Religion’s role in gender discrimination?

[quisquose]

I know, I know, another religion thread.

 

But I just had to mention this 'strident' article by Paula Kirby in The Washington Post.

 

Sock it to 'em Paula!

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-faith/post/religion-lies-about-women/2011/04/13/AFDS9mXD_blog.html

 

Spot my comment there. Anyway, here's some extracts:

 

“Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.”

 

Here, in Ephesians 5, attributed to St Paul, we have in a nutshell the church’s attitude to the respective positions of man and woman.

 

The truth is that the Abrahamic religions fear women and therefore go to extraordinary and sometimes brutal lengths to control them, constrain them, and repress them in every way. Show me a non-religious society that feels so threatened by the thought of female sexuality that it will slice off the clitoris of a young girl to ensure she can never experience sexual pleasure. Show me a non-religious society that feels the need to cloak women from head to toe and force them to experience the outside world through a slit of a few square inches. All three Abrahamic religions share the myth of Adam and Eve, the myth that it was through woman that evil was let loose in the world. They share the heritage of Leviticus, which declared a menstruating woman unclean, to be set aside, untouched, a revulsion that remains even today among some orthodox Jews, who will refuse to shake a woman’s hand for fear she may be menstruating. What kind of lunacy is this? It is the lunacy of a Bronze Age mindset fossilized by the reactionary forces of religion.

 

And perish the thought that these religions – in their alleged equal valuing of women – should permit them actually to control their own bodies! Women exist for the purposes of reproduction! So let them reproduce! Let them reproduce, whether they wish it or not. Woe unto the woman who dares to engage in sex without being willing to conceive as a result! Woe unto the woman who uses contraception to control her fertility and manage the size of her family! And a hundred times woe unto the woman who actually dares to terminate a pregnancy she does not want! The question of abortion illustrates perfectly the role of women so far as the church is concerned. A woman’s reproductive organs are not her own, and she may not be permitted to decide what happens to them. The Catholic Church would forbid abortion, even when the mother’s life is at risk if she continues with the pregnancy. It would forbid it, even if she has been raped and is carrying the child of her violator. How much clearer could it be that the woman has value only as the carrier of a man’s child and has in herself no intrinsic worth whatsoever?

 

Religion is one lie after another: the lie of original sin, the lie of eternal life, the lie of hell, the lie of answered prayer, the lie that life can have no meaning without religion, the lie that religion is the source of morality, the lie of creationism, the lie of a spy-in-the-sky who hears your every word and reads your every thought. And to this list we must add the lie that it views men and women as equal. It has got away for so long with the kind of lunatic word-games that allow death-by-torture to be presented as an act of love, and eternal torment in the flames of hell to be seen as a necessary act of justice, that we should perhaps not be surprised that it has also managed to dupe its followers into seeing the systematic suppression and silencing of women as an act of liberation and equality. Nevertheless, it is a lie, like all the others: a cynical and wicked lie. It is time women everywhere woke up to it.

 

She's obviously a witch!

[BettyBooHoo!]

''Religion is one lie after another''......Amen to that!

[Ryedo40]

Not known a bad article from Paula, yet. She's spot on as usual.

[Grahame]

The role examples of 188 named Women in the Bible, and a host of others left unnamed, identify prominent queens, prophetesses, judges, and military leaders, and also a multitude of women who both paved the way for the founding of Christianity and preached its message. Some, such as the mortal mother of Jesus of Nazareth, have been considered more than mere mortals, while others have been virtually ignored in their faith and good deeds. Many women of the Bible proved themselves more than equal to the challenges and trials of their day. Many were considered touched by the hand of God and were full of faith, determination, and courage that helped them to overcome the adversity of the prejudiced era in which they lived.

 

Top Ten most mentioned Women in the Bible. All are there without fear or favour.

 

1. Sarah, described as “Mother of the Nations”, Wife of Abraham (Genesis 17: 15, 16) Mentioned 59 times in total.

 

2. Rachel (Genesis 29:17) “Shapely” and “beautiful”. 47 appearances.

 

3. Queen Esther (Esther 2:7) “Beautiful”. Her story is a tribute to beauty treatments! Appears 47 times too.

 

4. Mary, Mother of Jesus. (Luke 1:42) Said to be “Blessed among women” and “full of grace”. 37 mentions.

 

5. Leah (Ruth 4:11). 34 Biblical appearances. Built the house of Israel.

 

6. Rebekah (Genesis 24). 31 mentions. Very beautiful!

 

7. Naomi (Ruth 1:20) Described as bitter and sweet. 21 mentions.

 

8. Judith (Judith 8, 7, . 22 mentions but only appears in Roman Catholic and Orthodox

 

9. Jezabel (1 Kings: 21:25) 22 references. Prostitute, Queen, witch. Described as putting on her make up shortly before her death.

 

10. Abigail (1 Samuel: 25:3) Intelligent and beautiful. 19 mentions.

[Plain Talker]

The role examples of 188 named Women in the Bible, and a host of others left unnamed, identify prominent queens, prophetesses, judges, and military leaders, and also a multitude of women who both paved the way for the founding of Christianity and preached its message. Some, such as the mortal mother of Jesus of Nazareth, have been considered more than mere mortals, while others have been virtually ignored in their faith and good deeds. Many women of the Bible proved themselves more than equal to the challenges and trials of their day. Many were considered touched by the hand of God and were full of faith, determination, and courage that helped them to overcome the adversity of the prejudiced era in which they lived.

 

Top Ten Women in the Bible

 

1. Sarah, described as “Mother of the Nations”, Wife of Abraham (Genesis 17: 15, 16) Mentioned 59 times in total.

 

2. Rachel (Genesis 29:17) “Shapely” and “beautiful”. 47 appearances.

 

3. Queen Esther (Esther 2:7) “Beautiful”. Her story is a tribute to beauty treatments! Appears 47 times too.

 

4. Mary, Mother of Jesus. (Luke 1:42) Said to be “Blessed among women” and “full of grace”. 37 mentions.

 

5. Leah (Ruth 4:11). 34 Biblical appearances. Built the house of Israel.

 

6. Rebekah (Genesis 24). 31 mentions. Very beautiful!

 

7. Naomi (Ruth 1:20) Described as bitter and sweet. 21 mentions.

 

8. Judith (Judith 8, 7, . 22 mentions but only appears in Roman Catholic and Orthodox

 

that's eight of them, Grahame. Who are the other two?

 

Is Devorah (Deborah) mentioned? (judges 4:5)

 

Number 8, Judith, whom you mention:- she is from the Apocrypha, so will tend to feature only in the Catholic and Orthodox Canon.

[rubydazzler]

She's obviously a witch!

Burn the witch! Burn her!

 

 

*hands flaming brand to Zalim*

[Alien]

The role examples of 188 named Women in the Bible, and a host of others left unnamed, identify prominent queens, prophetesses, judges, and military leaders, and also a multitude of women who both paved the way for the founding of Christianity and preached its message. Some, such as the mortal mother of Jesus of Nazareth, have been considered more than mere mortals, while others have been virtually ignored in their faith and good deeds. Many women of the Bible proved themselves more than equal to the challenges and trials of their day. Many were considered touched by the hand of God and were full of faith, determination, and courage that helped them to overcome the adversity of the prejudiced era in which they lived.

 

Top Ten most mentioned Women in the Bible. All are there without fear or favour.

 

1. Sarah, described as “Mother of the Nations”, Wife of Abraham (Genesis 17: 15, 16) Mentioned 59 times in total.

 

2. Rachel (Genesis 29:17) “Shapely” and “beautiful”. 47 appearances.

 

3. Queen Esther (Esther 2:7) “Beautiful”. Her story is a tribute to beauty treatments! Appears 47 times too.

 

4. Mary, Mother of Jesus. (Luke 1:42) Said to be “Blessed among women” and “full of grace”. 37 mentions.

 

5. Leah (Ruth 4:11). 34 Biblical appearances. Built the house of Israel.

 

6. Rebekah (Genesis 24). 31 mentions. Very beautiful!

 

7. Naomi (Ruth 1:20) Described as bitter and sweet. 21 mentions.

 

8. Judith (Judith 8, 7, . 22 mentions but only appears in Roman Catholic and Orthodox

 

9. Jezabel (1 Kings: 21:25) 22 references. Prostitute, Queen, witch. Described as putting on her make up shortly before her death.

 

10. Abigail (1 Samuel: 25:3) Intelligent and beautiful. 19 mentions.

 

 

 

Good job they were 'beautiful'.

[Grahame]

Good job they were 'beautiful'.

 

I hadn't noticed that.

 

By the way women were treated much better in Medieval England, they had equal rights way back then.

 

I was discussing this the other day and the woman I was talking to said she thought women gave up their equal rights because they preferred to be kept by their husbands?

 

[Alien]

I hadn't noticed that.

 

By the way women were treated much better in Medieval England, they had equal rights way back then.

 

 

Nah, equel rights then was just an antiquated form of if you weren't beautiful or full of grace you didn't amount to much. Not much change there.

[quisquose]

Here's a video of some couples giving testimonies of their time at the First Baptist Church 2011 Marriage Retreat Recap:

 

 

When I say 'couples' observe carefuly what opinions the women are allowed to express.

 

 

 

 

Grahame - If you have any criticisms of Paula Kirby's artictle that's all your own then please let us know.