Monday, August 30, 2010

Filling the Jock Strap of Jesus

Imagine God's inner dialogue:  "How can I get people to listen to me and take me seriously in the Holy Land in early C.E.? I mean, unfortunately females are mostly an unheard lot at this point...I will send a part of myself in the form of a man to get peoples' attention. He will be my son and spread my word. If the role was reversed or men and women saw the equality of a future time, I'd have sent my daughter instead. And SHE would have picked 12 of her apostles (all women), no less - as people would LISTEN TO THEM!"

While smart on God's part, people misconstrue the hell out of Jesus being a man. And have to this very day.

God created man and woman in (his) image. God then, is both male and female. As an all-knowing powerful being, God is both Mother and Father.

In 2010, the article below provides a solid example of a weaksauce argument. Having a penis is irrelevant to "standing in the place of Jesus" (or maybe Wang should have said, "filling the jockstrap of Jesus".)

And Wang cites that this male domination held true in the first century as it does through the ages... then tell me, Wang, why do men not take several concubines, sacrifice goats and have incestuous relations with their daughters? Heck, it happened in the first century so why doesn't it hold true now? Real easy to pick and choose your bigotry when it benefits ye who sports a dick, isn't it?

The Bible (and hence Christianity) will only remain relevant if it can connect with the modern times in a POSITIVE and loving and peaceful way. The boys club of Rome widens that chasm year by year which is why their market share in the religious index continues to dwindle.

Women are every bit as blessed of soul and mind as men. Women can move the hearts of masses in the spirit of Christ just as much as men. And if I want to dredge up some low ball blows (no pun intended) women are physiologically less programmed for pedophilia and more emotionally in-tune to the sufferings of the world.

As Jesus was persecuted, so are women from around the world on a grand scale. In my eyes that makes women equally or even more qualified than men to be at the pulpit.

Think about it.

BONUS ROUND: Other Tidbits of Oppression

The Gospel of Mary and the Gospel of Eve conveniently did not make it into the Canonical Bible.

The 1917 Code of Canon Law in the Catholic Church mandated that women wear a veil or head covering. Men did not have to.

Catholic marriage ceremonies (depending on the priest) still insist upon, "Wives, obey your husbands." (mis-used from the New Testament letter from Paul)

Jesus hung out with with women of all persuasions, i.e. Mary Magdalene. But she gets few props.

The church has a pre-occupation with a woman's reproduction. Men? Stick it where you want. The woman is seemingly charged with all sins linked to adultery, abortion and birth control. Men seem to be off the hook with regard to responsibility.

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Catholic Church defends male-only priesthood

Barring women from being Catholic priests is not the result of sexism 2,000 years ago, it's because women cannot fulfill a basic function of the priesthood, "standing in the place of Jesus," a leading British Catholic thinker argued Monday. "This teaching is not at all a judgment on women's abilities or rights. It says something about the specific role of the priest in Catholic understanding - which is to represent Jesus, to stand in his place," argued Father Stephen Wang in a statement sent out by the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales. It's rare for the Catholic Church to defend its fundamental positions in this way. Wang was responding to the announcement that campaigners for female priests will plaster posters on London buses next month during the pope's visit to London. The ads read "Pope Benedict - Ordain Women Now!" and will be on 15 double-decker buses running in some of London's main tourist areas, including Parliament and Oxford Street, said Pat Brown, a spokeswoman for Catholic Women's Ordination (CWO). The group spent "in excess of 10,000 pounds" ($15,500) on the ads and is hoping donations will help make up at least part of that cost, Brown told CNN Friday. Wang rejected both the tone and the content of the ads, saying that while an atheist ad campaign last year was "hesitant and ended with gentle exhortations," this one ends "with a shout." And it's based on a fundamental misunderstanding, said Wang, the dean of studies at London's main seminary for Catholic priests, Allen Hall. Pope John Paul II declared in 1994 that the church has no authority to ordain women, a position confirmed a year later by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who is now Pope Benedict XVI. At the time, Ratzinger was the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the arbiter of Catholic Church dogma. Wang called the late pope's position "surprising," saying John Paul had meant he did not have the power to change "something that has been such a fundamental part of Christian identity from the beginning." The bottom line is that Jesus chose 12 men - and no women - to be his apostles, Wang argues. The choice was "deliberate and significant, not just for that first period of history, but for every age," Wang says. Men and women are equal in Christianity, he continues, but "this does not mean that our sexual identity as men and women is interchangeable. Gender is not just an accident." He compared the role of a priest to that of an actor playing King Arthur or British soccer star Wayne Rooney in a movie. "No one would be surprised if I said I wanted a male actor to play the lead," he said, admitting the analogy was "weak." But, he said, "it shouldn't surprise us if we expect a man to stand 'in the person of Christ' as a priest, to represent Jesus in his humanity - a humanity that is not sexually neutral." The Catholic women's group says that in addition to its bus campaign, it plans to hold a vigil September 15, the day before the pope's visit, outside Westminster Cathedral. The group also plans to demonstrate at Lambeth Palace, the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury - the head of the Church of England - during his meeting with the pope. And members plan to hold a banner along the route of the popemobile, the secure vehicle which carries the pope, in London. Pope Benedict plans to visit England and Scotland September 16-19. It will be the first state visit to the United Kingdom by a pope, according to the British Foreign Office. John Paul's trip in 1982 was officially a pastoral visit.
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