P a n t h e a   :   A l l   T h i n g s   a r e   G o d d e s s

I was recently asked to do a short interview on the way women experience Christianity. A few months ago I did an interview (a 5-part piece) with Susy from Unmasking the Goddess who passed on my info to author Jonalyn Grace Fincher. Jonalyn was interesting in knowing how I experienced Christianity as a woman and I suppose also as someone who no longer subscribes to the beliefs of the church. I've pasted my responses below. Please feel free to leave comments and get a conversation started.

1- From your experience does Christianity seem to teach that God is male, female, both or neither? What caused you to think this?

A: I believe Christianity teaches that God is male. There is much emphasis placed on concepts like God the Father, Christ the Son, etc. but there have been no concepts surrounding God the Mother until recently. From what I gather that is very commonly not a popular concept with many Christians.

Mary is a positive figure, as the Mother of Christ (God), but she is never deified. Instead she is commonly believed to have been a mortal woman with no divinity of her own. At best she is seen as a saint and her worship is often only found in some denominations. Goddess worshippers believe Mary to be a face of the Goddess.

2- How is following the Goddess more affirming to you than following God?

A: There is a common misconception that all women migrate to Goddess worship because they are not empowered by a male concept of God. I would say in the beginning that this is true for some. Personally I never felt as though I needed empowerment. Instead I saw a concept of God that was more complete for me than a male concept. In short, Goddess makes more sense to me.

I do find the Goddess more affirming but not because I’m a woman. I personally feel she is more affirming for people as a whole. She is a being of balance and completion who teaches equality for all life. Her lessons also encourage her followers to understand that their personal experiences are valid and that those experiences can be a way of connecting with her. No one is told their interpretations of the Goddess are wrong or unworthy. Spirituality is seen as such an individual concept and not everyone requires the same lessons.

3- Does the Christian church seem oppressive to women? If so, can you share any stories?

A: I think at times it can be. Again here, I see that the church can be oppressive to people in general and not just women; teaching them that they are naturally evil and that they need to earn God’s love. I do however find that the lack of female clergy in Christianity is a problem and a testament to the way women have been seen throughout time as vehicles of temptation and evil.

4- What passages/places in the Bible seem to limit women? Are there any Bible passages that seem to value women equally to men?

A: I have pasted a few passages below that paint a less than flattering picture of the way the Bible speaks of women. I realize that during Jesus’ ministry he taught gender equality. He took women into his inner circle, spoke with them as equals (as God’s daughters), and used terminology that implied that women should be seen as no less and no better than men. Unfortunately though, his words are not as direct and to the point as those of the Old Testament. I suppose it would’ve been nice if he had just come out and said it in plain language. I also think it would’ve been nice to see Mary Magdalene given the role of one of Christianity’s founders as she so deserved in my opinion.

1 Corinthians 14:34:
Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says.

Genesis 3:16:
To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."

Isaiah 19:16:
In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will shudder with fear at the uplifted hand that the LORD Almighty raises against them.

Deuteronomy 22:20-21:
If, however, the charge is true and no proof of the girl's virginity can be found, she shall be brought to the door of her father's house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done a disgraceful thing in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father's house. You must purge the evil from among you.

Leviticus 12:1-8:
Numbers 5:12-31

Labels: christianity, interview, jonalyn grace fincher, women and christianity

Comic © Jeffrey Rowland - Overcompensating.com
If you've been reading Panthea for a while you will know that I have this big issue with a Christian show called Way of the Master starring Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron (yes, it's Mike Seaver from Growing Pains).

Perhaps I am a glutton for punishment, but I just can't seem to stop myself from watching the show and cruising the website. Why would a Goddess-centered Pagan do that, you ask? It's certainly not great for my blood pressure. Well the answer is simple. I believe the way of thinking presented on the show is dangerous to human society.

I honestly do not care what Ray and Kirk personally believe. In fact, I respect their right to practice any spirituality that suits them. My issues begin with the evangelism they spread across the globe that basically tells people how evil they are. Here in lies the conundrum. I respect Ray's and Kirk's right to practice their religion yet part of that practice includes evangelism - or spreading the word of the Bible. Yikes! I guess I'm bound to come off as not being tolerant no matter what I do.

So my purpose here is to say to anyone reading that you are not evil. You were not born bathed in sin. In fact, there is no sin and living life as the best person you can be is quite alright whether you believe in the Bible and Christianity or not. I don't think millions of Buddhists will be going to Hell at their end of their days. Can you imagine a man like the Dalai Lama belonging in Hell? How could a life of kindness and compassion sentence a person to such a place just because he didn't follow Christ? Ridicuous!

Oddly enough I don't believe Hell exists so let me make it clear that's not why the ideas of Way of the Master upset me so. I believe that people who believe they are evil will eventually begin to behave in a manner that fits that label. I believe that people can also be consumed with guilt and shame through their whole lives because of the ideas of sin and evil - allowing those emotions to become a kind of raw fear that threatens people around them and causes endless suffering. So, in an effort that may in fact be completely pointless, I confront the ideas of Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron and provide a more rational and peaceful alternative.

What these two men (and many evangelicals) have yet to figure out is that conversion tactics don't work on those who don't believe in the Bible or Christian theology. The people Ray and Kirk manage to "save" have been endoctrinated by society from an early age and already have some shreads of belief in Christian ideas. Guilt, fear, shame, etc. lead them back to Christ not love, light, or truth.

Toady I am going to tackle the 10 Principles for New Christians found on the Way of the Master site because while reading them I began to see a trend of irrational thought and couldn't stop myself from commenting. I guess it's a good thing this is my blog. :)

Principle One - Daily Bible Reading
This is great. If you're a Christian be a good one a read your Bible. Anything else makes you a hypocrite. So... no arguments here save for the whole bit about how the Bible tells you to evangelize and contains a bunch of woman-hating misogony. Yeah, that stuff anyone could do without reading. Nice stories though.

Principle Two - Faith
Faith is great - wonderful even. It's what makes us all get up everyday and function. But, the way the Bible and God are proved to be truth in this section is just silly. It basically states that God can't lie so of course the Bible is fact and Christianity is the way. Please give me a break. I don't believe in the Bible any more than I believe in any other world mytholgy. What makes it different is that millions of people believe it's the word of God. Well millions believe in the Torah, the Koran, etc. And millions believe in a kind of equality among mythology - seeing value in many sacred texts. So, Ray and Kirk have proved nothing.

Principle Three - Evangelism
Oh goodness. I'm not sure I even have the energy to tackle this one right now. I think I have undertaken a very large task and finding the right words will be a challenge.

I think evangelism is sort of what's wrong with modern Christianity. I will use the Dalai Lama again as another example. He doesn't go around preaching to those who don't want to hear him nor does he tell people that they will burn in eternal fire for not believing what he says. He is kind to humanity and to those who seek the words of the Buddha he imparts wisdom and experience.

Did anyone ever stop to think that perhaps evangelism was born of the desire to convert as many people as possible to the "state religion"? It's much more convenient to gain power through the hearts of people when you control their religion. "Pay your taxes or you'll go to Hell." "Let me have your daughter or you'll go to Hell." "Farm your fingers to the bone then give the king half your food or you'll go to Hell." It makes perfect sense and history is a nice little tool we can use to see this in action. The Church was rich and fat while the people suffered and were controlled by Biblical ideas.

Okay, this post has gotten way long. I will see about the other principles next time. Blessings!

Labels: arguments against hell and sin, christianity, kirk cameron, Op-ed, ray comfort, way of the master