It is not that I do not believe in God. I do not believe in the

[jemelanson]

Gods, any of them, that are apart of the Patriarchy.


This includes the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim God.

I am a pagan. By definition that means that I am not Jewish, Christian, or Muslim.

I do not understand why any Woman would support, with her time, talent, or money an organization that has done more to harm the Female half of the Human Race that the Patriarchal Religion.


I know that it is only when Women take the time to educate themselves that they even begin to learn about their own history and their contributions to civilization.

what glory was in an omnipotent being torturing forever a puny little creature who could in no way defend himself? Would it be to the glory of a man to fry ants?

Charlotte Perkins Gilman 1860-1935 (author, Woman and Economics and His Religion and Hers)

[ZombieHorde]

1. "I do not understand why any Woman would support,..."

>"I do not understand why any Woman would support, with her time, talent, or money an organization that has done more to harm the Female half of the Human Race that the Patriarchal Religion."

One explanation would be people don't actually chose what they believe or don't believe. I can not chose to believe the moon is made of cheese. So, some people believe some seemingly strange ideas, and then they have to use twisted logic to make it work.

I don't know if I am right, but this would explain why some very intelligent people use bizarre logic.

[jberryhill]

2. It is surprising how many people don't get that

If I offer you a million dollars to believe that an invisible elf named Fred lives in my left nostril, and had some technology to determine whether you "truly believe" it, you probably wouldn't be able to collect that million dollars, no matter how hard you tried to "choose to believe it".

It must be some sort of ego thing, that people don't want to come to grips with the fact that those things each of us irrationally believes are simply that. We no more choose them than we choose the color of the sky.

[ZombieHorde]

4. Everyone knows that elf's name is Randy. nt

[jemelanson]

5. are you sure that elf is not named Rachel or Robin?

[ZombieHorde]

9. Well, the elf's legal name is Robin, but she rebels against her family name and now goes by Randy.

I am not going to caller Robin to her face, are you?

[jemelanson]

10. Of course not, I am not about to do something that rash.

[earth mom]

3. I think fear of death and brainwashing is why so many believe in a God.

I say I'm agnostic simply to cover the bases-just in case. But nature is really my religion. O8)

[jimlup]

6. With all due respect

It seems to me to go far beyond simple religious patriarchy issues. So woman in India are not oppressed because that religion is not a patriarchy? I disagree.

[DeSwiss]

7. K&R n/t

[dimbear]

8. Here and there, from time to time, since patriarchal religion emerged triumphant,

women have tried to start their own religions. Let's see, since the victory of the Yahweh cult which dates from about 500 BCE, there've been the cult of Isis, Cybele, and so on down through Christian Science and Theosophy.

The thing to notice is that when all was said and done and the offerings were counted, these fem-centric (or at least fem-conceived) religions just didn't sell well enough to have traction in the marketplace. Surprising, when you consider that the main supporters of all religions are women.

Perhaps it's not so much that religion fosters patriarchy as the other way around.

It's a puzzler.

Even looking around today at neo-paganism and Wicca, the numbers just aren't there.

Analysts tend to put the blame on the discovery that sperm had something to do with reproduction, but is that the whole story? Perhaps the ladies on the board could explain further.

[jemelanson]

11. I can suggest some books that may help.

Merlin Stone "When God Was A Woman"

Elizabeth Gould Davis "The First Sex: The Book that proves that woman's contribution to civilization has been greater than man's."

Helen Ellerbe "The Dark Side Of Christian History"

Barbara G. Walker "Man Made God"


That would be a good starting place. The rest is up to the individual. Can you open yourself to looking at history from a different perspective than the one you grew up with, what you were taught in school, at church, or from the culture we live in?