---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <s3raphita@...> wrote :
Wow! That's tacky. As we're about to celebrate one of the main events in the Christian calendar, to link the birth of Christ with "rape culture" shows a low level of consciousness. In Barry's defense (lifted from another of his posts), "I am SO much more than that!" Thinking about it it does occur to me that I could turn your slur against you. The whole point of the Nativity narrative in Luke's gospel is to contrast the pomp and glory of worldly power with the story of a threatened child born into abject poverty. A member of the "underclass" as we'd say today. If the child really was the bastard product of a brutal rape that would only emphasize his lack of status in the eyes of the social elite. Social status is conventional; our true nature transcends social roles. That's what our Christian brethren are expressing in mythological imagery. There is no shortage of sexual exploitation in The Bible and The Koran - seems odd to highlight the Virgin Birth which is manifestly presented as a unique, world-historical privilege and must have contributed more than any other factor to a reverence for women in the West. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <turquoiseb@...> wrote : It's not, after all, as if anyone asked for Mary's consent when knocking her up, right? Why rape is so intrinsic to religion http://www.salon.com/2014/12/21/why_rape_is_so_intrinsic_to_religion_partner/ http://www.salon.com/2014/12/21/why_rape_is_so_intrinsic_to_religion_partner/ Why rape is so intrinsic to religion http://www.salon.com/2014/12/21/why_rape_is_so_intrinsic_to_religion_partner/ Stories like the virgin birth lack freely given female consent. It's telling how ready we still are to embrace them View on www.salon.com http://www.salon.com/2014/12/21/why_rape_is_so_intrinsic_to_religion_partner/ Preview by Yahoo