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From: morphy@truebalt.cco.caltech.edu (Jones Maxime Murphy)
Newsgroups: soc.feminism
Subject: Re: Newspaper Article
Message-ID: <1990Oct13.044125.4758@nntp-server.caltech.edu>
Date: 15 Oct 90 21:07:54 GMT
References: <4836@sarah> <1990Oct12.214229.23575@nntp-server.caltech.edu>
Sender: ambar@ora.com (Jean Marie Diaz)
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
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Approved: ambar@ora.com

>[Actually, I believe the angel Gabriel was sent down to ask her.
>Isn't that what the "Anunciation" celebrates?  --CLT]

Gabriel didn't ask her. He informed her. According to Luke 1:26-38,
Gabriel laid out the programme quite poetically but did not ask for
Mary's consent.

morphy@truebalt.cco.caltech.EDU (Jones Maxime Murphy) writes:

>Most damning, however, is that god consistently prefers to talk to
>men. All prophets are male, as is Christ. Women are purely auxiliary,
>as far as god is concerned.

>[How do you account for the presence of female priests in non Roman
>Catholic churches?  The Methodists, Episcopalians, and others have
>ordained female priests.  I'm not disputing your original point, but
>it appears that there are winds of change -- do you think that
>religions are capable of change?  --CLT]

I think some sects of Christianity are fully aware of the moral
bankruptcy of sexism and are relaxing accordingly. Notice that Islam,
a fifth of humanity and growing fast, is making no such concessions.

What is sad is that women are so eager to join the clergy without
questioning god's well-documented preference for speaking to men.
Where does that leave them?

I think religions are obviously capable of change. They have all (even
Islam) evolved considerably since their beginnings.

I guess we have to ask if what we're getting out of religion is worth
the injustice.

JMM in Pasadena.