> I doubt whether you will find more than ten anti-woman
>passages in the New Testament, and they CAN be explained in the
>context of the culture of the times.
Of course, though we'd expect more from universal revelation...
But they are more than of their times; they went a long way toward shaping
ours.
(The Old Testament is more
>complex - even there I would not use the words "chock full"
There is a truly fascinating interrogation of the misogyny and vengeance
and holy war aspects of the Hebrew Bible in the most recent issue of
_Bridges_ magazine (a very fine Jewish feminist mag out of the US). It has
an article and exhibit by Helene Aylon called "The Liberation of G-d (from
patriarchal projections)" that involves inscribing on transparent sheets
over Bible pages, feminist commentary and restorations of female presence
(such as in the begats).
There's a dialog between Alyon and a liberal rabbi where she says, "What is
complex about the rapist and the conqueror? It is not at all difficult to
see that there is nothing in these two instances [the 'solution' of having
a maiden marry her rapist, and the taking of women and 'the little ones' as
booty after conquest] that is sacred, and no midrash can compensate or
enlighten or rationalize this into some profound spiritual truth. There
comes a time when we can no longer tolerate these words.
... But in the end, our ancestors misrepresented G-d because they put
themselves in it -- their own homophobia [that two men lying together must
be killed] and misogyny."
>there are specifically pro-women passages as well, most notably
>the story of Mary and Martha, where Jesus praises Mary, who sits
>at his feet learning, over Martha, who runs around being a
>perfectionist housewife.
I have to say that I never found this story empowering for women, Martha in
particular, who after all was doing what everything in her life taught her
was required from women. I don't see that having to have permission from a
rabbi to do otherwise essentially changes the parameters. Although I liked
Yeshua for stopping people from stoning the adulteress and for treating
prostitutes equally, this story and the "Woman, what have I to do with you"
passage always bothered me. It seems to make Martha wrong.
Max Dashu <[log in to unmask]>
<www.suppressedhistories.net>
30 Years of International Women's Studies
<www.maxdashu.net>
Paintings of bold and spirited women
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