TW for rapeWhy rape is so intrinsic to religion “Stories like the virgin birth lack freely giv

TW for rapeWhy rape is so intrinsic to religion “Stories like the virgin birth lack freely given female consent. It’s telling how ready we still are to embrace them”“Powerful gods and demi-gods impregnating human women—it’s a common theme in the history of religion, and it’s more than a little rapey.Zeus comes to Danae in the form of a golden shower, cutting “the knot of intact virginity” and leaving her pregnant with the Greek hero, Perseus.Jupiter forcibly overcomes Europa by transforming himself into a white bull and abducting her. He imprisons her on the Isle of Crete, over time fathering three children.The legendary founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus are conceived when the Roman god Mars impregnates Rea Silvia, a vestal virgin.Helen of Troy, the rare female offspring of a god-human mating, is produced when Zeus takes the form of a swan to get access to Leda.Though the earliest Christians had a competing story, in the Gospel of Luke, the Virgin Mary gets pregnant when the spirit of the Lord comes upon her and the power of the Most High overshadows her.The earliest accounts of Zoroaster’s birth have him born of a human father and mother, much like Jesus,; but in later accounts his mother is pierced by a shaft of divine light.The Hindu god Shiva has sex with the human woman Madhura, who has come to worship him while his wife Parvathi is away. Parvathi turns Madhura into a frog, but after 12 years in a well she regains human form and gives birth to Indrajit.The Buddha’s mother Maya finds herself pregnant after being entered from the side by a god in a dream.The impregnation process may be a “ravishing” or seduction or some kind of titillating but nonsexual procreative penetration. The story may come from an Eastern or Western religious tradition, pagan or Christian. But these encounters between beautiful young women and gods have one thing in common. None of them has freely given female consent as a part of the narrative. (Luke’s Mary assents after being not asked but told by a powerful supernatural being what is going to happen to her, “Behold the bond slave of the Lord: be it done to me …”)Who needs consent, freely given? If he’s a god, she’s got to want it, right? That is how the stories play out.”Read the full piece here:Folks, this essay is a MUST READ for anyone working on the issues of sexual assault and rape culture. It’s impossible to overstate the importance of cultural myths and belief systems on the prevalence of rape within a society, including and especially religious beliefs. Men assault women because on some level they think they should, that they are right to do so. They believe that some part of society agrees with them. And how about a culture that literally blames women for the fall of man? Where the FIRST WOMAN CREATED messes everything up? Like Eve? Or Pandora?The ideas underpinning rapist mentality fill our society, that’s what rape culture means. Men’s personal values are created over a lifetime of interacting with society, and with it’s stories, laws and systems of reward and punishment.  If we want to change the action, we have to change the culture. If we want to change the culture, we have to change the stories.Leda and Swan photo source | Rape of Europa photo source -- source link

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