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“Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude in Governance” published recently by SAGE Publications (India) for UPSC aspirants and UG/PG students of universities. This is the only book from which 210 marks questions/case studies asked in in GS Paper-4 2020 can be impressively answered and six questions in GS paper 2 2020 (70 Marks) by UPSC can be sourced.GENERAL STUDIES PAPER 4 (ETHICS – GS4) –2020SECTION A1.(a) Discuss the role of ethics and values in enhancing the following three major components of Comprehensive National Power(CNP)viz. human capital, soft power(culture and policies), and social harmony. (150 words)REFERENCE: The question can be answered comprehensively from the book by SAGE publications. See Page-2 and 3 for distinction between ethics and values, Page 8-11 on its role in human culture and social harmony. Also, See Page 43 on limitations and challenges due to emerging market or risk society.1. (b) “Education is not an injunction, it is an effective and pervasive tool for all-round development of an individual and social transformation”. Examine the New Education Policy,2020(NEP,2020)in light of the above statement. (150 words)2. (a) ‘ Hatred is destructive of a person‘s wisdom and conscience that can poison a nation’s spirit. Do you agree with this view? Justify your answer. (150 words)REFERENCE: SAGE publications book. See Page-18 and 98 for elaboration between wisdom and conscience. See also, Page 515-516 on role of other-condemning family of moral emotions viz. anger, disgust (hatred) and contempt in human society.2. (b) What are the main components of emotional intelligence (EI) ? Can they be learned? discuss. (150 words)REFERENCE: SAGE publications book. See Page-505 and 506 for components of EI. See Page 519-521 on whether they can be learned in the section of book-Social structure and Emotions Accessibility.3. (a) What teachings of Buddha are most relevant today and why? Discuss. (150 words)3. (b) ‘The will to power exists, but it can be tamed and be guided by rationality and principles of moral duty.’ Examine this statement in the context of international relations. (150 words)REFERENCE: SAGE publications book. See Page-417 and 418 for theories premised on rationality and moral duty in international relations. More significantly, See Page 463-464 Discourse Ethics in international relations for its influence in contemporary global turbulence.4. (a) Distinguish between laws and rules. Discuss the role of ethics in formulating them. (150 words).REFERENCE: SAGE publications book. See Page-6, 86-87 , 95-96 for distinction between laws and rules. More significantly, and role of ethics in formulating them covered in page 8-10 under Ethics and Human Civilization.4. (b) A positive attitude is considered to be an essential characteristic of a civil servant who is often required to function under extreme stress. What contributes a positive attitude in person.? (150 words).REFERENCE: SAGE publications book. See Page-524-525 and Conclusion-Page 541 for challenges to positive attitude in post-truth world.5. (a) What are the main factors responsible for gender responsibility in India ? Discuss the contribution of Savitribai Phule in this regard. (150 words).5. (b) The current internet expansion has instilled a different set of cultural values which are in conflict with traditional values. Discuss. (150 words).REFERENCE: SAGE publications book. See Page-44-47 on emergence of market society, commodification, loss of creative and collaborative leisure and shrinking social imagination the cultural values as aftermath of internet expansion.6. What do each of the following quotations mean to you?6. (a) ” Condemn none: if you can stretch out a helping hand do so. If not fold your hands, bless your brothers and let them go their own way.” – Swami Vivekanand (150 words).6. (b) “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in service of others .” Mahatma Gandhi (150 words).REFERENCE: SAGE publications book. See Page-134-135 on essence of public service.6. (c) ” A system of morality which is based on relative emotional values is a mere illusion, a thoroughly vulgar conception which has nothing sound in it and nothing true.” – Socrates. (150 words).REFERENCE: SAGE publications book. See Page-37-39 on ethics and morality and cultural relativism to illuminate your answer.SECTION B7. Rajesh Kumar is a senior public servant, with a reputation of honesty and forthrightness, currently posted in the Finance Ministry as the Head of the Budget Division. His department is presently busy in organizing the budgetary support to the states, four of which are due to the polls within the financial year.This year’s annual budget had allotted Rs 8300 crores for the National Housing Scheme (NHS), a centrally sponsored social housing scheme for the weaker sections of society. Rs 775 crores have been drawn for NHS till June.The Ministry of Commerce had long been pursuing a case for setting up a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in a southern state to boost exports. After two years of detailed discussion between the center and state, the Union Cabinet approved the project in August. The process was initiated to acquire the necessary land.Eighteen months ago a leading Public Sector Unit (PSU) had projected the need for setting up a large natural gas processing plant in a northern state for the regional gas grid. The land is already in possession of the PSU. The gas grid is an essential component of the national energy security strategy. After three rounds of global bidding, the project was allotted to an MNC, M/s XYZ Hydrocarbons. The first tranche of payment to the MNC is scheduled to be made in December.Finance Ministry was asked for a timely allocation of an additional Rs 6000 crores for these two developmental projects. It was decided to recommend re-appropriation of this entire amount from NHS allocation. The file was forwarded to the Budget Department for their comments and further processing. On studying the case file, Rajesh Kumar realized that this re-appropriation may cause an inordinate delay in the execution of NHS, a project much publicized in the rallies of senior politicians. Correspondingly, the non-availability of finances would cause a financial loss in the SEZ and national embarrassment due to delayed payment in the international project.Rajesh Kumar discussed the matter with seniors. He was conveyed that this politically sensitive situation needs to be processed immediately. Rajesh Kumar realized that diversion of funds from the NHS could raise difficult questions for the government in the Parliament.Discuss the following with reference to this case:1.Ethical issues involved in re-appropriation of funds from a welfare project to the development projects.2.Given the need for proper utilization of public funds, discuss the options available to Rajesh Kumar. Is resigning a worthy option? (250 words)REFERENCE: SAGE publications book. See Page-325-326 on Canons for determining Utilization of Public funds and will shed light on option of enlisting non-state providers in case of funds stress ethics.8. The Chairman of Bharat Missiles Ltd (BML) was watching a program on TV wherein the Prime Minister was addressing the nation on the necessity of developing a self-reliant India. He subconsciously nodded in agreement and smiled to himself as he mentally reviewed BML’s journey in the past two decades. BML had admirably progressed from producing first-generation anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) to designing and producing state of the art ATGM weapon systems that would be the envy of any army. He sighed in reconciliation with his assumptions that the government would probably not alter the status quo of a ban on the export of military weaponry.To his surprise, the very next day he got a telephone call from the Director-General, Ministry of Defence, asking him to discuss the modalities of increasing BML production of ATGMs as there is a probability of exporting the same to a friendly country. The Director-General wanted the Chairman to discuss the details with his staff in Delhi next week.Two days later, at a press conference, the Defence Minister stated that he aims to double the current weapons export levels within five years. This would give an impetus to financing the development and manufacturing of indigenous weapons in the country. He also stated that all indigenous arms manufacturing nations have a very good record of the international arms trade.As the Chairman of BML, what are your views on the following points?1.As an arms exporter of a responsible nation like India, what are the ethical issues involved in arms trade?2.List five ethical factors that would influence the decision to sell arms to foreign governments. (250 words)REFERENCE: SAGE publications book. See Page-423-425 on tenets of state power of nations and Page 430 on Asia as tinderbox of conflicts. Aspirants who had read this chapter from this book found themselves well placed to answer question and case study on international relations and ethical dimensions.9. Rampura, a remote district inhabited by a tribal population, is marked by extreme backwardness and abject poverty. Agriculture is the mainstay of the local population, though it is subsistence due to the very small landholdings. There is insignificant industrial or mining activity. Even the targeted welfare programs have inadequately benefited the tribal population. In this restrictive scenario, the youth has begun to migrate to other states to supplement the family income. Plight of minor girls is that their parents are persuaded by labour contractors to send them to work in the Bt Cotton farms of a nearby state. The soft fingers of the minor girls are well suited for plucking the cotton. The inadequate living and working conditions in these farms have caused serious health issues for the minor girls. NGOs in the districts of domicile and the cotton farms appear to be compromised and have not effectively espoused the twin issues of child labour and development of the area.You are appointed as the District Collector of Rampura. Identify the ethical issues involved. Which specific steps will you initiate to ameliorate the conditions of minor girls of your district and to improve the overall economic scenario in the district (250 words)REFERENCE: SAGE publications book. See Page-135-139 on duties of public servants and emergence of engagement as public service motive to redress the challenges in developing nations.10. You are a municipal commissioner of a large city, having the reputation of a very honest and upright officer. A huge multipurpose mall is under construction in your city in which a large number of daily wage earners are employed. One night, during monsoons, a big chunk of the roof collapsed causing instant death of four labourers including two minors. Many more were seriously injured requiring immediate medical attention. The mishap resulted in a big hue and cry, forcing the government to institute an enquiry.Your preliminary enquiry has revealed a series of anomalies. The material used for the construction was of poor quality. Despite the approved building plans permitting only one basement, an additional basement has been constructed. This was overlooked during the periodic inspections by the building inspector of the municipal corporation. In your enquiry, you noticed that the construction of the mall was given the green signal despite encroaching on areas earmarked for a green belt and a slip road in the Zonal Master Plan of the city. The permission to construct the mall was accorded by the previous Municipal Commissioner who is not only your senior and well known to you professionally, but also a good friend.Prima facie, the case appears to be of a widespread nexus between officials of the Municipal Corporation and the builders. Your colleagues are putting pressure on you to go slow in the enquiry. The builder, who is rich and influential, happens to be a close relative of a powerful minister in the state cabinet. The builder is persuading you to hush up the matter, promising you a fortune to do so. He also hinted that if this matter is not resolved at the earliest in his favour there is somebody in his office who is waiting to file a case against you under the POSH act.Discuss the ethical issues involved in the case. What are the options available to you in this situation? Explain your selected course of action. (250 words)REFERENCE: SAGE publications book. See Page-344-347 on corruption and distributed ethical obligation and page 351-352 political corruption and neo-patrimonialism to answer effectively the case study.11. Parmal is a small but underdeveloped district. It has a rocky terrain that is not suitable for agriculture, though some subsistence agriculture is being done on small plots of land. The area receives adequate rainfall and has an irrigation canal flowing through it. Amria, its administrative centre, is a medium-sized town. It houses a large district hospital, an Industrial Training Institute and some privately owned skill training centres. It has all the facilities of a district headquarters. A trunk railway line passes approximately 50 kilometers from Amria. Its poor connectivity is a major reason for the absence of any major industry therein. The state government offers a 10 year tax holiday as an incentive to new industry.In 2010 Anil, an industrialist decided to take benefits to set up Amria Plastic Works (APW) in Noora village, about 20km from Amria. While the factory was being built, Anil hired the required key labour and got them trained at the skill training centres at Amria. This act of his made the key personnel very loyal to APW.APW started production in 2011 with the labour drawn fully from Noora village. The villagers were very happy to get employment near their homes and were motivated by the key personnel to meet the production targets with high quality. APW started making large profits, a sizeable portion of which was used to improve the quality of life in Noora. By 2016, Noora could boast of a greener village and a renovated village temple. Anil liaised with the local MLA to increase the frequency of the bus services to Amria. The government also opened a primary health care centre and primary school at Noora in buildings constructed by APW. APW used its CSR funds to set up women’s self-help groups, subsidize primary education to the village children and procure an ambulance for use by its employeed and the needy.In 2019, there was a minor fire in APW. It was quickly extinguished as fire safety protocols were in place in the factory. Investigations revealed that the factory had been using electricity in excess of its authorized capacity. This was soon rectified. The next year, due to nationwide lockdown, the requirement of production fell for four months. Anil decided that all employees would be paid regularly. He employed them to plant trees and improve the village habitat.APW had developed a reputation of high-quality production and a motivated workforce.Critically analyse the story of APW and state the ethical issues involved. Do you consider APW as a role model for the development of backward areas? Give reasons. (250 words)REFERENCE: SAGE publications book. To answer effectively the case study, See Chapter on Corporate Governance Page-383 on idea of CSR and status in India and page-410 on ideas to graft answer in ambit of business operations and integrity.12. Migrant workers have always remained at the socio-economic margins of our society, silently serving as the instrumental labour force of urban economics. The pandemic has brought them into national focus.On announcement of a countrywide lockdown, a very large number of migrant workers decided to move back from their places of employment to their native villages. The non-availability of transport created its own problems. Added to this was the fear of starvation and inconvenience to their families. This caused, the migrant workers to demand wages and transport facilities for returning to their villages. Their mental agony was accentuated by multiple factors such as a sudden loss of livelihood, possibility of lack of food and inability to assist in harvesting their rabi crop due to not being able to reach home in time. Reports of inadequate response of some districts in providing the essential boarding and lodging arrangements along the way multiplied their fears.You have learnt many lessons from this situation when you were tasked to oversee the functioning of the District Disaster Relief Force in your district. In your opinion what ethical issues arose in the current migrant crisis? What do you understand by an ethical care giving state? What assistance can the civil society render to mitigate the sufferings of migrants in similar situations? (250 words)REFERENCE: SAGE publications book. To answer effectively the case study, See Page-45 on emergence of vulnerable migrants and precariat class in post-industrial society. Also supplement with situation of migrants on page 484 in international perspective and pandemics such as Ebola example given in the book.GENERAL STUDIES PAPER 2 Mains-2020“Recent amendments to the Right to Information Act will have profound impact on the autonomy and independence of the Information Commission.” Discuss. (150 words, 10 marks)REFERENCE: SAGE publications book. See Chapter 10 Right to Information to answer in the framework of coverage, enforcement, exclusion and ease of access especially Page-192.In order to enhance the prospects of social development, sound and adequate health care policies are needed particularly in the fields of geriatric and maternal health care. Discuss. (150 words, 10 marks)REFERENCE: SAGE publications book. See page 476-477 to expand the answer with concepts of structural and life cycle vulnerability in current times.“Institutional quality is a crucial driver of economic performance.” In this context suggest reforms in Civil Service for strengthening democracy. (150 words, 10 marks)REFERENCE: SAGE publications book. See Chapter 14 Quality of public service especially page 310 WoG approach.“The emergence of Fourth Industrial Revolution (Digital Revolution) has initiated e-Governance as an integral part of government.” Discuss. (150 words, 10 marks)REFERENCE: SAGE publications book. See Chapter 14 Quality of public service Page 302,303 on difference between e-government and e-governance and stages of adoption.“The incedence and intensity of poverty are more important in determining poverty based on income alone.” In this context analyse the latest United Nations Multidimensional Poverty Index Report. (250 words, 15 marks)REFERENCE: SAGE publications book. See page 476-477 to expand the answer with concepts of structural and life cycle vulnerability in current times.National Education Policy 2020 is in conformity with the Sustainable Development Goal-4 (2030). It intends to restructure and reorient education system in India. Critically examine this statement. (250 words, 15 marks)REFERENCE: SAGE publications book. See page 305 on SDG-4 and implementation with help of e-government.UPSC 2020 Mains GS 1The rock-cut architecture represents one of the most important sources of our knowledge of early Indian art and history. Discuss. (150 words, 10 marks)Pala period is the most significant phase in the history of Buddhism in India. Enumerate. (150 words, 10 marks)Evaluate the policies of Lord Curzon and their long term implications on the national movements. (150 words, 10 marks)Discuss the geophysical characteristics of Circum-Pacific Zone. (150 words, 10 marks)The process of desertification does not have climate boundaries. Justify with examples. (150 words, 10 marks)How will the melting of Himalayan glaciers have a far-reaching impact on the water resources of India? (150 words, 10 marks)Account for the present location of iron and steel industries away from the source of raw material, by giving examples. (150 words, 10 marks)Has caste lost its relevance in understanding the multi-cultural Indian Society? Elaborate your answer with illustrations. (150 words, 10 marks)COVID-19 pandemic accelerated class inequalities and poverty in India. Comment. (150 words, 10 marks)Do you agree that regionalism in India appears to be a consequence of rising cultural assertiveness? Argue. (150 words, 10 marks)Indian Philosophy and tradition played a significant role in conceiving and shaping the monuments and their art in India. Discuss. (250 words, 15 marks)Persian literary sources of medieval India reflect the spirit of the age. Comment. (250 words, 15 marks)Since the decade of the 1920s, the national movement acquired various ideological strands and thereby expanded its social base. Discuss. (250 words, 15 marks)The interlinking of rivers can provide viable solutions to the multi-dimensional inter-related problems of droughts, floods and interrupted navigation. Critically examine. (250 words, 15 marks)Account for the huge flooding of million cities in India including the smart ones like Hyderabad and Pune. Suggest lasting remedial measures. (250 words, 15 marks)India has immense potential of solar energy though there are regional variations in its developments. Elaborate. (250 words, 15 marks)Examine the status of forest resources of India and its resultant impact on climate change. (250 words, 15 marks)Is diversity and pluralism in India under threat due to globalisation? Justify your answer. (250 words, 15 marks)Customs and traditions suppress reason leading to obscurantism. Do you agree? (250 words, 15 marks)How have digital initiatives in India contributed to the functioning of the education system in the country? Elaborate your answer. (250 words, 15 marks)

“Why do you think the NFL currently only has three African-American head coaches, one African-American GM, and zero African-American owners despite the fact that 75% of the players are African-American?”Because the historicity of structural & behavioral oppression is rigidly institutionalized and kept this way because of power differentials locked into place by implicit biases—in other words we have a White Space. And to understand such a totalizing domain check out this alternative expression:A Review of “Teaching from ‘The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks’: Students Perspectives on Health Disparities and Medical Ethics”By C. SettlesJune 13, 2016SummaryThis research report argues that because the “etiologies of health disparities” are complex, effective health care providers and health care professionals have to be knowledgeable about the social and cultural backgrounds of the individuals and communities that they would serve. This report further argues that despite the ample resources available on “disproportions in healthcare” such resources short change the role of social determinants in health care outcomes. However, while offering Skloot’s (2010) The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks as a teaching tool, this report proposes that popular media could remedy these shortcomings by clothing in “the language of everyday life” more sophisticated scientific and moral ideas and thinking.Accordingly, this article evaluates the use of Skloot’s (2010) biographical narrative to help a group of primarily White graduate students in a public health course understand and appreciate challenges in the life course (cf. Elder & Giele, 1998, 5-27) of an African American woman. Accordingly, over ten weeks, a blended course offering two on campus meetings along with weekly online discussion sessions of chapter analyses, and posed bulletin board questions, and a short seminar culminating paper helped an intervention group of fourteen students (“Cohort A”) deepen their thinking about the role of medical ethics and racial disparities in health care delivery. (“Cohort B,” the control group of three students did not participate in the seminar. )Changes over time in student constructed standpoints were recorded using a Google hosted pre/post seminar questionnaire of 19 items based on topics Skloot (2010) covered. In turn these topics were thematically collapsed into 6 broad categories which were used to analyze student standpoints and any changes these perspectives might have undergone over the duration of the seminar.Two data analyst independently ‘analyzed thematically” the responses of both cohorts. This analysis and interpretation showed essentially no pre/post change in “Cohort B,” but considerable change in “Cohort A” with students incorporating a richer understanding of the role that various social determinants of health play in creating disparate health care outcomes. Moreover, change in the intervention group, e.g., shifted from attributing causation of health care shortcomings to health care recipients to seeing a need for change in how health care is financed and delivered, to seeing a need to show more sensitivity to health care consumers’ religion, to having a desire for health care consumers to acquire greater literacy about health care needs and resources, and to personally achieving deeper insight into the lived nature of health disparities as existent within a context of structural discrimination; however, both Cohorts while showing strong support for publicly supported health care on the initial survey questionnaire showed no post-questionnaire change.Analysis & ConclusionInformation in this research report suggests that by using the everyday life history of a profoundly mistreated African American woman and her family as a lens through which to evaluate the behavior and ethics of health care service providers, all students in the social science and health care fields would benefit. Such students would see the corrupting effects of a differential access to power. And as a result, such students would give life to sterile concepts or constructs which previously might have been internalized abstractly as “disparities” or “disproportions.”Notwithstanding the above, this report mischaracterizes the literature on health care disparities. For example, the American Medical News (2007) cites studies which challenge this paper’s contention about the paucity of research on the social determinants of health care. Additionally, despite the study’s claim of a seminar provided analytical grounding for contextualizing The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Skloot 2010), the students in “Cohort A” showed little evidence of this contextualizing; i.e., “Cohort A” students who began the course knowing about the Tuskegee Syphilis and the Stanford Prison experiments ended the course having supplemented this knowledge with information only about … Henrietta Lacks (Skloot 2010). However, Washington’s (2007) work on Medical Apartheid .. might have provided a stronger foundation. Also, this paper might have been strengthened if it had specified how social determinants were anchored in what Giele & Elder (1998, 5-27) saw as the “Life course” or “a sequence of socially defined events and roles that the individual enacts over time.” This concept of “Life course” allows an observer to focus on exogenous and endogenous influences on the “Life course” because it frames how “biographical narratives and life stories” may be used to study “differences in the life course that are linked to class, race, or gender identity (Giele 2009, 236-258).That this seminar was taught by an African American Professor, and had one African American and one Latino participant begs the question of whether similar results would have availed if all seminar participants had been White. Picca & Feagin (2007), e.g., persuasively argue in Two Faced Racism: Whites in the Backstage and Fronstage that White people tend to adopt very callous attitudes and behavior towards non Whites absent the presence of non Whites. And Anwar et. al. (2012) shows that totally White juries display similar behavior which tend to become more moderate when non Whites were jury members. However, to be fair, it is not clear that implicitly biased Whites would provide inferior health care services to non Whites or whomever they characteristically otherized. Yet, “Cohort A’s” thematically called for greater health care provider sensitivity suggest health care consumers, when confronting insensitive health care practitioners, sometimes may tend to covertly reject health services while overtly seeking out such services (cf. Greenwald & Banaji 1995).Hopefully, this critique has suggested helpful ideas for evolving this research report’s worthy approach to deepening the educating of health care providers, professionals, and consumers.BibliographyAmerican Medical News (2007)Retrieved June 11, 2016 at New evidence finds disparities aren't usually due to biasAnwar, Shamena et. al. (2012). The Impact of Jury Race in Criminal Trials. TheQuarterly Journal of Economics, 27 (2): 1017-1055. Retrieved atImpact of Jury Race in Criminal Trials *Giele, Janet Z. (2009). Life Stories to Understand Diversity By Class, Race, or Gender.In Elder, Jr., Glen. H. & Giele, Janet. Z., (Eds.). The Craft of Life CourseResearch. New York: Guilford Press.Giele, Janet. Z., & Elder, Glen H., Jr. (1998). Methods of Life Course Research:Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Greenwald, Anthony G.; Banaji, Mahzarin R. (1995). Implicit social cognition: Attitudes,self-esteem, and stereotypes. Psychological Review, 102(1), 4-27. Retrieved athttp://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.102.1.4Picca, Leslie and Joe Feagin. (2007). Two Faced Racism: Whites in the Backstageand Fronstage. New York: Routledge.Skloot, Rebecca. (2010). The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. New York: Crown.Washington, Harriet A., (2007). Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of MedicalExperimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present.New York: Knopf Doubleday.

This is a question about two things: our view of God, and our view of women.If we got all we know about God by reading the one book attributed to him, we might be excused for believing the paternalistic ideas it seems to teach.At least, that’s my excuse. For 20 years after I was married I still read the Bible that way. It affected my view of the structure of the church, of my marriage, and gender roles in society.But there’s a lot more to Divine Revelation than what the Bible says.Nature is a Revelation. Human experience — history, science, and our own personal observations — are revelatory, too. Since most of what we all get out of the Bible comes from what we bring with us when we read it, there has been a noticeable change during my lifetime in what the Bible seems to say to those who study it.I would argue that what we already believe — what we want God to be or not be, is based on what we have lived. And if there is a God, what we lived was shaped by him. (Assuming, of course, that the Deity exists). And isn’t this what the Bible says?“In Him we live and move and have our very being.”Our biology shapes our expectations — and across the ages humans have morphed from a weak, vulnerable species to apex predator and dominating biomass. This affects how much of a divine boost we think we need.Our sex impacts our confidence or dependency. Throughout human history it should be obvious that most women have been abused, and forced to negotiate at a disadvantage with the male rulers of society. Naturally, men and women both have projected this experience with male dominance onto their view of what God is like — and what the Bible says.The religion we are taught shapes our view of God. Since a male-dominant God has held sway in Judaic, Christian and Muslim culture, it’s only natural that the source texts of these religions would teach that idea to the masses who were taught patriarchy before they could even read.The military and economic success of western Abrahamic religions has also led naturally to male dominance in every aspect of human civilization — in law, government, commerce, education and family norms.The arc of history affects how we view God and each other — and so once again if we are impacted by the past and aware (educated) as to its meaning, our views will change over time. And it is this awakening empathy for women’s suffering, this experience with female gifts and skills, which is driving a societal rethinking of our norms and their wellspring.So here’s my point. What we were long ago affected the Bible when it was written, and what we are now affects how we read it today. Objectivity doesn’t really exist — we are riding a surfboard through the history of divine dealings with the human race, and formulating our response on the fly.So in my case, my evolving views were the result of being blessed with four daughters and an exceptional wife. And partly because of my chronic failures in business, I began to rethink my attitudes. At some point I started seeking information on alternative interpretations of what the Bible says about women.What I found is that the Bible is clearer on this than I ever would have thought. I simply didn’t have the bandwidth as a young, conservative, Christian, to see things that placed women on the same level as men. It was there but I couldn’t, wouldn’t, didn’t see it.Yes, it is there — an almost unambiguous declaration of the equality of the sexes. And like many progressively revealed truths, what it really says was hidden in plain sight.This is not the place to attempt a thorough treatment of what the Bible says. Let me make four anchor points that I had not noticed for the first 25 years I spent as a Christian:Jesus treated women with respect. He asked their opinions, heard their concerns, defended their rights, taught them (a radical departure from the rabbis of his day), and allowed them to participate in his movement. He asserted that God heard their prayers, their victimhood by divorcing husbands was wrong, their quiet virtues were weightier than public philanthropy.Jesus’ first miracle came at the request of a woman. Jesus first announced his messiahship to a woman. Jesus chose a woman to be his “Apostle to the apostles”. Mary Magdalene was chosen to be the first person of either sex to see the resurrected Jesus, and the first person to carry that news to other human beings. The people she was told to tell were the very men that Jesus elsewhere called “fools, and slow of heart to believe.”Five disreputable women were specifically identified in the genealogy of Jesus. His entire ministry was overshadowed by the reputation of his mother as an unfaithful woman.Paul wrote “There is neither male nor female …. But we are all are one in Christ.” This radical manifesto was preceded by a letter to the Roman Christians. In chapter 7 of that letter Paul lists at least a dozen equalities between men and women. Nothing like what Paul wrote there was ever introduced to the human race before Paul wrote it.The book that has been the most helpful to me on this has been Man and Woman, One in Christ by Philip Payne. In order to fully understand the matter I would also recommend its antithesis by John Piper and Wayne Grudem, Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. In my study I concluded that Payne wins almost all of the head to head arguments — but no serious student should undertake this study in a shallow way. Most folks I know gravitate toward a few “proof texts” that seem to support the conclusion they want to believe.To think deeply, and understand the issues clearly, was a 5-year journey for me. So let me just summarize a few more highlights of what the Bible says to me.At Creation — in Eden — God allows the man to experimentally, inductively arrive at the conclusion that he is lonely, and that this is bad.All throughout the creation ages — days are eons in the Biblical account — God has summarized the emergence of the diversity of life with the phrase, “let the earth bring forth…” in other words, evolution was the mechanism. “Fixity of species”, the rallying cry of creationists for most of my life, was a mirage that the facts do not support.But in the case of mankind, the Genesis account makes a remarkable change. It asserts that the first man appeared alone, distinct among the other conscious creatures by being formed “of the earth” and “earthy” and yet “in the image of God”.Now we know and can observe just how alike, and yet how different we are. We have DNA from chimps and from mice and from our kin all along the family tree — and yet we also have a divine spark of imagination, morality and leadership that set us apart from the other creatures who got here first. We have brains that are far bigger and more complex than would be needed in primitive societies. We are built for eternity.So I find it amazing that the Biblical account puts Man (the word that Adam means) alone at first, contemplating his inadequacy before Woman arrives on the scene.Men trivialize the place of women if they think the term “help-mate” as the King James renders it implies a servant or underling.No, the Hebrew Scriptures want us to view women as a divinely, miraculously provided companion who makes life fully rewarding and worthwhile.Being alone, male without female, was “not good”.In the Genesis framework, woman is a helper in the same sense God is a helper — mighty, weighty, indispensable. Look up the 25 or more other Hebrew uses of this word and you will see how the ancient sages viewed the role of women — closer to a savior than a servant. A BFF, a soulmate, an equal.It was Male AND Female that God created, and called them both mankind in the Biblical worldview.It was to male AND female that the Genesis concept of deity gave dominion.And it was to male AND female that the Creator-god of Genesis first introduced the radical idea of conditional immortality — the idea that their lives could have continued forever, without end, if they followed specific behavioral principles.And then, together, they disobeyed, and together faced consequences for their united decision to choose autonomy over accountability.I’m well aware that most folks would chuckle at my naïveté to believe the ancient account, but I am merely allowing the text to speak for itself. Who can prove that its promises will never be fulfilled?Later Bible statements unambiguously claim that all humans who descended from Adam will experience a resurrection followed by unending life — the full restoration of the planet to its amazing potential.Those are the promises made to both sexes.But there were also two gender-specific “curses” placed upon the human race in Genesis. In hindsight, these show the source of the apparent preference of God for a paternalistic ordering of human society.The man is condemned to hard labor. He is told that he will struggle to make a living, and “sweat of face” is promised to be his daily norm. In one sentence the bulk of human history from its earliest beginnings until the Information Age is thus laid out.The woman is warned that because of her equal role in ignoring a divine command, childbirth would be painful, and her desires and identity would be wrapped up in her husband. Male dominance would be the curse she had to bear.Now that we’ve seen the lifting of the male “sweat of face” curse, it is appropriate to look for signs of a divine reprieve upon women as well. Do we see any?The historic record has been clear. Divine revelation, remember?As soon as the industrial revolution brought relief from the curse of male dominance, the ancient grievances of women stirred as well. Women began to ask why they were legally the property of their husbands. They asked why they could not vote. And today they ask why they cannot be paid the same and protected from sexual abuse.Today for the first time women are starting to be given the space to choose their own life goals, and to be recognized for their skills, ideas, and contributions apart from their feminine charms and reproductive magic.A few of my favorite movies which have gradually revealed this shift during my lifetime are Adam’s Rib, The French Lieutenant’s Woman, Kramer vs Kramer, Silver Linings Playbook, Begin Again, Suffragette, and Lady Bird.Each film asks questions on the minds of women in its time setting. Each explores what happens when women make their own free choices. Each expresses the feelings of women who feel compelled to orbit around a man.If you watch them in the order they appeared, you’ll get a good view of how the human race, both male and female, are gradually learning a new perspective, and drawing new conclusions about what is “natural”, what is right, what is God’s will.The changing situation is both timely and Heaven-sent, I believe. We are on the cusp — possibly just a few decades away — from a whole new arrangement of human affairs. The earth will have all the humans it can support, procreation will be seen as a threat to the planet’s survival, and human-caused disasters and extinctions will place all of us on alert. We will need women more than ever — not to reproduce but to troubleshoot, to protect what we have, and to help lead us toward safety.I fuse this obvious impending danger with the positive assurances in the Bible.I take comfort in the notion that the human race will soon begin to learn to coexist with each other. I am optimistic that at this 11th hour in human history, women are finally almost able to join with men as equals. Equals in shared suffering, to be sure, but also equals in facing the problems and learning the lessons that the problems are designed to teach.Which is, I think, what God intended all along.