It is because they originated in patriarchal societies. (Reply #31)

In the discussion thread: Why does every religion on the planet [View all]

Sat Jan 30, 2016, 03:47 PM

Odin2005 (53,521 posts)

31. It is because they originated in patriarchal societies.

Religious institutions merely reflect the social status quo of the society they are in.

But it is important not to confuse the social baggage with the genuine theology and spirituality of those religions. I see all to often "New Atheists" and other close-minded militant anti-religion types (of which I used to be one) blaming religion for what is in reality just a backward social norm that justifies itself with religion.

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165 replies	Author	Time	Post
Why does every religion on the planet [View all]	malaise	Jan 2016	OP
Yes, it is. And not every. I'm Wiccan.	TDale313	Jan 2016	#1
Have you heard of Diane Stein ?	BlueJazz	Jan 2016	#16
Doesn't Mary . . .	Depaysement	Jan 2016	#2
I dunno, maybe we should ask	temporary311	Jan 2016	#3
Yes I know the Catholic hierarchy is sexist	Depaysement	Jan 2016	#5
So it's an "awesome revelation"	Mendocino	Jan 2016	#9
Oh spare me	Depaysement	Jan 2016	#25
Why not answer the question?	lunatica	Jan 2016	#86
I did	Depaysement	Jan 2016	#123
And of course she was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus.	smirkymonkey	Feb 2016	#159
That is a different issue though	treestar	Jan 2016	#34
"women in inferior positions" is the issue of the OP (nt)	muriel_volestrangler	Jan 2016	#95
No	Mendocino	Jan 2016	#4
Zero	Depaysement	Jan 2016	#6
Have you forgotten Pope Joan?	Jim Lane	Jan 2016	#125
Message auto-removed	Name removed	Jan 2016	#8
Only because she was a virgin.	beam me up scottie	Jan 2016	#15
Well they said she was a virgin but since there was no artificial insemination back then	malaise	Jan 2016	#18
What's even more misogynistic is the idea of original sin.	beam me up scottie	Jan 2016	#21
That right there	abelenkpe	Jan 2016	#27
Not a single one of my friends stayed in the Church after they were old enough to leave.	beam me up scottie	Jan 2016	#30
Only one of my siblings raised her sons Catholic	malaise	Jan 2016	#57
Who needs the additonal guilt?	beam me up scottie	Jan 2016	#60
Original sin is corrosive and abusive.	Manifestor_of_Light	Jan 2016	#58
Very well said! Wish I could rec this post!	beam me up scottie	Jan 2016	#64
Thank you, kind fan. The Christians have no good answer for me on that.	Manifestor_of_Light	Jan 2016	#69
Walking away is the best policy	Warpy	Jan 2016	#78
I had profound doubts about that nonsense by the time I was 10.	hifiguy	Jan 2016	#83
Excellent post	malaise	Jan 2016	#140
Message auto-removed	Name removed	Feb 2016	#155
Yep - I think the only person ever blamed for everything more than women	malaise	Jan 2016	#33
THANKS Obama!	randys1	Jan 2016	#66
+1000	smirkymonkey	Jan 2016	#138
+ a brazilian!!!	hifiguy	Jan 2016	#48
"Virgin" is a mistranslation of "young woman".	Manifestor_of_Light	Jan 2016	#90
Or they said she was a young woman	truebluegreen	Jan 2016	#130
Message auto-removed	Name removed	Jan 2016	#37
Hold yourself to a decent standard	malaise	Jan 2016	#38
He's dead, Jim!	beam me up scottie	Jan 2016	#39
I was going to add - have a good life	malaise	Jan 2016	#40
I think we've had a "divine intervention "	Mendocino	Jan 2016	#41
Hehehehehhe	malaise	Jan 2016	#44
I just don't know my place!	beam me up scottie	Jan 2016	#42
That damn Mary	Mendocino	Jan 2016	#51
The RCC: proudly shaming women for over 1000 years.	beam me up scottie	Jan 2016	#54
Goes back to Eve	Mendocino	Jan 2016	#61
Yep, it was all HER fault!	beam me up scottie	Jan 2016	#62
They get older,	Mendocino	Jan 2016	#67
Some break free, more than a few DUers were raised as fundamentalist Christians.	beam me up scottie	Jan 2016	#68
Point taken	Mendocino	Jan 2016	#113
Nope, it's not but they've made it their modern day crusade and they have the numbers to wage it.	beam me up scottie	Jan 2016	#115
I agree	Mendocino	Jan 2016	#118
Yes, many do but the only one powerful enough here to affect laws is Christianity.	beam me up scottie	Jan 2016	#119
Your facts are wrong. Again.	rug	Jan 2016	#73
Catholic Church and the politics of abortion:	beam me up scottie	Jan 2016	#79
"The RCC was behind every law restricting access to birth control, women's health clinics and	rug	Jan 2016	#82
Every recent law, splitting hairs about how involved the RCC is in restricting my rights?	beam me up scottie	Jan 2016	#85
Knowing the facts is not splitting hairs. And the issue is far greater than "your" rights.	rug	Jan 2016	#93
Anyone who feels he needs to defend the Church from its victims is no ally.	beam me up scottie	Jan 2016	#94
Has someone ordained you to declaim who is or who is not an ally of whatever you think you're doing?	rug	Jan 2016	#99
Oops, missed one: Catholic dominance over hospitals endangers women	beam me up scottie	Jan 2016	#100
Oh, you've missed much more than that.	rug	Jan 2016	#101
The Church frames it as a religious war, rug and they wage it every day.	beam me up scottie	Jan 2016	#104
They frame their position as religious doctrine.	rug	Jan 2016	#105
There it is! The word "religious", thanks for admitting that religion is the source.	beam me up scottie	Jan 2016	#106
Read the post again.	rug	Jan 2016	#108
The Vatican's War on Women:	beam me up scottie	Jan 2016	#109
There's the monomania again.	rug	Jan 2016	#110
Another uppity woman speaks: Beatriz Case Reveals Catholic Hierarchy’s War on Women	beam me up scottie	Jan 2016	#111
Your disregard of Pelosi suggests yorur real target here is not women's rights at all.	rug	Jan 2016	#112
My focus is the Church's war on women and guess who's leading the charge?:	beam me up scottie	Jan 2016	#114
And Pelosi's focus is on keeping the laws on the books and enforced.	rug	Jan 2016	#116
Annie Laurie Gaylor is pretty credible, she speaks for me:	beam me up scottie	Jan 2016	#117
That's a matter of opinion. Every pronouncement is through the lens of FFRF.	rug	Jan 2016	#120
You asked and I answered, my opinion is just as valid as Nancy's and counts for more than yours.	beam me up scottie	Jan 2016	#121
Let me guess. Your opinion counts for more than mine because . . . .?	rug	Jan 2016	#122
+1000	smirkymonkey	Feb 2016	#160
More: "Thank the Catholic church for terrifying abortion restrictions in Latin America"	beam me up scottie	Jan 2016	#107
Rightwing Watch: The Personhood Movement: Internal Battles Go Public	beam me up scottie	Jan 2016	#96
More facts for you: Do Bishops Run Your Hospital?	beam me up scottie	Jan 2016	#97
More anti-Catholic bias, this time from the ACLU:	beam me up scottie	Jan 2016	#98
There is a very clear war on women	malaise	Jan 2016	#141
Yes there is, and it's escalated significantly.	beam me up scottie	Jan 2016	#142
They won't win that one	malaise	Jan 2016	#143
And it's about as much of a secret	hifiguy	Jan 2016	#153
LOL	malaise	Jan 2016	#154
Message auto-removed	Name removed	Jan 2016	#146
Isn't that because of her virgin status?	loyalsister	Jan 2016	#56
mary is seen as a saint and a very special one	restorefreedom	Jan 2016	#74
She might outrank Joseph.	Ino	Jan 2016	#152
You need to go to Venus for women to play a dominant/equal role.	valerief	Jan 2016	#7
"When 'God' was a Woman"	Donkees	Jan 2016	#10
Message auto-removed	Name removed	Jan 2016	#13
thank you for mentioning this book.	truedelphi	Jan 2016	#71
"The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets" is also excellent	Donkees	Jan 2016	#84
Message auto-removed	Name removed	Jan 2016	#11
Prajnaparamita --The Perfection of Wisdom	Donkees	Jan 2016	#12
Yes there are female bodhisattvas (enlightened beings) in Buddhism.	Manifestor_of_Light	Jan 2016	#81
i think so	barbtries	Jan 2016	#14
We went to a funeral service this morning	malaise	Jan 2016	#17
Most religions are about divine approval of whatever TPTB want ...	eppur_se_muova	Jan 2016	#19
Actually ancient religions gave women a prominent place	nichomachus	Jan 2016	#20
It is because most religions developed out of primitive socieities	Kurska	Jan 2016	#22
It's not like that in Unitarianism. nt	GliderGuider	Jan 2016	#23
Yes, and UUs are not Christian anymore.	Manifestor_of_Light	Jan 2016	#65
My Church	JustAnotherGen	Jan 2016	#75
nor in the Society of Friends. n/t	eShirl	Jan 2016	#126
Until this year, The Presiding Bishop of the U.S. Episcopal church was Katharine Jefferts Schori...	Journeyman	Jan 2016	#24
Twelve U.S. presidents have identified as being Episcopalian . . .	Journeyman	Jan 2016	#47
Message auto-removed	Name removed	Jan 2016	#26
Not every, just the loudest and most visible	Rebkeh	Jan 2016	#28
No.	kwassa	Jan 2016	#29
Well that is true but they feed each other n/t	malaise	Jan 2016	#36
Pretty sure you have that backwards	Lordquinton	Jan 2016	#45
The indigenous people would not give up their goddesses.	Manifestor_of_Light	Jan 2016	#70
Funny thing. Look up the origins of the goddess Columbia and her importance	Promethean	Jan 2016	#128
and because many of the indigenous	hopemountain	Feb 2016	#156
I disagree	kwassa	Jan 2016	#72
Yep, the Romans were masters at pragmatic co-opting	hifiguy	Jan 2016	#87
It is because they originated in patriarchal societies.	Odin2005	Jan 2016	#31
I think that's true for most institutions - the views of the dominant class prevail	malaise	Jan 2016	#49
And they are codified in texts considered to be hand made by God, backward norms made sacred	Bluenorthwest	Jan 2016	#76
It does seem to be a common feature of ancient civilization	treestar	Jan 2016	#32
Seriously, there is a simple answer	Depaysement	Jan 2016	#35
Not every	EdwardBernays	Jan 2016	#43
It is certainly one if humanity's	hifiguy	Jan 2016	#46
Same here	malaise	Jan 2016	#50
"The bible is my favorite book of fiction"	Mendocino	Jan 2016	#52
Unfortunately it's the only book many persons have read	malaise	Jan 2016	#55
I had a co-worker who considered reading anything	Mendocino	Jan 2016	#63
Wow, what a narrow-minded person	smirkymonkey	Feb 2016	#161
Objectively speaking, that is about as profoundly	hifiguy	Jan 2016	#89
Yes indeed	malaise	Jan 2016	#136
In addition to Wicca, Unitarian Universalism does not.	KamaAina	Jan 2016	#53
Not all religions.	Cleita	Jan 2016	#59
Not arguing but that is not how the Native American women are portrayed	doc03	Jan 2016	#80
"In the movies"...	Curmudgeoness	Jan 2016	#91
The dictionary definition of the word squaw is "an American Indian Women". Had no idea	doc03	Jan 2016	#133
Movies made by men, mostly white men.....	Grey	Jan 2016	#92
Movies? Of course one must base all one knows about First Nations people on movies.	Cleita	Jan 2016	#103
Because all Abrahamic religions were started by men.	smirkymonkey	Jan 2016	#77
But the Hindu religion is not Abrahamic	malaise	Jan 2016	#137
Well, hell, it BEGAN IN THE BIBLE.	onecent	Jan 2016	#88
TPTB are also killing the planet AKA "Mother" Nature. They really hate women. nt	valerief	Jan 2016	#102
Modern societies where women rule	OxQQme	Jan 2016	#124
This brush is so broad that it must need a crew to move it.	guillaumeb	Jan 2016	#127
Not all do.	H2O Man	Jan 2016	#129
Well, not picking on Eastern religion here just Western	Rex	Jan 2016	#131
I see the relegation of women to lesser roles not as a crux so much,	Half-Century Man	Jan 2016	#132
It's easier to justify injustice if you are guided by an invisible being whose will only you know	DFW	Jan 2016	#134
Profound	malaise	Jan 2016	#145
I wish it were posted at the Capitol and at the EPA	DFW	Jan 2016	#147
Quakers have never had women as other than equal.	quaker bill	Jan 2016	#135
Quakers were a very progressive religion particularly with the regard to the	malaise	Jan 2016	#139
Friends Comittee on National Legislation	quaker bill	Feb 2016	#157
I know about Susan B.Anthony - a great woman	malaise	Feb 2016	#158
Because almost every religion codifies the existing power structure. eom.	Bad Thoughts	Jan 2016	#144
I think it's more like the power structure adopting and adapting what suits them	malaise	Jan 2016	#148
Yes. It's the outward show of the crux. The crux can be ferreted out. One theory is Marilyn French's	ancianita	Jan 2016	#149
There are now women Buddhist monks	yuiyoshida	Jan 2016	#150
It's age-old	Tab	Jan 2016	#151
Nice post	malaise	Feb 2016	#163
Yes and Yes	madokie	Feb 2016	#162
Because every religion is copied after earlier ancient religions.	B Calm	Feb 2016	#164
Most of the ones that have gained and retained power were made up for that very reason.	Arugula Latte	Feb 2016	#165

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