The Scripture according to Ed
n response to Thomas Hut Ta
bu's response to Scott Camp's
response to Huckaba's
response to Lin Snlciccia’s ( ol
umn on women and Christiani
ty, I think v'nll doth protest too
mm h Of course, tii.it doesn't
• mean I !! lie quiet
Now 1 know other people
have written letters on this sub
jeet. but I don't know them
Thus, they are irrelevant
I agree tfiat the story of Cod
creating Eve from one of Adam's
ribs suggests that women are
inferior II earlier translations
imply that Eve was a "lit com
panion" for Adam (since I'm not
fluent in ancient Greek or
Hebrew. I can neither confirm
nor deny these allegations!, it
doesn’t necessarily follow that
Eve was Adam's equal. A dog is
allegedly man's iiest friend, and
w ith few e\< eptions, the dog is
not ils master's equal.
However, it is unfair to single
out Christianity as the original
gorilla The storv of Adam and
Eve is part of Judaism and Islam
as well as Christianity Besides,
this story is somewhat moot
Christianity lias a lot more to do
with the New Testament than it
does with tile Old
Huckaba argues that transla
tions of ancient biblical tests
into languages tfiat use gender
spin itit pronouns inaccurately
refer to God ns He. However,
what little I have read of the
Bible suggests that the Christian
God is male.
Jesus Christ was male, there's
no denying that One can try to
deny his divinity, but us a bibli
cal fact, )esus was a guy The
Old Testament God says — like
Popeye — that T am who I am."
but tie embodies masculine
characteristic s far more than
feminine characteristics. That
doesn't mean, however, that the
Christian God is necessarily
rentals
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prejudiced agnmst women any
more than I like dogs (which I
don't)
Yes, Christianity has tradi
tionally placed women in an
inferior role, hut so have the
religious and secular elements
of virtually every society
throughout history Absent
Christianity and patriarchal reli
gions in general, would women
have fared better? Without
addressing sot ietv-wide male
female relationships and the tri
umph of group over individual
identity and choice. I doubt it
Christianity is clearly not the
only patriarchal religion in his
tory. or even today Most civi
lizations in history have not
emhrai ed a Goddess religion.
(Of course, I haven't researi bed
this subject, but why should I
hm k a trend?) Goddess religions
have tended to prosper in soct
elies that are constantly -it the
men y of natural forces Virtual
ly helpless against Nature, they
look to the l.arth Mother Gain for
protection from storms, drought,
etc.
When it society has pro
gressed to the point that the jm-o
ple have at hieved some security
from the forces of nature, they
are less likely to see their deity
as Mother and themselves as
Her i hildran- Indeed, civili/a
turns not only avoid being dom
inated by nature most of the
time, i ivili/ations i an exert con
trol over it A society that < an
control nature tends to lose its
awe of nature, and so is unlikely
to worship d
A word on saints Salcicc.ia
referred to loan of An s crispy
end. implying that Christians
don't even treat their women
saints kindly. St. loan was exe
cuted by the Kngltsh for political
reasons. Yes. they said sfie was a
witch, but really they were irri
tated and embarrassed that an
adolescent peasant girl could
rally the French and whip the
lauieys off of the continent.
Besides, everyone knows that
the best way to lie made a saint
— whether male or female — is
to die a violent death for staying
true to the Christian faith It
looks great on the application.
Both Salt icc io and Hut kaba
had unusual statements about
the existence of God — unusual
bec ause they both believe in a
Supreme Deity
"I will choose (a deity) 11 an
relate to," Salciccia said Hucka
ha said in his sec ond letter, "As
society is changing so is Chris
tianity Wait a minute
Id quote AC, DC. "Who made
who'" If there is a Supreme
Being, he she,it simply is God
is the creator of man, not the
other way around An all-pow
erful. all-knowing God will not
change its personality or its sex
ual/gender identity simply to
suit indiv idunl tastes or chang
ing soc nil mores
If the Supreme Deity is
female. 1 can believe that the
Creator is male, but I can also
believe the world is flat
thinking so won’t make it so
Hell. 11 an belong to the C 'hurt h
of Hlvis. but that doesn’t mean
that God will sport a pompadour
and wear a sequined i ape We
cannot i boose nur god anymore
than vxe t an choose our parents
Unless of course. God doesn't
exist (which would gu far to
explain the 11170s). in which
case, God is the creation ol
ituuc woman 'Oliver Slone
Fins column may appear to lie
rough and disjointed, but that’s
bee atise you, the reader, have
been living in a patriarchal, bier
arc hical, Eurocentric. Judeo
Christian society My literary
work is free-flowing like the
mighty Mississippi Any
attempts to contain and redlrec t
this column in a linear fashion
with editing levees would have
ended in philosophical disaster
To Salciccia, Hue kalrn and
Camp Because I know all three
of you. why don’t we end this
religious war by letters and
come over to my apartment for a
fac e-to-face confrontation. We
could all have some tea and a
little sponge cake God bless
Ed Carson is an associate edi
tor of the Emerald during sum
mer term and will he editor and
publisher of the Oregon Com
mentator beginning fall term
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