BellaOnline Forums Family Siblings DaVinci Code, Fact or Fiction? Christian Feminism

Most Buddhist teachings (particularly the Zen kind, for there are many sects) come in the form of koans. Koans are riddles. What you described is a riddle and not to be taken literally.

Buddhism is a path, not an end destination. It's all about the process. The process IS the content. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Paganism says the same thing. The process is the content.
Again, however, there are many forms of paganism. Gardnerian is one. Basically there are male and female gods. Female has three aspects: maid, mother and crone. Male has two: unbearded god (young male) and bearded or dying god (Kernnunos and Pan). It's sort of a ying/yang interaction between the two that they see reflected in all life. i.e., Spring is the maid, fall the mother, winter the crone.

My advice to you is to get a comprehensive book that touches on all of them and shows how all the world's "myths" for lack of a better word, share the same elements.

Joseph Campbell was a scholar who did such an analysis, and I would recommend any of his books, or tapes. It can get a bit mind-bending because the stuff he talks about is deep, but he will take you through early man (prehistory), pagan beginnings, Arthurian legends, buddhism and catholicism, touching on each one. I can't recommend him more.

Also want to point out, that is where Catholicism fails IMHO.

Woman is either whore/harlot or virgin mother. This is imbalanced and provides modern woman reading the bible with little guidence or self-identity within the pages. Face it, we can't be both virgins and mothers at the same time. It is an impossible standard that does not recognize the true value of women, nor who they really are.

If Catholicism wants to continue to be of use to all people, they need to confront the sacred feminine. There is much sacred about woman, she feeds, grows and nurtures all mankind. It is not in her virginity or sexual prowess that she should be celebrated, but in all her aspects, whole, powerful and strong. An independent being, requiring consorts but not being defined by them.

When you get Campbell, you will notice that he makes an argument that the beginning of male-oriented religions begins with Sargon the Great. At this time, war without purpose (such as territory or food) begins. It has been here ever since patriarchal religions dominated the planet and supplanted the nature religions that held woman as the greater of the two genders. It makes one think.

The overly masculine church is a result of the letters of Paul. I have issues with the writings of Paul and ended up jumping over them to read James and Peter. This then became a larger issue because the church took Paul's recommendation that a church leader should not marry and this resulted in a lot of men who had no experience of women making the rules. This was not God's intention.

I don't want to bash the catholic church because people like Mother Theresa have come out of it's ranks. But I do believe in the Machivelli statement that Power Corrupts but Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely. The best thing for the Church was the reformation.

The times when all God's people shined as a glaring example of faith and Christ is during times of persecution. During times of power and wealth Christians are a stain on God's reputation.

Paul did not like women from the sound of it and had little use for them.

God and Jesus have a very important use for women and hold them in high regard. Women are created equal and are more faithful. There are many many examples of great women in the Bible.

The issue is not with God, Jesus or the Bible's view of women but history's view and the status that man has put on women and women put on each other. Man is called to love their wife as Christ loved the church. The church is his followers and he died as a sacrifice for us in order to save our souls. A husband is called to sacrifice himself for his wife. He is called to be a protector and a spiritual leader within the home. When the husband is judged he will be judged largely on how he treated his wife and the role he played in the home.

Satan has done a wonderful job of perverting the image of God through the masculinity and power of the church, but this must not reflect your view of God and what he meant for his church to be. Don't let the Church skew your search for God's truth, for the Catholic Church through history is a very bad example of God's truth.

To get way off topic, submit does not mean to bow down and take it, no matter what it is. Submit means to respect your husband. The meaning of the word has been distorted by man, not God. Read and contemporary self help relationship book and they will stress that the husband needs respect.

FYI The Inquest and corruption of the church was during the 1200s AD 1000 years after the Council of Nicene, it took 1000 years before they started to persecute those that didn't believe the same as them. Many of the copies we have today are from the time when Christians were persecuted and thrown to the lions.

The dead sea scrolls are not a seperate religion. They are copies of the old testement that prove the copies we have today are extremly accurate. So if you've read the old testement you've read the dead sea scrolls.

To touch on the whore / virgin thing.

There are many heroines in the Bible that are neither.

Ruth who stands by her mother in law and her God by sacrificing her life of status.

Ester who faces certain death to save her people.

Mary Magdaline, who wasn't the whore Jesus saved, is an example of complete love and devotion for God.

Peter's Mother in Law who was an example of servitude to others.

Miriam, the sister of Moses, who bravely saved her brother and became a priestess of the iserealites. It is the song of Miriam that is sung after they are saved by the Red Sea parting.

Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, who is an example of prioitizing the important.

Martha, the sister of Mary and Lazarus, who is an example of hard work and hostess.

The women of the well, who is an example of turning ones life around for God.

There are so many women in the Bible who make a difference. God made sure that women were an important part of the Bible.

How many History books mention women, unless they are rulers, and the contribution they made to society?

During time of power Chirstians are a stain on God reputation!! lol i like that one. the Holy cursade the Salem witch trials, and the spanich inquasision, even killing indians when the pilgarms can to amarica. a Navajo Boy once said tome "I believe the teachings of Jesus but i can not believe in a one a day church/religian where you have to go to a brick and stone building to find Him. and the people who follow Him know little about His teaching and understand nothing of Him. I am sure i have asked before but what religion are ya'll? just curious.

Do you know any tittles by Joseph Cambell? I would like to read some of his books!!

I just came back from watching the movie. A good see.

However, I can understand how the men of the early church would not emphasis the feminine, since women were less than chattle in those days and the story is about a man, Jesus.

The movie though, I don't get it. Not only do they take the feminine out of the sacred feminine but they make Robert Langdon look like a genius. Poor Sophie is along for the ride and can't solve a riddle for the life of her. Isn't this suppost to be a story that glorifies the female? The poor detective comes out looking like a mislead soul.

The ending, come on where did that come from? Did Tom Hanks need his ego stroked that much that they had to rewrite the whole ending so he would be the only hero in the story? No herione's here ladies, Grandma's just havin tea with the ladies. Using the side entrance of the Priories church by the way.

I have not seen it yet is it kinda like national treasure? seek find clue seek find clue yea I did it i found the Treasure only in DaVince its more like I the man and I am still full of it type thing?
I hope that ok to post (full of it) let me know.

ack! they messed with the book that much? haven't seen the movie yet; it's always painful to watch a movie from a book. Chronicles of Narnia did the book justice. But oftentimes, it's way different.

as for your other statement about persecution, Carennedy, I'm not sure what you mean. Christians were thrown to the lions early on, as were Jews. During Nero's rein (60 AD), he stepped it up. Rome fell as an empire in roughly 650 BD. By 1000, the western world was full on in the Dark Ages, 500 years distinguished by its lack of art and progression. Could that be because all art necessarily HAD to be of things from the bible?

Anyway, perhaps we are talking two different things. At and during and after the Council of Nicea, religious men were pressured and terrorized if they did not go 1) the way of Christianity, and 2) the specific Christianity the council decided was THE one.

For 50 years after 330 AD, bishops and priests were murdered, excommunicated, threatened with heresy, and books were burned. Some books were certainly lost forever. What we have left is a piece of a whole. One should look at the whole for themselves, and not let the word of men who surely had politics in mind as well as divinity, make the deciding vote for them. Over time, some books have revealed themselves.

My religion? Like I said, I believe all touch on the same things; I find validity in all.

I am a bit Buddhist. I am a bit Pagan. I've been to Israel and I have a close relationship with Jesus based on some things that happened to me there. Little miracles but amazing to me. I love Jesus' message too. I've been to Japan and I really like Shinto. I am 1/4 Huichol Indian and I feel great affinity for Native teachings. I'm nothing in specific and yet all things in general.

There should never be any harm to a person experiencing all things in life. I grow very hesitant when I find groups who ask you to only read "their" book. You are your own free moral agent and should let no one define you. The Creatrix herself gave you that free will and that intelligence. Because we are often indoctrinated as children (which he discusses), ppl stop and don't seek out more information.

I would recommend you start with a general public title (in which he doesn't get so 'out there' with the deep philosophy). Hero With a Thousand Faces is the title of one such book and will show you how all cultures have similar myths.

Next, I'd recommend Transformations of Myth Through Time. Mine is audio.

Go to Campbell's website (he is deceased but started a foundation for the discussion and promotion of his ideas): HERE