Coupled with convictions drawn from her spiritual study is Flinders' feminism, which for many years she kept separate, afraid to address the contradictions. At the Root of This Longing is the story of Flinders' search for an answer. It is also, Flinders contended in Portland last week, the first book to take a deep look at the inherent conflicts between feminism and a spiritually centered life. If there's a reason feminism rings hollow to many women, she contends, it is because it has failed to address satisfactorily the spiritual dimension in its quest for social, political and economic justice. There are justifiable reasons, of course, that religion and the women's movement have kept each other at arm's length.
Most faiths are patriarchal, reflecting the societies in which they're based.
Meanwhile, outside the spiritual realm, many women struggle for equality but find little satisfaction in it. But I'm out here, and there's so much pain. This has nothing to do with feminine weakness, Flinders said. Young girls are in a terrible dilemma. We have internalized thousands of years of misogyny.