The Seven Great Lies of Organized Religion #4

[deacon blues]

Lie #4
'Women are spiritually inferior and must submit to the authority of men.'

In the religious bureaucracy of the ancient world, women were basically property. If she burned his toast, he could divorce her and send her away destitute. If she saw a crime in progress and reported it to the police, her testimony in court would be thrown out--simply because she was a woman.

Women weren't considered smart enough to recount what really happened.

Isn't that special?

Get this. Jesus gets crucified. His body is taken down and put in a guarded tomb.

Three days later, some of his female friends come to the tomb, the door is wide open, and nobody's inside. They're shocked. But they're even more shocked when Jesus shows up. He talks to them. These women are the first people to see this astonishing event and report it. The men don't believe it until they see for themselves.

Well here's the kicker: Had somebody invented this resurrection story out of thin air, they would *never* have said that women found the empty tomb--because women in that culture were considered inferior and unreliable anyway.

So what this proves is:

1) This story can't possibly be made up, because no person who invents such a hoax would ever put women in this role. The fact that women are the first witnesses to the fact virtually proves that Jesus DID actually rise from the dead. A conclusion that has staggering implications.

2) This also shows that Christianity considers women to be equal to men. Jesus had many women in his inner circle, and there were female leaders and prophetesses in the early church.

When religion runs amok, it's always in the interest of one of three things:

-Money
-Sex
-Power

Don't you agree?

And what could be more convenient than for selfish men to shove women around and say it's the will of God?

You know, the thing about genuine spirituality is that it isn't used as a weapon to control people. Yes, Jesus gave some pretty stern warnings and he talked about some heavy subjects. But how often do you see him bossing his followers around?

He didn't do that. Instead, he took off their shoes and washed their dirty feet to show them how they should serve each other. His life and death are the deep irony of God engaged in the humble service of mankind.

This one might stir the pot a bit. What do yall think?