The Blame Game in Eden: How Shame Became Strategy
Post 5 in the Peaceful Resistance Series
What if we’ve been telling the story backward?
What if Eden wasn’t the story of a woman’s failure—but the world’s first act of projection?
What if the original sin wasn’t disobedience—but refusing to take responsibility?
Because when you read the story without the spin, it becomes clear:
Eve acted.
Adam followed.
And then, Adam blamed.
How the Story Was Retold to Serve Power
There is no verse that says Eve was more guilty than Adam.
There is no scripture that assigns her a deeper moral flaw.
And yet for centuries, entire systems of theology and culture have treated her as the root of all human failure.
Why?
Because the retelling of Eden served a purpose: to justify male dominance.
Early church fathers called Eve the “gateway to the devil.”
Augustine taught that women were spiritually inferior and intellectually suspect.
Martin Luther said women should be silent because Eve spoke and caused sin.
Purity culture taught girls they were stumbling blocks in boys’ walk with God.
The Eden story was transformed into the origin story of patriarchy.
Not because that’s what the story teaches—but because that’s what power needed it to teach.
“She gave it to him, and he ate.”
Not “She forced him.”
Not “She tricked him.”
Not “He resisted.”
No. He ate.
Willingly.
And then said: “The woman you gave me made me do it.”
And we’ve been telling that lie ever since.
The First Gender Roles: From Partnership to Punishment
Before the fall, Genesis 1 and 2 describe mutuality—not hierarchy.
“So God created humankind in his image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.”
(Genesis 1:27)“It is not good for the human to be alone.
I will make a helper suitable for him.”
(Genesis 2:18)
The word “helper” (Hebrew: ezer) is not subordinate.
It’s the same word used to describe God’s help for Israel.
There is no domination in Eden.
Only co-creation. Partnership. Shared purpose.
But after the fall, the story shifts:
“To the woman he said,
‘I will make your pains in childbearing very severe…
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.’”
(Genesis 3:16)“To Adam he said,
‘Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.’”
(Genesis 3:17)
This isn’t a divine plan—it’s a divine consequence.
But Christian Nationalism retells it as prescription.
And the pain becomes proof:
Women suffer to birth children.
Men suffer to provide.
Anything else is rebellion.
The Curse as Credential: When Suffering Becomes Status
For many in Christian Nationalist culture, hard physical work isn’t just honest—it’s holy.
Coal miners are praised more than climate scientists.
Carpenters are trusted more than teachers.
“Working with your hands” is a sign of character.
Office work, higher education, and emotional labor?
Suspect. Feminized. Weak.
This isn’t just blue-collar pride.
It’s theological conditioning.
If you aren’t suffering physically,
if you didn’t earn it with your back and your hands,
then maybe you didn’t deserve it.
And the Tree of Knowledge?
Still a threat.
Education becomes rebellion.
Curiosity becomes danger.
Empathy becomes weakness.
You’re not truly righteous unless you’re visibly suffering.
And anyone who escapes that suffering is skipping the curse—and threatening the system.
Shame as a System: Why Women Are Still Paying the Price
Once you cast Eve as the problem, everything else becomes justified.
Women must submit—because Eve led.
Women must not preach—because Eve spoke.
Women must not lead—because Eve disrupted the order.
Women must suffer—because Eve sinned.
This is shame turned into structure.
Punishment codified as holiness.
And here’s the most twisted part:
The shame isn’t even about Eve.
It’s about Adam—and the systems built to protect his silence.
To admit Eve wasn’t the villain is to admit Adam wasn’t a victim.
To admit women aren’t dangerous is to admit that men have been afraid—
Of emotion. Of partnership. Of accountability.
And if that fear is exposed?
The entire theology of inequality begins to crumble.
That’s why the story must stay the same:
Eve must always be the problem.
Women must always be the risk.
Emotion must always be the threat.
Because if we let Eve speak without shame,
We might have to finally listen.
NEXT: But What If Eve Was the Braver One?
