Genesis describes a "paradise" that was created by god. First for Adam (the man he created from dirt) and then for his "helpmeet" Eve (who was created from one of Adam's ribs). They did not wear clothing and they had everything that they needed and walked with god daily. God put a tree of fruit in the middle of the garden that was "forbidden" for Adam and Eve to eat for the fruit possessed a power that would allow them to know "good and evil". One day, Satan, in the form of a serpent tempted Eve to eat the fruit "so she would be like god" and then she gave the fruit to Adam to eat. Once they ate the fruit they realized that they were naked and they hid from god in shame. God found them and killed an animal and made clothes for them and kicked them out of the garden after he cursed them by making them work for their food. He cursed Eve by making childbirth painful. The other part of the curse was for Eve to "desire" Adam, but for Adam to rule over Eve. The fall of Adam and Eve made Eve a "lesser" human to be dominated and subjugated. The "fall of man" gave Adam dominance over Eve even though she would "desire" to be equal and for the relationship to once again be one of love and companionship.
The fall of mankind sets up a culture of "patriarchy" where man is dominate as the family and tribal authority. Any woman who has ever gardened knows that she is subjected to toil and sweat to make food come out of the ground, and Adam's "curse" is her curse. The lost paradise is forever Eve's fault and she is thereafter judged to be a weaker and less trustworthy creature. Sex is changed to one of "desire" that is not met as she is seen as one who exists to bring forth children in pain. Love and tenderness and equality is now out of the equation as angry domination on the part of Adam takes over. This story unfairly blames Eve, and thereafter all women for the pain in childbirth and the inequality in male/female relationships. The fall of mankind sets up a pattern of patriarchy that has been followed for 4,000 years. The western cultures have evolved into more or less secular humanistic cultures where reason and logic can sometimes ascend above ancient tribal folklore myths, but the muslims are still deeply entrenched in the myth with cultures that are a mirror the effects of the curse. For christians to know what life was like 4.000 years ago for women and children, they need to look no further than taliban ruled villages in Afghanistan.
I discuss the "fall of womankind" in order to point out that without the myth we do not need a "savior". If Eve's failure to obey a command by her creator never happened, we have nothing to be saved "from".
It is all just "make believe" told by ancient sheepherders to give them authority in their affairs and help them understand their plight and shape their tribes as they see fit. Once the mind rejects the story, one rejects the need for a god as a "savior", for one no longer needs to be saved.
Once the myth of the fall of womankind is rejected, men and women are free to create a society where women are equal and have a voice in the affairs of the culture. Christians everywhere would wish that the muslims would throw off the myth of male dominance that causes so much female suffering as a result of their belief in the fall of mankind. Christians are blinded by "faith" in the bible and unable to see the same mirror image in their own beliefs and their own culture. It is only fair that if we expect the muslims to discard the myth of the fall of mankinnd that christians would too. Celebrate logic and reason today and envision a future where we do not teach our children 4,000 year old stories of how the world began and how mankind came about when science tells us differently. Encourage a culture of justice based on reason and logic and celebrate equality today! It does not make sense to teach a creation story written by men who had no knowledge of the earth, the solar system or the universe, but created a myth that served their purposes and filled their "knowledge" void.
Showing posts with label eve. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eve. Show all posts
Monday, September 6, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Women must be veiled?
"But every woman praying or prophesying with her head unveiled dishonors her head. For it is one and the same thing as if she were shaved."
Author: 1 Corinthians 11 Verses #: 5
It is wrong for a man to pray with his head covered and wrong for a woman to pray without her head covered. Contemporary christian women ignore this verse entirely. Up until the 1960's women at least wore hats and veils in church. Modern protestant churches have completely given this edict up. It is just not popular. A head scarf is an inconvenience and a visual reminder that women and men are not equal scripturally. This is just not a popular concept and the practice of women covering their heads has been given up except for nuns in the catholic tradition. There is nothing more inconvenient that having to keep something on top of your head. The head covering is still completely required for an islamic woman to show piety. Nothing reveals inequality more. Men are free to be themselves and women must be covered. Modern christian women have chosen freedom in this aspect and have rejected the symbolism that they are "different" and must appear different than men. The whole of Paul's teaching served to keep women silent, powerless and "covered" for 2,000 years of dogma. Modern women reject this. Should we also reject that God is male and male is god. Should we also reject that Eve was "created" from Adam? Biology and evidence would tell us that Eve birthed the first human(s) and is the mother of all humans. The worship of a "male god" who devalues women and their biology has negated their right to exist for 4,000 years. At one point the first Eve birthed the first "human", and she was not wearing a veil when she did it!
Author: 1 Corinthians 11 Verses #: 5
It is wrong for a man to pray with his head covered and wrong for a woman to pray without her head covered. Contemporary christian women ignore this verse entirely. Up until the 1960's women at least wore hats and veils in church. Modern protestant churches have completely given this edict up. It is just not popular. A head scarf is an inconvenience and a visual reminder that women and men are not equal scripturally. This is just not a popular concept and the practice of women covering their heads has been given up except for nuns in the catholic tradition. There is nothing more inconvenient that having to keep something on top of your head. The head covering is still completely required for an islamic woman to show piety. Nothing reveals inequality more. Men are free to be themselves and women must be covered. Modern christian women have chosen freedom in this aspect and have rejected the symbolism that they are "different" and must appear different than men. The whole of Paul's teaching served to keep women silent, powerless and "covered" for 2,000 years of dogma. Modern women reject this. Should we also reject that God is male and male is god. Should we also reject that Eve was "created" from Adam? Biology and evidence would tell us that Eve birthed the first human(s) and is the mother of all humans. The worship of a "male god" who devalues women and their biology has negated their right to exist for 4,000 years. At one point the first Eve birthed the first "human", and she was not wearing a veil when she did it!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Billions inherit the "Eve" Curse
Genesis 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception: in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
In Genesis 3 is the story of the serpent talking Eve into questioning the commandment to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God promised that eating of the fruit of the tree would bring about death. The serpent told Eve that it would not cause death, but instead she would be as gods, knowing good and evil. Eve ate the fruit and gave to Adam and then they realized that they were naked. As the story goes, God was walking about in the garden looking for Adam and Eve. Everyone starts blaming everyone. Adam blames Eve and Eve blames the serpent. God proceeds to curse the serpent and Eve and Adam and eventually kicks them all out of the garden. The above bible verse is Eve's curse.
The curse of pain and sorrow in childbirth and the curse of male dominance is transferred to "all" women for all time and sets in motion the last 6,000 years of male domination of women and girls.
The curse is for women to be treated unequally and dominated. The male dominance of women in the hebrew culture, the islamic culture and the christian culture has it's roots in this curse. All of these religions have their roots in the deserts of the middle east. The west has fully adopted the above story as "sacred truth" and "infallible" words of God and believe every word literally without question. The catholic church holds fast to it's exclusion of women into the priesthood and uses stories and scripture like the above as validation of the belief women are not to be allowed equal designations of opportunity within the church. Protestant religions have not been any kinder to women either. Thankfully, through the feminist movement that began in 1850 and through the competent rule of european queens has this "curse" on women been eased. Paul was very hard on disallowing women equality in his writings. It is imperative that women continue to work for safe healthcare delivery systems where women can safely birth children and that women not lose sight of the progress of the gains of feminists who have gone before us. We must prove our value and intellect and competence and continue to pave the way of a "curse" free culture for our daughters and granddaughters.
In Genesis 3 is the story of the serpent talking Eve into questioning the commandment to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God promised that eating of the fruit of the tree would bring about death. The serpent told Eve that it would not cause death, but instead she would be as gods, knowing good and evil. Eve ate the fruit and gave to Adam and then they realized that they were naked. As the story goes, God was walking about in the garden looking for Adam and Eve. Everyone starts blaming everyone. Adam blames Eve and Eve blames the serpent. God proceeds to curse the serpent and Eve and Adam and eventually kicks them all out of the garden. The above bible verse is Eve's curse.
The curse of pain and sorrow in childbirth and the curse of male dominance is transferred to "all" women for all time and sets in motion the last 6,000 years of male domination of women and girls.
The curse is for women to be treated unequally and dominated. The male dominance of women in the hebrew culture, the islamic culture and the christian culture has it's roots in this curse. All of these religions have their roots in the deserts of the middle east. The west has fully adopted the above story as "sacred truth" and "infallible" words of God and believe every word literally without question. The catholic church holds fast to it's exclusion of women into the priesthood and uses stories and scripture like the above as validation of the belief women are not to be allowed equal designations of opportunity within the church. Protestant religions have not been any kinder to women either. Thankfully, through the feminist movement that began in 1850 and through the competent rule of european queens has this "curse" on women been eased. Paul was very hard on disallowing women equality in his writings. It is imperative that women continue to work for safe healthcare delivery systems where women can safely birth children and that women not lose sight of the progress of the gains of feminists who have gone before us. We must prove our value and intellect and competence and continue to pave the way of a "curse" free culture for our daughters and granddaughters.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
The command of silence and childbearing (I Timothy 2 11-15)
I Timothy 2:11-15
"Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety."
Wow....Paul the Apostle has put a lot on women here. It took two thousand years of world history and over 150 years of American history to break free from these teachings for women to have a voice in their male dominated cultures.
First of all, Genesis 1:27 says God created male and female in his own image...all at once...and equally. At a later point, during a period of patriarchy, another creation story surfaced about Adam needed a "helper" and God creating Eve as an afterthought from Adam's rib for the benefit of Adam. For thousands of years men preferred to treat women as little more than a slave for his personal benefit. Women were "purchased" from the father's for a price. Women had no power and very few rights, they were born into a man's world dominated by a male religion. The struggle for equality first surfaced in 1850 in the first wave of the women's liberation movement. In addition to men, women were some of the most vocal opponents of equality. Over time the women's movement merged with the prohibition movement and although alcohol was made illegal, women still had not succeeded in securing the right to vote. The history of the women's movement and prohibition is a very interesting study of american history. A new book called LAST CALL goes into the details of prohibition in america.
Secondly, Paul the Apostle blames Eve and thus all women for the "fall of mankind" and "disobedience" to God. This is absurd. This allowed the church to insinuate for years that women just could not be trusted as leaders and the western world was forced into a male dominated and male controlled society that denied women equality, both inside the church and outside the church. Adam blamed Eve and men have been blaming women for eons. Paul picks up this rant and uses an old testament fable to insinuate that women are 1. Not equal in intellect or character to men. 2. Women are easily decieved and therefore not qualified to lead and 3.bearing children can somehow save a woman. Here is why Paul injects something totally new. Women save themselves from hell by having children. Women who are barren, or whose husband's are infertile are given no hope of saving themselves from an everlasting hell by Paul. This is just ridiculous and a new twist. The church picked up on this, as have men. Women have been forced into early motherhood and the burden of motherhood against their will. Today, the one way to assure a young woman of lifelong poverty is to force her to remain pregnant and bear children at a young age causing her development and educational opportunities to nearly cease.
Paul states that women can be saved if they have children, continue in "faith" and "give liberally" and remain "sober". I don't know if that means depressed or free from alcohol or both. This is quite a quilt trip on women. I think women would be well advised to read the teachings of Paul with caution as he is clearly not a fan of women.
"Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety."
Wow....Paul the Apostle has put a lot on women here. It took two thousand years of world history and over 150 years of American history to break free from these teachings for women to have a voice in their male dominated cultures.
First of all, Genesis 1:27 says God created male and female in his own image...all at once...and equally. At a later point, during a period of patriarchy, another creation story surfaced about Adam needed a "helper" and God creating Eve as an afterthought from Adam's rib for the benefit of Adam. For thousands of years men preferred to treat women as little more than a slave for his personal benefit. Women were "purchased" from the father's for a price. Women had no power and very few rights, they were born into a man's world dominated by a male religion. The struggle for equality first surfaced in 1850 in the first wave of the women's liberation movement. In addition to men, women were some of the most vocal opponents of equality. Over time the women's movement merged with the prohibition movement and although alcohol was made illegal, women still had not succeeded in securing the right to vote. The history of the women's movement and prohibition is a very interesting study of american history. A new book called LAST CALL goes into the details of prohibition in america.
Secondly, Paul the Apostle blames Eve and thus all women for the "fall of mankind" and "disobedience" to God. This is absurd. This allowed the church to insinuate for years that women just could not be trusted as leaders and the western world was forced into a male dominated and male controlled society that denied women equality, both inside the church and outside the church. Adam blamed Eve and men have been blaming women for eons. Paul picks up this rant and uses an old testament fable to insinuate that women are 1. Not equal in intellect or character to men. 2. Women are easily decieved and therefore not qualified to lead and 3.bearing children can somehow save a woman. Here is why Paul injects something totally new. Women save themselves from hell by having children. Women who are barren, or whose husband's are infertile are given no hope of saving themselves from an everlasting hell by Paul. This is just ridiculous and a new twist. The church picked up on this, as have men. Women have been forced into early motherhood and the burden of motherhood against their will. Today, the one way to assure a young woman of lifelong poverty is to force her to remain pregnant and bear children at a young age causing her development and educational opportunities to nearly cease.
Paul states that women can be saved if they have children, continue in "faith" and "give liberally" and remain "sober". I don't know if that means depressed or free from alcohol or both. This is quite a quilt trip on women. I think women would be well advised to read the teachings of Paul with caution as he is clearly not a fan of women.
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