary studies, my usual habit, my mind dwelt at length on the weighty opinions of various authors whom I had studied for a long time...Thinking deeply about these matters, I began to examine my character and conduct as a natural woman and, similarly, I considered other women whose company I frequently kept…I could not see or realize how [the great men] claims could be true when compared to the natural behavior and character of women...[I concluded that] the man or the woman in whom resides greater virtue is the higher; neither the loftiness nor the sex, but in the perfection of conduct and virtues." ~Christine de Pizan, from The Book of the City of Ladies, 1405 “…moral education amends and ennobles [women]. How could anyone think or believe that whoever follows good teaching or doctrine is the worse for it? Thus, not all men (and especially the wisest) share the opinion that it is bad for women to be educated.” ~Christine de Pizan, from The Book of the City of Ladies, 1405 “Possibly the book may not sell, but that is nothing—it was written for love.” ~Mark Twain about his book Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc “Twain decided to publish the early serialized version of Joan of Arc anonymously so the book could be judged on its merits. His request for anonymity clearly shows the magnitude of his admiration for the character of Joan, and his high regard for her life story. Twain’s meticulous research—a true labor of love—spanned a dozen years, with an additional two years devoted to writing the work.” ~Mark Twain, Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc “All will be well and every manner of thing will be well in spite of how circumstances might appear.” ~Julian of Norwich “It's not as if,

“It is shortsighted to say that feminism is a Biblical problem or that it is predominantly a Western  problem.”  ~Audrey Rindlisbacher Although most women in medieval times did not have the opportunity to utilize all of their gifts and talents , some amazing women were able to rise above their status and have a positive impact on society.  Here is your introduction to seven of them! Through learning their stories we are introduced to a different view of women in this time period. We see women leading in political positions, as artisans, through running organizations, as writers, and other capacities. We also come to see the reality that even in medieval times, there were men who respected women, believed in them and even followed them.   Listener's Guide: Use the time stamps below to skip to any part of the podcast.  3:50     Women's inferiority owing to the Bible and church refuted 7:45      What we know about Medieval women 10:58    Theodora of  Byzantium 12:35    Hilda, Abbess of Whitby 14:03    Ende the Illuminator 14:47    Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians 15:55    Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim 17:57    Hildegard of Bingen 19:07    Marie de France Quotes from this episode: “It is shortsighted to say that feminism is a Biblical problem or that it is predominantly a Western problem.” ~Audrey Rindlisbacher “The middle class has always been the core of any thriving society. Men relied on their wives to raise children, run the household, help with businesses, and to work hard physically.  Men treated them more equally than in the higher levels of society.” ~Audrey Rindlisbacher  Books from this episode:                  

ARE YOU CONFUSED BY THE FEMINIST MOVEMENT? If so, you are not alone! Today we are taught that throughout history men have been trying to oppress women. Most people believe that men have always considered women inferior to them and wanted to use them for their own selfish purposes. As Audrey wrestled with this controversy she wondered if this is really the whole truth. Could there be more to the story? she wanted to know. Through her research and study she discovered that there definitely is! To her delight, she found proof that the debate about women and womanhood goes back to ancient times. In fact, she learned that the feminist movement as we know it today is new--not even a hundred years old.  In this insightful and illuminating podcast, Audrey takes us back to the ancients in the Western World and shows us their views, beliefs, and debates about women's strengths, virtues, and place in society. Throughout this podcast we are privy to original sources from the great thinkers and we get a rare view of both sides of the debate. In part one of her series on feminism, you will be encouraged and delighted to learn that from the beginning there have been men working to honor and protect women.  Listener's Guide: Use the time stamps below to skip to any part of the podcast.  4:27       What makes a woman a hero 9:12        Plato 15:22     Aristotle 18:19     Plutarch 21:29     Telesilla of Argos 24:12     Solon 25:34    Euripides/Andromache 28:17     The Suppliant and Trojan Women 29:45    Aristophanes 30:59    Herodotus 31:35     The Muses and Oracles “Meno says: ‘A woman’s virtue if you wish to know about that, may also be easily described: her duty is to order her house, and keep what is indoors, and obey her husband.’ ‘You say, Meno, that there is one virtue of a man, another of a woman, another of a child, and so on…[but] will not virtue, as virtue, be the same, whether in a child or a grown-up person, in a woman or in a man?’ ‘I cannot help feeling, Socrates that this case is different from the others.’ ‘But why? Were you not saying that the virtue of man was to order a state, and the virtue of a woman was to order a house? ‘I did say so.’ ‘And can either house or state or anything be well ordered without temperance and without justice?’ ‘Certainly not.’ ‘Then both men and women, if they are to be good men and women, must have the same virtues of temperance and justice.’ ~Plato “...if the difference consists only in women bearing and men begetting children, this does not amount to a proof that a woman differs from a man in respect of the sort of education she should receive.” ~Plato “Men and women alike possess the qualities which make a guardian; they differ only in their comparative strength or weakness.”~Plato  “Clearly, then, moral virtue belongs to all of them; but the temperance of a man and of a woman, or the courage and justice of a man and of a woman, are not as Socrates maintained, the same; the courage of a man is how in commanding, of a woman in obeying.”  ~Aristotle  “...he who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander.”~Aristotle “I do not hold the same opinion as Thucydides. For he declares that the best woman is she about whom there is the least talk among persons outside regarding either censure or commendation, feeling that the name of the good woman, like her person, ought to be shut up indoors and never go out.” ~Plutarch “... man's virtues and woman's virtues are one and the same.”~Plutarch “...

”Our children have greatness within them.  When we seek true principles, we can draw out their greatness and help them become who they were meant to become.” ~Audrey Rindlisbacher Maria Montessori felt this way too. She once observed:

“God orders me to fulfill the philosopher’s mission of searching into myself and other men...I say again that daily to discourse about virtue, and of those other things about which you hear me examining myself and others, is the greatest good of man, and that the unexamined life is not worth living.” ~Socrates In this second podcast in the series we dive in to two Ancient Greek writings - Oedipus Rex and Apology - and look for the ideas around the Mantic-Sophic debate that they bring to the forefront. In Oedipus Rex we see the true purpose Sophocles had in writing it - to convince the Greeks to let God lead their lives. In Apology we get the real story from Socrates when he tells us he has been accused only because he is devoted to his mission from God. These and other Ancient Greek writings, when seen through the eyes of the Mantic vs. Sophic frame of reference, come alive with a civilization that looks very much like our own. One where smart men who think they've discovered all the answers and no longer need God, seek to persuade others to abandon their faith and lean on reason alone. Yet the greats hold strong and stand up for God and truth - sometimes at the expense of their lives.  Listener's Guide: Use the time stamps below to skip to any part of the podcast.  3:33  Greek culture at the time of Oedipus Rex 6:20  Sophocles' purpose 8:29  Background of the play 11:00  Oedipus commits to follow God 14:56  Oedipus begins to turn on everyone - reveals his Sophic beliefs 18:11  Oedipus' real history 22:00  How Oedipus was not "fated" 26:38  Background of Apology - conversion of Socrates and Plato 28:52  Why Socrates was on trial  31:50  Socrates' mission Quotes from this episode: “Both Plato and Aristotle placed inspiration above reason and moral insight…because it comes from God—for while reason is far from infallible, ‘the sureness of inspiration, on the other hand, is like lightning.'” ~from "Three Shrines: Mantic, Sophic and Sophistic" “‘When I was young,’ Plato wrote about Socrates, ‘I was fanatically devoted to the intellectual quest which they call natural science. Filled with pride and youthful conceit, I was convinced that I could know the reason for everything…I was always experimenting to discover the secrets of nature and life.’ He was convinced, as was Socrates, ‘that no one need look any farther than science for the answers to everything.’ That is the ‘Sophic’ state of mind clearly set forth. Then it was, he says, that he read the passage that completely changed his point of view: ‘There is a mind that orders things and causes all things to be.’  The idea electrified him: he turned from the majority to join a very small minority. ‘Shall we say,’ he asks in discussing the nature of the earth, ‘that God the Creator made it? Or would you prefer the teaching and language that everybody follows today—that it all came about simply by spontaneous cause and without any intelligence?’ Here we have the basic dichotomy: on the one hand, things just happen—the physics holds itself the explanation for everything; on the other hand, things do not just happen. Note well that in Plato’s day public opinion was all on the side of the former…At the end of life Socrates explained that he had taken the course he had through the years ‘because, as I said, the way was shown me by God through oracles and dreams and by whatever other means divine providence directs the actions of men.’ He was dead serious about this…'Now my concern is how I may present my soul to the judge in its healthiest condition.’ The next world and the judgment are his guiding light.” ~from "Three Shrines: Mantic, Sophic and Sophistic" “No, the Greeks did not have the true religion: even Plato didn’t, and he knew he didn’t. His Socrates is a seeker,

Today we are led to believe that the fight between religion and science is something new. We are told that it is a radically new idea that the earth originated through spontaneous causes. And we are taught that ancient people only believed in God because they couldn't explain natural phenomenon.  NOTHING could be further from the truth! These ideas were prevalent in many civilizations, including Ancient Greece. The Greeks not only believed in a God that revealed truths to mankind and an afterlife where we would be held accountable to Him for our choices, they understood the need for worship and holy places to make us more virtuous and pure.  This two-part podcast series first introduces you to the key words and ideas that clarify these religious debates, then it takes you into ancient writings to explore them and see how the religious debates we see around us are nothing new--they are actually very old. 

Listener's Guide: Use the time stamps below to skip to any part of the podcast. 

2:42  Mantic defined

5:35  Sophic defined

9:05  "Harmonizing" them

14:47  Civilizations "created by God" 

17:05 Mysteries of Eleusis

19:55  Musaeus

24:40  Religion was institutionalized  

25:45  Creation as an act of God 

Quotes from this episode: All quotes from “Three Shrines: Mantic, Sophic, Sophistic” by Stephen D Ricks, Donald W. Parry and Hugh Nibley found in The Ancient State: The Rulers and the Ruled

MANTIC- Revelation, supernatural, duality, what’s to come

“The Greek word Mantic simply means prophetic or inspired, oracular, coming from the other world and not from the resources of the human mind.”

“‘Vertical’ Judaism, i.e. the belief in the real and present operation of divine gifts by which one receives constant guidance from the other world.”

“It supplies the element of hope in our lives by assuring us of the reality of things beyond.”

“Those who share the Mantic hope of things beyond, whatever those things may be, are in a very real sense a community of believers, just as Christians, Jews and Moslems form a fellowship of ‘the People of the Book,’ because of their belief in inspired books—even though they may not agree as to which books are the inspired ones.”

“None is more insistent on the need for revelation than Plato. Plato was the greatest champion of the Mantic.”

SOPHIC- *Reason, materialism, here and now, naturalistic

“The Sophic, on the other hand, is the tradition which boasted its cool, critical, objective, naturalistic and scientific attitude; its Jewish equivalent is called ‘horizontal’ Judaism—scholarly, bookish, halachic, intellectual, rabbinical. All religions seem to make some distinction.”

“On the other hand, the Sophic society unitedly rejects the Mantic proposition, and it too forms a single community.” 

SOPHISTIC-

“Sophistic came to be identical with Rhetorical, that is, a pseudothought form which merely imitated the other two in an attempt to impress the public.”

“HARMONIZING” SOPHIC AND MANTIC-

“Whoever accepts the Sophic attitude must abandon the Mantic, and vice versa. It is the famous doctrine of Two Ways found among the Orientals, Greeks and early Christians—if you try to compromise between them you get nowhere, because as one of the Apostolic Fathers points out, they lead in opposite directions.”

“It is when one seeks to combine or reconcile the Sophic and the Mantic that trouble begins.”

MANTIC IN HISTORY-

“Each great civilization thought of itself as having been carefully planned in the beginning, all its rites and patterns handed down from above, a complete, perfect structure, planned in detail from the beginning as the faithful reflection of a heavenly prototype present in sacred books of great antiquity."

Want to understand better how to ask great questions as you read? Want to see how to find principles in the world around you? That's what we show you and so much more in this podcast! Get the article "From Opinions to Principles" and learn the 5 Types of Questions for FREE: https://www.audreyrindlisbacher.com/

About our discussion: So many of us think we fashion our own lives and core beliefs; we think we are "independent" of our culture and that we blaze our own trail--but we DON'T! We are defined by the world around us and in the case of people in the West, especially the U.S., that means a Christian history and Christian values. That's why, whether you accept it or not, in the way you see the world, the decisions that you make, what you value, how you find meaning, and how you interact with others, YOU ARE thoroughly CHRISTIAN! Join Audrey, Lindsey, and Kim for a discussion of The Air We Breathe and the surprising insights it contains about our common values of equality, compassions, consent, enlightenment, science, freedom and progress.

Next group discussion will be on: Fellowship of the Rings. Get the book and read alongside us! We'll be discussing evil, principles in novels, the hero's journey and more!

Ready to take your truth seeking to the next level? Get your "Truth Seekers Starter Kit" for FREE: https://www.audreyrindlisbacher.com/

"The power of believing in a personal mission is a principle that had had an impact on my own life..." ~Richard Paul Evans Richard Paul Evans is a true believer not only in a loving God but in God's desire to communicate and guide us in our personal life missions! In fact, the principle of life mission has so radically transformed his own life that Evans travels the globe sharing the message of life mission everywhere he goes. And, wanting to reach an even larger audience, Evans shared his insights about life mission in his book The Four Doors.  Not surprisingly, Richard Paul Evans is himself a perfect example of a mission driven life - having lived the 7 Laws of Life Mission without even realizing it! His story is replete with profound spiritual experiences, a strong focus on self-discovery, an on-going submission to truth and principles and a love of learning that were the perfect preparation for the powerful influence he's had in the world. With 38 million copies of his books in print, translated into 24 languages, Evans has earned a gigantic platform from which to share God's love - and he does it beautifully.  From his difficult childhood experiences to his failed businesses in his 20's, Evans is no stranger to loss and suffering. Yet, he has used his solid foundation to overcome his challenges and sacrifice immensely to realize his God-given missions. The hope and healing he has provided to millions is an amazingly inspiring legacy. Listener's Guide: Use the time stamps below to skip to any part of the podcast.  1:40  The impact of Richard's story on Audrey  3:30  Richard's difficult childhood   6:16   His mother's depression 9:21    His grandfather's spiritual power 13:30  Other childhood challenges 14:50  Youth and young adulthood 18:15   Marriage and fatherhood 21:44  Business and politics 24:28  Evans and the 7 Laws of Life Mission 33:47  Turning his will over to God 38:43  Loving truth and humanity with his whole heart 40:40  Favorite quotes from Richard Paul Evans Quotes from this episode: “I believe in God…I believe in an all-loving, purposeful God who is willing to give us hard things so might spiritually progress…In addition to my belief in God, these principles comprise the core of my personal belief system and I believe are, to a large degree, self-evident.” “Few things promise more excitement and joy than learning, self-discovery, and self-improvement.” “The power of believing in a personal mission is a principle that had had an impact on my own life and has led me to achieve things that I would have never dreamed possible…My personal belief in a divine life mission has brought me hope, understanding, and meaning throughout my life.” “As a believer in Divine intervention, I also believe that we are sometimes given specific direction to fulfill our missions…Implicit in our belief in a divine life mission is the importance of listening to those internal voices that may direct us for good.” “Fame and greatness are not the same thing. There are great people in this world—people of great accomplishment and service to humanity—who are not famous…In most cases, true greatness is a silent and lonely affair…To be of value to others is a far greater ambition than the vain hope for the world’s fleeting applause and fickle admiration.”  “The work of spiritual liberation is the work of God. Asking for Divine assistance to free ourselves from destructive and flawed mental maps is a powerful and, arguably, necessary first step…This principle correlates with six of the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.” “To magnify our lives is to take those talents and gifts unique to each of us and with them, utilizing imagination, risk, work and consistent effort,