Ladies And Religion

[nailit]

Why do most (if not all....except pagan based) religions seem to denigrate women to second class status?
Women get a *BAD* rap when it comes to religious beliefs. WHY??
Women are life bearers/givers.

Sometimes I'm ashamed to be a man when I read of how women are treated in religious countries (such as Saudi Arabia).

Theland, Goodlife, Keyplus, and others....your views are outdated and backward. As are your 'scriptures'.

Just had to get that of my chest.
Thanks.

[The Builder]

Society has moved on from considering women as "unclean", Nails ........

Religions have yet to catch up

[bibblebub]

bottom line is that these religions were set up by men, for men, and the women are there just to produce the next generation of men

[Hypognosis]

Yes and failure to produce enough babies means the country next door is going to out-populate you and might invade. Captivity in Egypt taught the Israelites that lesson.

Ergo, threats to adequate reproduction levels are threats to society itself, hence persecution of gays etc. Is that really God's will?

[jourdain2]

Good question, nailit. As a female I have often demanded an answer to this question myself. I think it is something to do with male hormones and 'we go to war, the women hold the hearth'. This is OK as far as it goes (women are the nurturers) but then comes the assumption that the male role is the superior one, which it obviously isn't - but men think it is. At that point we arrive at the physical argument - women are(mostly) not as strong as men and so physical bullying (or the fear of it) comes into play.
(I exempt my daughters - most men would be hard-pressed to equal them physically).

Decent men have nothing to be ashamed of. I adhere, happily and generally tolerantly, to Christianity, but one has to understand the mores of the time in which the gospels were written. Jesus was quite happy to honour women, just that the society he lived in had different ways of accepting them. I wish I were more of a theologian and had quotes at my fingertips. If you understand the 'flow' of Christianity it makes more sense, at least to me.

Certainly, the society I move in does not denigrate the female - more the reverse! :o) I can't answer for other religions, which seem to me to be horrific in their attitude to women.

[naomi24]

Manipulative men know that a male brain is not contained within a skull. Utilise their superior physical strength to subjugate the cause of their own weakness - and they retain power.

[Hypognosis]

Quite so.

If it's rape, punish the rapist (wierd variations on that, in certain cultures) but, if the woman consents, outside of marriage, then it's her who is punished. This is clearly to discourage les autres. *That* is super-stern societal control.

Personally, I feel it ties in with primogeniture: the need for faithfulness is about the need for proof of parentage (in the days before DNA testing), as the landholdings etc. are destined to be passed on to the son or lost as dowry, if there is no son.

Land; power; cultural rules and "morals". That's all I see in some religious codes. It proves it is all written by men.

[naomi24]

//If it's rape, punish the rapist //

But very often it's not the rapist who is punished - it's his victim for enticing him (albeit unwittingly).

[Theland]

Christianity does not denigrate women.

[Hypognosis]

Which branch of Christianity, Theland? Can you be more specific, before anyone starts quoting things which do not relate to the one you meant, please?

[naomi24]

Theland, // Christianity does not denigrate women.//

So when St Paul, the founder of Christianity, said //the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says….If they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in church.…//

… you think he was wrong?

[vulcan42]

\\ Christianity does not denigrate women.//
I'll believe that when there is a female Pope.

[goodlife]

When one began to study the scriptures you learned two important principles regarding the role of the husband and a wife.

The first, at 1 Peter 3:7, explains that a husband should give his wife honor as the “weaker vessel, the feminine one.”

The second, at Ephesians 5:28, 29, says that a husband should treat his wife ‘as his own body.’ Since I have followed that advice, we have become much closer.
So you must attach greater value to God’s counsel than to you or local customs.

//Just had to get that of my chest.
Thanks. //

[naomi24]

Goodlife, //Since I have followed that advice, we have become much closer.//

I'm sorry to hear your marriage wasn't as good as it might have been, but if you really needed the bible to tell you to treat your wife properly I'm not surprised.

[goodlife]

Thanks you naomi,I love the holy scriptuers (matt 5:3)

[naomi24]

Ahhhh. Down-hearted eh, Goodlife? Keep your chin up.

[nailit]

^^ lol

[Theland]

There is Christianity based on the NewTestament teachings.
Anything else is not true Christianity.
Women in the New Testament are revered, protected, and respected, and their relationship to their husbands is based on love and respect.

[naomi24]

Theland, So I assume you think St Paul was right? And Christianity doesn't denigrate women? How does that work then?

[Theland]

Yes there is in Gods plan two separate roles for men and women in the marriage and the church.
Both are complementary and of equal,importance.
Saint Paul merely pointed out these differing yet equally important complementary roles.