The actions of contemporary mothers in situations of oppression bear eloquent witness to this powerful aspect of the maternal relationship. One Central American woman writes of her Christian base community's growth in consciousness under a violent dictatorship:

I recall that it was women who insisted on discovering God as a God of Life . . . Being bearers and sustainers of life women found new meaning in God as God of life, and themselves became stronger as defenders and bearers of life, not only in the biological sense but in all its dimensions . . .

This is an extraordinary report of the intertwining of maternal self-consciousness, compassion for the weak, concern for justice, and speech about God as mother spun out of growth in responsibility amid daily occurrences of violent death. The power of mothering in situations of danger and need points language toward God's passion for justice precisely as she is Mother-Creator of all.

The dynamic of maternal love is visible in the mothers and grand-mothers of Argentina's Plaza de Mayo who courageously demonstrated in public against a repressive government on behalf of their disappeared children. It appears in alliances of South African mothers who love their children and therefore speak out at great personal risk to abolish apartheid.

— Elizabeth A. Johnson, She Who Is: The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological Discourse