Investigation of the nature of religions:
Query: Why did not Christianity, Judaism and Islam make room for female
priests, not to speak of goddesses?
Response: "big question. my guess is that, at least early on, it was felt
necessary to get away from the role of the sexual in worship (ie away from
female priests/temple prostitutes). this does not, therefore, suggest
that such a stance is necessary at all times and places."
Further queries: Am I to conclude from this that hostility to temple
prostitution explains Judaism's early excision of women? Does Muslim
and Jewish polygyny have something to do with it? And were "female
priests" necessarily "temple prostitutes"?
Query: In paganism did cult-women officiate only in "fertility cults"?
Answer: "can't answer ... it wd be interesting to know."
Applause: It certainly would!
Statement: Christianity admits quite comfortably all sorts of apparent
contradictions, a monotheism that is composed of three distinct persons, a
Jesus who never dies but who nevertheless died on the cross, a Mary who is
a divine spirit but nevertheless not a goddess, etc.
Response: "i don't know how comfortable these admissions are. on the
contrary, i think they are quite difficult to sustain and cause lots of
cognitive dissonance, some of which, according to gavin langmuir and bob
moore can lead to some fairly unpleasant scapegoating."
Clarification: My statement was designed to evoke a clarification from Mr
Clark's about his religious-rationalist positions. As my interest in the
repression of medieval heresy shows, I am acutely aware that, except in
the purity of intellectual statement, there is little comfortable about
religious belief.
Yours, John Mundy
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|