There are many millions of people who believe the Bible to be the inspired word of God. They forget its ignorance and savagery, its hatred of liberty, its religious persecution; its treatment of women, they remember heaven, but they forget the dungeon of eternal pain. They forget that it imprisons the brain and corrupts the heart. They forget that it is the enemy of intellectual freedom.

Organized religion always has been and remains the greatest enemy of women’s rights. In the Christian-dominated Western world, two bible verses in particular sum up the position of women:

Genesis 3:16 “Unto the woman He [God] said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee."

By this third chapter of Genesis, women lost her rights, her standing, even her identity; and motherhood became a God-inflicted curse degrading her status in the world. Some will claim, “but that’s in the Old Testament. That was under the law (of Moses) and was done away with. We’re not under the law any longer.” Really? Then what’s this in the New Testament:

1 Timothy 2:9-14 "...women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety [why?]; not with broided [braided] hair, or gold, or pearls [jewelry], or costly array. But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer [allow] not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression."

So what prompted William Smith (in Smith’s Bible Dictionary *1984) to declare:

“The position of women in the Hebrew commonwealth contrasts favorably with that which in the present day is assigned to them generally in Eastern countries. The most salient point of contrast in the usages of ancient as compared with modern Oriental society was the large amount of liberty enjoyed by women.”

What Bible was William Smith reading???

Smith continues:

“Instead of being immured in a harem, or appearing in public with the face covered, the wives and maidens of ancient times mingled freely and openly with the other sex in duties and amenities of ordinary life.”

Did Smith not read of Solomon’s 700 wives and 300 concubines [mistresses]??? Would that not be called a harem? And although Solomon had the most notable harem (allegedly), there were many others. Moreover, women may not have covered their face, but they certainly covered their heads! Note this passage:

1 Corinthians 11:3-9 “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven[Bald]. For if a woman be not covered, let her also be shorn [shaved bald]: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of man. For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.”

Women, do not be angry with the author, who neither wrote this Bible passage, nor does he believe it. If a women prays without her head covered, she should shave her hair off? And what sin is this, exactly? The New Testament writers certainly just wanted to let the women know that, although they were no longer under the law of Moses, they were still second-class citizens. After all, “the head of woman is man”; and “the woman [was created] for the man”...and don't you forget it! What kind of psycho-babble bullshit is this?

William Smith’s kind of smoke-screen bullshit keeps women in subjugation, all the while offering them a deceptive sense of freedom. Having spent a full year in a Pentecostal church, the author can assure the reader that this type of dominance/submission is alive and well today. This is not a thing of the past. When asked if these rules still hold true, a Pentecostal preacher is quick to quote:

Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”

Malachi 6:1 “For I am the Lord. I change not...”

To these Pentecostal Preachers, these men of God (translation: power-hungry, money-grubbing assholes), women are still subject to men, and must be submissive to their husband, their preacher, and other authority figures.

One bible verse alone...

Exodus 22:18 "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live"

...is responsible for the death of tens of thousands, if not millions, of women. Do women and those who care about them need further evidence of the great harm of Christianity, [Judaism, Islam, and many other religions,] predicated as it has been on these and similar teachings about women?

Church writer Tertullian said:

"each of you women is an Eve . . .You are the gate of Hell, you are the temptress of the forbidden tree; you are the first deserter of the divine law."

Martin Luther decreed:

"If a woman grows weary and at last dies from childbearing, it matters not. Let her die from bearing, she is there to do it."

Such teachings prompted 19th century feminist Elizabeth Cady Stanton to write:

"The Bible and the Church have been the greatest stumbling blocks in the way of woman's emancipation."

The bible is a handbook for the subjugation of women. The bible establishes women’s inferior status, her "uncleanliness," her transgressions, and God-ordained master/servant relationship to man. Biblical women are possessions: fathers own them, sell them into bondage, even sacrifice them. Husbands are allowed to divorce them for the most trivial of reasons.

The Bible sanctions Rape during wartime and in other contexts. Women are subject to Mosaic law sanctioned "bed-checks" as brides, and male jealousy fits and no-notice divorce as wives. The most typical biblical labels of women are "harlot" and "whore." Women are described as having evil, even satanic powers of allurement.

Contempt for women’s bodies and reproductive capacity are bedrocks of the bible. The few role models offered are stereotyped, conventional and inadequate, with bible heroines admired for obedience and battle spirit.

Genesis 2:22-23 “And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

Yes, women, you are an after-thought, a rib. So why were you even created? Because Adam couldn’t find a suitable mate amongst the animals!

Genesis 2:20 “And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet [mate] for him.”

So then some talking-snake (do adults really believe this fairy tale?) convinces Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit. Why create something that you are going to forbid man to eat? Why was this fruit forbidden? Because, God said:

Genesis 2:17 “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die”. [note: They didn’t die, so God either lied, or he just didn’t know. Eve called his bluff...you go, girl!].

Then in verse 22, a peculiar statement is made by this lone God:

Genesis 2:22 “And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.”

Firstly, who is the lord God speaking to? “The man is become as one of us?” Was he speaking to other gods? Of course he was. He certainly wasn’t speaking to Adam, Eve, the serpent, the animals, nor any of his other creatures (including the Angels)...for none were like him! The Bible becomes it’s greatest witness against monotheism (belief in one-God). If he, God, was the only living God, who was he speaking to? Moreover, the Hebrew word used for God in the first few chapters of Genesis is “Elohim”. Elohim means godesses! It comes from “El” for “God”, “ho” indicates “feminine”, & “im” makes the word plural! Yes, the God of Genesis were actually Godesses! Secondly, if this God was so powerful, would he really be worried about lowly man eating of the tree of life and living forever? How ridiculous!

Now, in Genesis 19:1-8, we learn of two angels visiting a man called “Lot”.

"And the men of the city encompassed around Lot’s house and told him to bring out the men...that we may know them".

In the Bible, the phrase “know them” means “have sex with them”. For example:

Genesis 4:1 “And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain...”

So clearly, the men of the city wanted to have sex with the men (whom the Bible claims were Angels) who were visiting Lot. So what did Lot offer in exchange?

Genesis 19:8 “Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known [had sex with] man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing...”

Well that’s fair enough! Give the daughters over to rape instead of the strangers, er, angels. This is typical of how women are to be treated according to the “Holy Bible”. The daughters should have told their father, “No, these men outside want to have sex with a man. You go out there!” Of course, since the entire book is nonsense and none of this actually happened, the point would be moot, except for the fact that too many believe it is so; and that women should be slaves to men.

The Tenth Commandment considers a wife to be property:

Exodus 20:17 “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s.”

How nice, lump the women together with servants, oxen, asses, houses, and any “thing” that is thy neighbor’s. It’s even worse than this. Keep in mind here that these neighbor’s only pertained to Israelite women! That’s right. The Israelite’s were to remain separate from other races and religions. Therefore, a man could not covet his [Israelite] neighbor’s wife; but he could do whatever he wanted to non-Israelite women! In fact, Moses commanded that women of other nations be captured and raped! “Bullshit” you say? Read on:

Numbers 31:17 [in which Moses allegedly says] “Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him [non-virgins]. But all women children [young girls] that have not known a man by lying with him [virgins], keep alive for yourselves.”

Would a moral god really say this? Yep, keep them little girls for yourselves, you perverted bastards! And this is the the book that child-abusers and rapists swear on when they have to testify in a court of law?

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Continue to Part Two