alek0

What is the basis of belief that christianity isn't offensive to women? There are plenty of proofs for that in OT and also Paul is full of it. However, I keep hearing from Christians that Christ was teaching equality of women,. For example, this was one of the explanations given:

Does anyone know the biblical basis of this belief, or is it usual example of "salad bar" christianity? For example, from sermon on the mount if I remember correctly men can divorce a wife if she was unfaithful, but no such right is given to her. Doesn't seem to me that he was in favor of equality of sexes.

Also, I'd like to know where did he say that OT does not apply anymore? As far as I know, he said just the opposite, which would mean that he approved, among other awful things, those lovely rape laws from Deuteronomy. While I would agree that NT contains some nice parts, I don't see how can anyone read the whole thing and not just selected parts and believe that jesus was a nice guy who preached love and tolerance.

lpetrich

I also have to ask:

Where were JC's female apostles?

keyser_soze

"jesus was black"

the 13th apostle.

keyser_soze

In all seriousness, I am constantly amazed that women can be fundamentalists. Voluntarily committing themselves to second class citizenship, accepting responsibility for the sin of the world...it is astounding. To what lengths have we devalued and brainwashed the female mind that they accept such arguments from authority with no second thought? Apologists can go on as much as they want about their interpretations that do for women what the gospels did for the romans, but it's there in plain black and white that the bible DESPISES women. Bronze age goatherders views on the equality of the sexes was about as crude then as it is now, yet it is accepted. Around here, you see the high-bun women at the stores, etc, no makeup, the sterile look of defeat, the crazed eyes...And you wonder, what made this person give up their individuality to become a mindless drone for the fundy hive? What made this person accept responsibility for original sin? A talking snake and a magical garden? What kind of person accepts such things blindly I ask myself, but then I remember that I once took such things for granted! I am amazed at the stupidity of man, that he could decieve himself so thoroughly for so long, all in a quest to give himself some sense of immortality, to allay the fear of death even a little bit.

What price for that little peace? Too damn high for me.

Dargo

There are American women who convert to Islam and start wearing traditional Islamic garb. Some of them have even gone so far as to wear veils. They claim that somehow Islam has liberated them. That makes even less sense than women embracing Christian fundamentalism.

villainess

I think it's based on the difference between "freedom to" and "freedom from" that Margaret Atwood so nicely summed up in Handmaid's Tale.

I can easily believe that for a woman who has been so unfortunate that most of her efforts at self-determinism have ended badly or painfully, especially if she has been indoctrinated from birth, might throw up her hands and pick "freedom from" in the form of fundy culture and ideas about femininity that center around passivity and emotionalism, rather than "freedom to" attempt to better her life and possibly fail. It's worth noting here that many forms of fundamentalism go out of their way to make sure that "freedom to" experiences for women _will_ end badly by, for example, limiting access to abortion and birth control, conditioning men within the church to reject women who are more intellectually, financially, or sexually successful than themselves, you're all familiar with many more examples, I'm sure.

Also, I think that a lot of women (and men too, of course) tend to mistake the idea that God has assigned responsibility for the surety that said responsibility will be carried out. If they do, how comforting for some women, especially those who are already inclined to be passive or insecure, to think that they never have to worry about money or heavy lifting again if they just marry the right sort of fundy guy. By the time harsh reality shows up, it's too late - they're assimilated, so they just suck it up and pray harder and try to figure out where they sinned.

the_villainess

Paperstreet

A woman converting to Islam is almost like a person volunteering to spend there life in jail.

lpetrich

Some such women, however, brag about how free they are from having to be sex objects, always having to make themselves look pretty.

However, it's always possible to dress like a stereotypical butch lesbian -- short hair, clothing much like typical male clothing, etc. The sort of thing that can make a woman look like a 12-year-old boy.

sakrilege

Hey, I looked older than 12 but probably not much older than 17. I was called sir often.

villainess

Regardless of whether they're trying to look "sexy" per se, people who rely a lot on approval from their community - especially a gossipy and judgemental community such as a fundamentalist church (or, say, a teenaged clique or an exclusive social class in a small city) can all-too-often be - are probably going to feel the pressure that results from dressing for the external gaze. Of course, to some extent this is an inevitable result of being a social animal.

I prefer men's clothes because they tend to have larger pockets.

the_villainess