Archive for the 'sexism' Category

Is Christianity to blame for Bible-inspired sexism?

Published
by
Pedro Timóteo
on February 15, 2008
in bible, christianity and sexism
. 3 Comments

Seen on Friendly Atheist: a female referee was forbidden to ref a boys’ high school basketball game because it would mean putting her in a position of authority over males. Which, according to the Bible, is a big no-no.

To condemn this as bigoted and repulsive would be redundant, since others — even some Christians — have already done so. Therefore, I’ll address this question: is Christianity to blame for this, considering that most Christians don’t actually agree with such first-century bigoted “morals”?

I believe that, yes, Christianity is to blame.

Consider the facts:

  1. the Bible includes that passage. And it’s in the New Testament, after Jesus, so one can’t use the old “oh, that’s in the OT, Jesus changed all the rules” excuse which allows Christians to ignore the prohibition on eating shrimp or wearing mixed fabric, but to believe homosexuality is still an “abomination”.
  2. many denominations, and therefore many believers, believe (and teach) that the Bible is 100% true, and the literal word of God. (think about why they refuse to accept the fact of evolution: it’s not because it disproves God (it doesn’t), but because it means that Genesis isn’t literally true.)

Now, Christians could have changed the Bible. It’s not like they didn’t do it often in the first couple of centuries after Jesus, after all. Or they could have left that passage in there, but with a warning that it corresponds to Paul’s bigotry, not to what God actually wants. More liberal church leaders could actually denounce that passage as unjust and incompatible with a “god of love”. Or, like some other denominations do, simply accept that the Bible had many authors, many of its parts are parables or myths, and it was a product of its time, not to mention that it was edited often in the beginning, so it’s quite possible that someone inserted his own beliefs and agenda in it — which at the time would almost surely include bigotry.

But no. They still insist that the Bible is the literal word of God, 100% accurate, and so on. Which means God is a sexist bigot. And they’re OK with that.

If Christianity says “this book is 100% true”, and that book includes sexism, then Christianity is sexist, and is to blame for the sexism it causes.

The "Good Old Days"

Published
by
Pedro Timóteo
on October 30, 2006
in mankind and sexism
. 39 Comments

It’s common to hear comments about the Good Old Days ™. The specifics vary, but, ultimately, they say this: things were better in the old days.

Why does this happen? In part, due to nostalgia, and, in part ,due to fear (and resentment) of change. Another reason is lousy memory: we tend to remember the good parts, and forget the bad ones.

Well, for those who say that “things were better back then”, I give you two pages of an American magazine from 1955. Click on the picture below to see it in its original size.

The Good Wife's Guide

Even though it looks like a joke now, it wasn’t comedy, at the time. It was real. The world was like that. People were like that.

Now, tell me that “nothing’s improved”, that “things were better before”. Tell em that the human race, with all its faults, hasn’t evolved. Tell me that “things are the same, or worse”. Tell me that “we’re growing more and more immoral“. That the solution to mankind’s problems would be to “return to the values of old”.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Portugal
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Portugal