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Originally Posted by Phil
all very good points, but still doesn't lessen the impact of oppression and subjugation against women, whether by pre-christianity, or any other organised religion which has survived to today. lets face it, the womens' role in the church has been flower arranging and organising tea parties for fundraising.
are you aware of the lost gospels? e.g., the gospel according to Mary, which, among 20 odd other gospels were omitted from the bible by the council of micea, because it did not want Mary's (and others) words to be part of Jesus' teachings, hence the MEN cast her as a prostitute.
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Yes, I'm sort of aware, but certainly not a scholar on the subject. There have been several good articles (Smithsonian magazine was exceptional) and TV shows on Mary Magdalene and her position in the history purported to be shown in the Bible. A fair amount of publicity on the "lost" (unselected?) gospels spurred by the "Gospel of Judas" as National Geographics most popular story of 2006. This of course was helped by the Da Vinci Code movie.
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Originally Posted by Bruce
Religions, founded by men, were another male dominated organization, but it's funny, women used the church and it's social structure to control men's behavior with ever increasing effectiveness.
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Men had effectively divided and conquered women, keeping them from uniting in an effective defense (or offense), by not allowing women outside each family to congregate. The Church changed that in that women especially in rural/agricultural settings were first allowed to congregate, sometimes for most of the day(Sunday). This afforded the opportunity to compare notes, when the men thought they were swapping recipes and child rearing advice.
Then, when men threatened "be chaste and obedient or you'll not get to heaven" the women turned this around on the men, who were caught in a catch 22 of their own making. Soon Ladies Auxiliaries and clubs were formed, within the church. Yes, ostensibly for flower arranging and fund raising, but a chance for women to get organized, learning how to work together and assert their rights.
The church was male dominated in it's structure and teaching, but under it's blanket of social activities it was a very valuable tool for women seeking to throw off thousands of years of subservience.
