Haggai & Zechariah

The Facts (Chapter number: Verse)

Haggai 1 - No mention of any women.

Haggai 2 - No mention of any women.

Zechariah 1 - No mention of any women.

Zechariah 2:7 - "Up! Escape to Zion, you that live with daughter Babylon!"
2:10-11 - "Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! For lo, I will come and dwell in your midst, says the Lord. Many nations shall join themselves to the Lord on that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell in your midst. And you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me [an angel of the Lord] to you."

Zechariah 3 - No mention of any women.

Zechariah 4 - No mention of any women.

Zechariah 5:5-11 - Seventh Vision: The Woman in a Basket


"Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, 'Look up and see what this is coming out.' I said, 'What is it?' He said, 'This is a basket coming out.' And he said, 'This is their iniquity in all the land.' Then a leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket! And he said, 'This is Wickedness.' So he thrust her back into the basket, and pressed the leaden weight down on its mouth. Then I looked up and saw two women coming forward. The winds was in their wings; they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and sky. Then I said to the angel who talked with me, 'Where are they taking the basket?' He said to me, 'To the land of Shinar, to build a house for it; and when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base.'"

Zechariah 6 - No mention of any women.

Zechariah 7:10 - "Do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another."

Zechariah 8:1-2 - "The word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with the great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath."
8:4-5 - "Thus says the Lord of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of their great age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets."

Zechariah 9:9 - "Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey."
9:11-13 - "As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. Return to your stronghold, I prisoners of hope; today I will declare that I will restore to you double. For I have bent Judah as my bow; I have made Ephraim its arrow. I will arouse your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and wield you like a warrior's sword."
9:17 - "For what goodness and beauty are his! Grain shall make the young men flourish, and new wine for the women."

Zechariah 10 - No mention of any women.

Zechariah 11 - No mention of any women.

Zechariah 12:12-13 - "The land shall mourn, each family be itself; the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by itself, and their wives by themselves; and all the families that are left, each by itself, and their wives by themselves."

Zechariah 13:3 - "And if any prophets appear again, their fathers and mothers who bore them will say to them, 'You shall not live, for you speak lies in the name of the Lord'; and their fathers and their mothers who bore them shall pierce them through when they prophesy."

Zechariah 14:2 - "For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses looted and the women raped; half the city shall go into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city."

My Comments


These books are taking a turn to talking about how God will rebuild and fix his people after his punishment instead of just waxing poetic about how horrible their punishments will be. I can't help but think back to Job, where God spent so long destroying Job's life (and Job was actually extremely faithful to God, unlike God's people) and then in the end God replacing everything with new stuff (not giving him back his old stuff like his dead kids are estranged wife) as if this magically fixes Job. Simply replacing something doesn't make it all better. It doesn't fix the emotional and mental harm that is caused by such destruction because there would definitely be some mental and emotional damage caused here. All of those women in these cities don't suddenly become unraped and all the men and children don't suddenly become undead and their families unsad. Shiny, new stuff and a promise that all that bad stuff will never happen again really doesn't solve half the problems such prolonged suffering causes.

I'll use an example from my own life when our house got robbed about a year or so ago, if that has ever happened to anyone reading this. It was a very hard experience to go through and it definitely has nothing to do with the physical items that are taken. In the beginning, that was part of it, but, at least for me, that was only a flashing moment in the whole experience. The stuff was replace, but our whole family spent that first night awake and on edge, and even after we had an alarm installed the next day it was difficult to feel completely safe in the house. I worried for months about people coming in and this time harming our dogs or, heaven forbid, taking something like my gun and using it to hurt someone else. If the robbers had come back the next day with all our stuff and given it back and, on top of that, added a few thousand dollars that wouldn't fix anything. And could you imagine if they had come back with our stuff and then some and then had the AUDACITY to demand that we praise them for bringing it all back lest they do it again?

This same issue when it comes to emotional and mental damage also shows up in many, many other crimes and situations, I only use the robbery example because it's been fresh on my mind for a while (we recently moved and no longer have an alarm system to provide any sense of security and I often worry about someone breaking in when we're not home, my biggest concern being the safety of my dogs). Having all the physical stuff in your life back and in order may fix some of it, but rarely does it fix everything. There is still so much healing needed which takes time, and that is made especially difficult when other parties are convinced that you should be all a-ok now, like how God expects his people to just continue on grinning from ear to ear and worshiping him simply because he raised the cities back up and defeated their attackers.

I also want to address Zechariah 5 concerning the woman in the basket. A lot of Zechariah deals with these visions he is getting and having an angel help him interpret these visions. Of these visions he sees: horsemen, the horns and the blacksmiths, the man and the measuring line, Joshua and Satan, the lampstand and the olive trees, the flying scroll, the woman in the basket, and the four chariots.

Notice, many of these visions involve men. Only one involves a woman. The horsemen patrol the earth for God and bring news to the angel that the earth is at peace. The blacksmiths (I'm kind of mostly guessing here because for whatever reason that section is ridiculously hard to figure out what is going on) are there to stop the horns which scattered Judah. The man with the measuring line is simply there to measure Jerusalem. Joshua is raised high and shall rule God's(?) house and keep charge of his courts. The chariots represent the four winds and they also patrol the earth.

Meanwhile, the woman in the basket represents the iniquity in all the land. She is Wickedness.

One of these things is not like the other.

Also like to note that the women who take Wickedness away are not called angels. They are simply women with stork like wings. Off the top of my head I do not recall a single female angel in the Bible thus far. Please correct me if I am mistake on this point, but if an angel had been female I would have definitely written about it, and I do not recall ever talking about female angels. Considering how angels are never female it's amazing that so many of our modern day depictions of angels have them in female form. What a simple way to erase some of the misogyny of the Bible by making it seem like women are actually a large part of the Bible and of God's angelic court.

So men are male symbols are protectors and God's workers. They go out and patrol the land and report back to God and take measurements and protect Judah from the forces keeping it apart.

But women are the embodiment of Wickedness. Nothing redeeming, nothing good. Pure evil that is meant to be locked away so it cannot meddle in the world of men and turn men astray and away from God's path.

Up next: Malachi

Micah

The Facts (Chapter number: Verse)

1:6-10 - "Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country, a place for planting vineyards. I will pour down her stones into the valley, and uncover her foundations. All her images shall be beaten to pieces, all her wages shall be burned with fire, and all her idols I will lay waste; for as the wages of a prostitute she gathered them, and as the wages of a prostitute they shall again be used. For this I will lament and wail; I will go barefoot and naked; I will make lamentation like the jackals, and mourning like the ostriches. For her wound is incurable. It has come to Judah; it has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem. Tell it not in Gath, weep not at all; in Beth-leaphrah roll yourselves in the dust."


2:9 - "The women of my people you drive out from their pleasant houses; from their young children you take away my glory forever."


Micah 3 - No mention of any women.


4:8-13 - "And you, O tower of the flock, hill of daughter Zion, to you it shall come, the former dominion shall come, the sovereignty of daughter Jerusalem. Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king in you? Has your counselor perished, that pangs have seized you like a woman in labor? Writhe and groan, O daughter Zion, like a woman in labor; for now you shall go forth from the city and camp in the open country; you shall go to Babylon. There you shall be rescued, there the LORD will redeem you from the hands of your enemies. Now many nations are assembled against you, saying, 'Let her be profaned, and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.' But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD; they do not understand his plan, that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor. Arise and thresh, O daughter Zion, for I will make your horn iron and your hoofs bronze; you shall beat in pieces many peoples, and shall devote their gain to the LORD, their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth."


5:3 - "Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has brought forth; then the rest of his kindred shall return to the people of Israel."


Micah 6 - No mention of any women.


7:5-6 - "Put no trust in a friend, have no confidence in a loved one; guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your embrace; for the son treats the father with contempt, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; your enemies are members of your own household."
7:10 - "Then my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, 'Where is the LORD your God?' My eyes will see her downfall; now she will be trodden down like the mire of the streets."

My Comments


Okay, I can't seem to get over my anxiety about my Jonah post so I haven't worked on it anymore. I'm still gonna try to get time to sit and deal with my bullshit and finish it, but until then I'm going to continue to press on and cover more ground.

Honestly, I had no idea that so much of the Bible was dedicated to nothing but how much God punishes those who don't grovel every chance they get as his holy, all knowing feet. I'd gotten this idea from all my years of church and whatnot that the Bible was mostly a book about how cool and awesome God was, with a few stories and moral teachings mixed in for good measure. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine it was filled with such hate and violence. Not only is it filled with hate and violence but it seems to REVEL in it. This all wouldn't be so bad if it kind of had a more somber tone. Instead it feels like it's almost enjoying it. Like a movie that claims to be making a statement about horrific topics but then takes every chance it gets to put those topics front and center on the screen. Kind of like Gamer (with Gerard Butler), if anyone ever bothered to watch those movie. It was a movie that seemed to have some notions of making a statement about violence and sex in video games and how gamers envelope themselves inside these twisted, violent fantasies. Of course, apparently to make this point they had to shove as much sex, violence, violent sex and unsubtle misogyny in your face so all it did was undermine their "point." Side note: If you ever do find yourself in the same room as that movie and you have any love for Michael C. Hall (like I do) there's a scene near the end with him dancing and singing with mind controlled inmates have a fight scene with Butler that is just the best scene ever. I hesitate to say that scene alone was worth the 5 dollars I paid to see that horrible movie in theaters, but it was really the only scene that was watchable.

But I digress! I have had some people imply that I went into this project hating the Bible. That all this I'm doing is just me going into it with anger in my head and with nothing but a motive to do as much bashing as I can. I don't think there's anything I could really say to those people to convince them otherwise, but I honestly went into this thinking, "Well, I'm sure it won't be that bad. I mean, it is the base for the religion I grew up in, and while some bits of it are troubling most services and whatnot had feel good messages. And if the majority of my church experience was fluffy God is awesome stuff then I'm sure there's at least SOMETHING to back that up in the Bible." I definitely didn't think in my wildest dreams that this is as bad as it is. I'm sure many people here haven't really read the Bible, and I'm sure a lot of you are taking this a bit like I am. Where you knew there were problems with it, but you never imagined they were THIS bad. My surprise and angry in any of my posts is my genuine surprise and anger, and my anger is only so strong because I do feel like I have been lied to my whole life about this. It's like finding out that not only is Santa Claus not quite the fat and jolly man you grew up loving but that he also murders children in their sleep when they've been naughty. Which might not be that far from the truth, really.

So I'm still honestly surprised that we're still harping on God's punishment of his people. I mean, Micah SAYS that he's walking through the ruined streets, lamenting the fate of God's people who strayed, but it's hard to think he's all THAT upset when he's got florid prose after florid prose describing these scenes in detail. Am I the only one who sees it this way? I'd hate to think I'm overreaching here, but to me, reading all these books one after the other, it's starting to really feel like these prophets are really protesting too much about how horrible they really think these scenes are. If it had just been the one or two books, I would probably say that they just wanted to definitely make sure everyone knew what sort of punishment awaited those who strayed from God. But after 6 or 7? Now it's just enjoying the whole thing.

Anyway, we have more female punishment involving being "uncovered" for all around her to see. Of course, she is merely a prostitute so this is a just punishment because she takes her clothes off and lays bare for men for money so letting other use her body without paying her is okay. Or something. It's like when people claim you can't rape a prostitute, but then men will still use rape to harm and "punish" prostitutes.

Also love how Zion has "no king in her," if you catch it the Bible's single entendre. Again, Zion is laid bare for all to see. The metaphors involving undressing and being laid naked for others to gaze upon aren't seen when the cities are neuter or male. Why is nakedness only used as a punishment for women? Is it because gazing upon men is a sin so great that God will punish an entire line of decedents simple because on man happened to see his father naked while he was trying to cover him up and make him look decent? So since gazing upon a naked man is such a great offense to God is that why God seems to never use it as a punishment?

I would say something about how pain inf child birth is also used often as a descriptor for pain when it comes to these punishments, but seeing as childbirth is pretty much one of the major punishments given to all women because of Eve eating the apple, it is not at all strange that it is often used in this manner throughout the Bible. Not that I don't find it problematic that childbirth is seen as a punishment throughout the Bible even when (male) children are seen as the only real accomplishments a woman can achieve. It is problematic, but at least the Bible seems to be consistent in the fact that labor = horrible pain comparable to the pain suffered under God's punishment.

There is also a part where God gives Zion the tools to defeat her enemies, but these tools are only provided after Zion commits herself completely and unquestioningly to God's reign and law. Only in her complete compliance will God allow her some peace. Funny, that.

Friday: Nahum and I'll continue with posting as usual and continue trying to finish up my long winded piece on Jonah.

Hosea 12-14

The Facts (Chapter number: Verse)

12:3 - "In the womb he tried to supplant his brother, and in his manhood he strove with God."
12:12 - "Jacob fled to the land of Aram, there Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he guarded sheep."

13:8 - "I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs, and will tear open the covering of their heart; there I will devour them like a lion, as a wild animal would mangle them."
13:16 - "Samaria shall bear her guilt, because she has rebelled against her God; they shall fall by the sword, their little ones shall be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open."

Hosea 14 - No mention of any women.

My Comments

So I guess in this post I shall introduce a new category for the blog topics: Body Parts. I was gonna just go with "Wombs," but I don't know if wombs will be the only body parts often completely disembodied from the women they should be attached to. So I'm just gonna go with the general "Body Parts" for now.

Of course this isn't the first time the woman has been completely removed from the birthing process or disregarded as playing a large part in the process. Just a bunch of men busy using a womb, here. What woman?

Also more complete lack of caring on Gods part of small infants and fetuses. Everyone must be punished, doesn't matter how young and innocent. I mean, killing and torturing babies (actual alive babies, I'm not referring to fetuses here) is generally considered as evil as maiming puppies and kittens. It's pretty much a sure sign of villainy if someone is found spattering infants against stones ESPECIALLY if they seem to be enjoying themselves immensely while they do it.

Well, Hosea is over. Maybe this next book we can finally leave the Israel is an evil, treacherous whore motif?

Wednesday: Joel

Hosea 8-11

The Facts (Chapter number: Verse)

Hosea 8 - No mention of any women.

9:1 - " Do not rejoice, O Israel! Do not exult as other nations do; for you have played the whore, departing from your God. You have loved a prostitute's pay on all threshing floors."

10:11 - "Ephraim was a trained heifer that loved to thresh, and I spared her fair neck; but I will make Ephraim break the ground; Judah must plow; Jacob must harrow for himself."

Hosea 11 - No mention of any women.

My Comments

This verse just seems so... scattered. I wasn't sure if I should put it in the facts section. First it seems Ephraim is a woman being denied the only glory a woman can gain - a child. But then in the next verse Ephraim is leading "his" children to slaughter. Then Ephraim shall no longer bear fruit, which I guess could go either way, but then God will kill the cherished offspring of their womb and it's no very clear if that's referring to the people of Ephraim individually or Ephraim as an entity made up of people. Ugh, I dunno. But here's the verses so you can see them for yourself.

9:11-16 - "Ephraim's glory shall fly away like a bird-- no birth, no pregnancy, no conception! Even if they bring up children, I will bereave them until no one is left. Woe to them indeed when I depart from them! Once I saw Ephraim as a young palm planted in a lovely meadow, but now Ephraim must lead out his children for slaughter. Give them, O LORD-- what will you give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. Every evil of theirs began at Gilgal; there I came to hate them. Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of my house. I will love them no more; all their officials are rebels. Ephraim is stricken, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit. Even though they give birth, I will kill the cherished offspring of their womb."

These chapters have suddenly flipped the sex of these cities and tribes. Suddenly Israel is "he" and "him" and Ephraim is "his" and it's just weird why. The language has definitely changed, and I doubt this is any sort of "bias" that some people who don't see the inherent woman-hating in the Bible might assume I have. Seriously, read Hosea 10 and 11 for yourself. Then compare those chapters to Hosea 2 or Ezekiel 23 or Ezekiel 16. You would have to be seriously kidding yourself if you believe these chapters are even remotely similarly to each other in the way they treat Israel and other cities/tribes. Hosea 10 comes nowhere close. None of the verses or sections referring to these places are male are anywhere near close to the treatment the female versions at dealt.

And I can say with pretty fair certainty that verses like Hosea 11:8-9 ("How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my fierce anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and no mortal, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath. "), filled with such seeming remorse are not often found in the chapters concerning female Israel, et. al. When God states how his punishment of female Israel hurts him more than it does her and he will raise her back up and won't hurt her again as long as she remains faithful it's stated in almost a begrudging tone. It doesn't at all seem completely sincere or like God really thinks Israel didn't completely deserve what she got.

But in that one verse (surrounded by the light weight "punishment" verses) makes it really seem like God is honestly upset that he's had to do this to his people and he truly wishes to never have to do it again. Male Israel is surely a victim of God's wrath, while female Israel is simply a whore that God had to beat back into submission.

But, seriously, do not take my word for it. Hosea 10 and 11 aren't very long, go have a read and see if I am just blowing everything out of proportion. If anyone honestly thinks I am, I would love to hear about it.

I will give a SMALL benefit of the doubt and say that it looks like Hosea will continue to refer to Israel, et. al. as male and thus maybe some horrendous chapters are just around the corner. It's a VERY SMALL benefit of the doubt, but I will state no clear absolutes until the book is over.

I'm taking a MUCH needed mental health day from the world on Friday so no new posts until Monday. Hope everyone stays safe and the world treats you well enough until then. :)

Hosea 1-2

The Facts (Chapter number: Verse)

1:2-3 - "When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, 'Go, take for yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD.' So he went and took Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son."
1:6-9 - "She conceived again and bore a daughter. Then the LORD said to him, 'Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have pity on the house of Israel or forgive them. But I will have pity on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the LORD their God; I will not save them by bow, or by sword, or by war, or by horses, or by horsemen.' When she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son. Then the LORD said, 'Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not my people and I am not your God.'"

Hosea 2 - "Say to your brother, Ammi [meaning My People], and to your sister, Ruhamah [meaning Pitied]."

Israel's Infidelity, Punishment, and Redemption

"Plead with your mother, plead-- for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband-- that she put away her whoring from her face, and her adultery from between her breasts, or I will strip her naked and expose her as in the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and turn her into a parched land, and kill her with thirst. Upon her children also I will have no pity, because they are children of whoredom. For their mother has played the whore; she who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, 'I will go after my lovers; they give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.' Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns; and I will build a wall against her, so that she cannot find her paths. She shall pursue her lovers, but not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them. Then she shall say, 'I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better with me then than now.' She did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished upon her silver and gold that they used for Baal. Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my wine in its season; and I will take away my wool and my flax, which were to cover her nakedness. Now I will uncover her shame in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall rescue her out of my hand. I will put an end to all her mirth, her festivals, her new moons, her sabbaths, and all her appointed festivals. I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, of which she said, 'These are my pay, which my lovers have given me.' I will make them a forest, and the wild animals shall devour them. I will punish her for the festival days of the Baals, when she offered incense to them and decked herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers, and forgot me, says the LORD."

"Therefore, I will now allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. From there I will give her her vineyards, and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she shall respond as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt. On that day, says the LORD, you will call me, 'My husband,' and no longer will you call me, 'My Baal.' For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be mentioned by name no more. I will make for you a covenant on that day with the wild animals, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground; and I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land; and I will make you lie down in safety. And I will take you for my wife forever; I will take you for my wife in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. I will take you for my wife in faithfulness; and you shall know the LORD. On that day I will answer, says the LORD, I will answer the heavens and they shall answer the earth; and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel; and I will sow him for myself in the land. And I will have pity on Lo-ruhamah, and I will say to Lo-ammi, 'You are my people'; and he shall say, 'You are my God.'"

My Comments

So, I had a lot more written here but then Blogger messed up and I lost all of it. Short version, I was going to write up this blog last night but my friends showed up earlier than planned to play D&D so I never really got a chance to write up anything. After copying all the quoted text I realized there's quite a bit here to look over so I'm going to go through it a bit tonight and write up something tomorrow.

But if you just can't wait for my own critical reading, feel free to do some analysis in the comments. :)

[update] Yeah, I lied a bit. My weekend is gonna be spent slowly recovering from the epic amounts of bullshit that decided to pop up Thursday and Friday. Seriously hate my job.

[Actual blog post follows]

Yeah, I wish my job didn't affect me so much, but when I have those really bad days I tend to just curl up and have no motivation to do anything. Here's hoping this week is better, yeah?

So to start off, right off the bat we got 3 occasions of the word "whoredom" in a single sentence. That's quite a large amount of "whoredom" for such a relatively small amount of words. "Go out and get a whore wife so you can have whore children in this whore city," God spoke to Hosea. Ah, how poetic, right? Just rolls right off the tongue. Now, do we even for a second believe that once Hosea is told to get a whore wife so he can bear his whore children that Hosea took a whore wife consenting manner? I'm gonna go ahead and go with no one that one.

And thus Hosea has his children "of whoredom" and the daughter is named Lo-ruhamah, which means No Pity, and the son is named Lo-ammi, which means My People. Those seem TOTALLY equal in meaning, right? Seems like they really had positive feelings for the daughter, right? Doesn't seem like she stood a chance, even if, in the end, God decides to go ahead and take pity on her. Not sure why there's a sudden change of heart. God seems to enjoy punish people (especially when they are female in nature) for no real good reason, telling them they TOTALLY deserve this most heinous of punishments, and then deciding (after a fair amount of torture) that he shall take pity and mercy on them and making sure that the small, pitiful subject of this torture understands that while God may be showing mercy and pity that the subject by no means DESERVES such pity and mercy. Therefore bow down and worship him before you do something REALLY bad and God has to punish you again for your own good even though it hurts him more than it does you.

The bulk of Hosea 2 is fairly unremarkable. Which is funny since all of it is pretty fucking deplorable, but really it is nothing that we haven't seen before. The declaration that the people God has chosen are suddenly "whoring" themselves out to others which is just the most egregious of sins. God declaring that his people will find no refuge, not even in their "lovers." God laying his people's shame and nakedness out for all to see and take advantage of. On and on and on and on. Even God eventually taking back his "whore" of a people isn't unusual, since God does eventually forgive Israel and others their "whoring," but not until they have been good and properly punished.

God's answer to this infidelity and "whoring" is, basically, to take Israel and leave her exposed to those whom were once her "lovers" and let them violate her again and again until God has decided it has been enough. Israel's sin was "sex" and thus God sees no problem with using "sex" as a punishment. I mean, if Israel had no problem sleeping with every other god and tribe in town then why would she have a problem with those same gods and tribes taking what they want now? Sound familiar? Kind of like the common idea that prostitutes and whores and unable to be raped or that women are unable to be raped by husbands and boyfriends? Because once a woman has sex with a man she is then seen as consenting to all future sex with said man (or, in the case of prostitutes, once a woman has sex with any man she is seen as consenting to all future sex with any man) Sounds a bit like that to me. Not sure if I've brought that point up before, but this has become such a trend that it's become incredibly hard not to notice.

I'm really hoping this book isn't going to turn into another Israel punishment/torture/rape fest. I'm sooooooo tired of that nonsense. I'd honestly thought the Bible would have a bit more to offer but it seems to be stuck in a rut. A really, horrible, terrible, torturous rut.

Wednesday: More Hosea

Jeremiah 50-52

The Facts (Chapter number: Verse)

50:2-3 - "Declare among the nations and proclaim, set up a banner and proclaim, do not conceal it, say: Babylon is taken, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is dismayed. Her images are put to shame, her idols are dismayed. For out of the north a nation has come up against her; it shall make her land a desolation, and no one shall live in it; both human beings and animals shall flee away."
50:9-10 - "For I am going to stir up and bring against Babylon a company of great nations from the land of the north; and they shall array themselves against her; from there she shall be taken. Their arrows are like arrows of a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed. Chaldea shall be plundered; all who plunder her shall be sated, says the Lord."
50:12-16 - "You mother shall be utterly shamed, and she who bore you shall be disgraced. Lo, she shall be the last of the nations, a wilderness, dry land, and a desert. Because of the wrath of the Lord she shall not be inhabited, but shall be an utter desolation; everyone who passes by Babylon shall be appalled and hiss because of all her wounds. Take up your positions around Babylon, all you that bend the bow; shoot at her, spare no arrows, for she has sinned against the Lord. Raise a shout against her from all sides, 'She has surrendered; her bulwarks have fallen, her walls are thrown down.' For this is the vengeance of the Lord; take vengeance on her, do to her as she has done. Cut off from Babylon the sower, and the wielder of the sickle in time of harvest; because of the destroying sword all of them shall return to their own people, and all of them shall flee to their own land."
50:21 - "Go up to the land of Merathaim; go up against her, and attack to inhabitants of Pekod and utterly destroy the last of them, says the Lord; do all that I have commanded you."
50:26-27 - "Come against her [the Chaldeans] from every quarter; open her granaries; pile her up like heaps of grain, and destroy her utterly; let nothing be left of her. Kill all her bulls, let them go down to the slaughter. Alas for them, their day has come, the time of their punishment."
50:29-30 - "Summon archers against Babylon, all who bend the bow. Encamp all around her; let no on escape. Repay her according to her deeds; just as she has done, do to her - for she has arrogantly defiled the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. therefore her young men shall fall in her squares, and all her soldiers shall be destroyed on that day, says the Lord."
50:35-40 - "A sword against the Chaldeans, says the Lord, and against the inhabitants of Babylon, and against her officials and her sages! A sword against the diviners, so that they may become fools! A sword against her warriors, so that they may be destroyed! A sword against her horses and against her chariots, and against all the foreign troops in her midst, so that they may become women! A sword against all her treasures, that they may be plundered! A drought against her waters, that they may be dried up! For it is a land of images , and they go mad over idols.

"Therefore wild animals shall live with hyenas in Babylon, and ostriches shall inhabit her; she shall never again be peopled or inhabited for all generations. As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors, says the Lord, so no one shall live there, nor shall anyone settle in her."
50:42-44 - "They wield bow and spear, they are cruel and have no mercy. The sound of them is like the roaring sea; they ride upon horses, set in array as a warrior for battle, against you, O daughter Babylon!

"The king of Babylon heard news of them, and his hands fell helpless; anguish seized him, pain like that of a woman in labor.

"Like a lion coming up from the thickets of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly chase them away from her; and I will appoint over how whomever I choose."
50:46 - "At the sound of the capture of Babylon the earth shall tremble, and her cry shall be heard among the nations."

51:2-4 - "and I will send winnowers in Babylon, and they shall winnow her. They shall empty her land when they come against her from every side on the day of trouble.Let not the archer bend his bow, and let him not array himself in his coat of mail. Do not spare her young men; utterly destroy her entire army. They shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and wounded in her street."
51:6-9 - "Flee from the midst of Babylon, save your lives, each of you! Do not perish because of her guilt, for this is the time of the Lord's vengeance; he is repaying her what is due. Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord's hand, making all the earth drunken; the nations drank of her wine, and so the nations went mad. Suddenly Babylon has fallen and is shattered; wail for her! Bring balm for her wound; perhaps she may be healed. We tried to heal Babylon, but she shall not be healed. Forsake her, and let each of us go to our own country; for her judgement has reached up to heaven and has been lifted up even to the skies."
51:22 - "Go up to the land of Merathaim; go up against her, and attack the inhabitants of Pekod and utterly destroyed the last of them, says the Lord, do all that I have commanded you."
51:27-28 - "Raise a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations; prepare the nations for war against her, summon against her the kingdoms, Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz; appoint a marshal against her, bring up horses like bristling locusts. Prepare the nations for war against her, the kings of Medes, with their governors and deputies, and every land under their dominion."
51:30 - "The warriors of Babylon have given up fighting, they remain in their strongholds; their strength has failed, they have become women; her buildings are set on fire, her bars are broken."
51:33 - "Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time when it is trodden; yet a little while and the time of her harvest will come."
51:36-37 - "Therefore thus says the lord: I am going to defend your cause and take vengeance for you. I will dry up her sea and make her fountain dry; and Babylon shall become a heap of ruins, a den of jackals, an object of horror and of hissing, without inhabitant."
51:43 - "Her cities have become an object of horror, a land of drought and a desert, a land in which no one lives, and through which no mortal passes."
51:45 - "Come out of her, my people! save your lives, each of you, from the fierce anger of the Lord!"
51:47 - "Assuredly, the days are coming when I will punish the images of Babylon; her whole land shall be put to shame, and all her slain shall fall in her midst."
51:52-53 - "Therefore the time is surely coming, says the Lord, when I will punish her idols, and through all her land the wounded shall groan. Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify her strong height, from me destroyers would come upon her, says the Lord."
51:55-58 - "For the Lord is laying Babylon waste, and stilling her loud clamor. Their waves roar like mighty waters, the sound of their clamor resounds; for a destroyer has come against her, against Babylon; her warriors are taken, their bows are broken; for the Lord is a God of recompense, he will repay in full. I will make her officials and her sages drunk, also her governors, her deputies, and her warriors; they shall sleep a perpetual sleep and never wake, says the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.

"Thus says the Lord of hosts: The broad wall of Babylon shall be leveled to the ground, and her high gates shall be burned with fire. The people's exhaust themselves for nothing,and the nations weary themselves only for fire."
51:63 - "'Thus shall Babylon sink, to rise no more, because of the disasters that I am bringing on her.' Thus far are the words of Jeremiah."

52:1 - "Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign; he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah."

My Comments

Finally we come to the end of the madness. I hope everyone has enjoyed this wonderful look into the mind of the One True God (tm). A God who, when shunned or not loved as much as he wishes to be, will utterly destroy and torment his own people. But the Bible is supposed to be the Good Book, a guide on how to live life and be a good person, right? A place to go to to get your morals and to also see the proof of God's wonder and wisdom?

Bah, I've mentioned this ad naseum already, I don't feel like going into the same rant I've done several times already. Long rant short, The Bible as a moral guide book argument is ridiculous because the only moral God is trying to teach you throughout most of it is to never, ever, EVER stop loving him in the exact way in which he demands you love him or else God will make your life a living hell. No real rules on how to treat your fellow man or anything (unless, you know, it's letting you know when the appropriate moments are the STONE or OUTCAST you fellow man) or how to live your life so that you and those around you will be as happy as possible. Nope! It's all about God, God, God, God. And the second it isn't all about God you can expect to get hit with a plague or to have your city captured and ransacked by an enemy tribe. Hell, even God's warnings against adultery with other men's wives is basically just God whining about how women are evil and lead men away FROM GOD. That's not even some halfhearted attempt to promote monogamy or anything. Everything in this book so far (aside from the Ten Commandments, which I don't even really count because most of those are jealous God rules too) is just one long warning on exactly how God will fuck your day up if you dare cheat on him with another God or dare to forget to say thanks to him before you go to bed.

The only new thing we really get here is the addition of God making the men "like women" as a punishment for their "sins." So we've got death and war and whatnot and to top that all off suddenly God/Jeremiah bring out the added insult of making the men like women. And how does he make them like women? By making them weak, helpless, conquerable, passive, and under the complete control of men. So, we can conclude that to be a woman is to naturally be weak, helpless, conquerable, passive, and under the complete control of men. (for further notes on women's inferior status see posts under the topic "Men Rule")

I'm mostly just glad this is finally over. It was like big, long God temper tantrum. Really could have been only half as long and it could have gotten the same ideas across and still have been really obnoxious. Here's hoping the next book brings us something different.

Wednesday:

Jeremiah 48-49

The Facts (Chapter number: Verse)

48:2 - "In Heshborn they planned evil against her: 'Come, let us cut her off from being a nation!' You also, O Madmen, shall be brought to silence; the sword shall pursue you."
48:4 - "'Moab is destroyed!' her little ones cried out."
48:9 - "Set aside salt for Moab, for she will surely fall; her towns shall become a desolation, with no inhabitant in them."
48:18-19 - "Come down from glory, and sit on the parched ground, enthroned daughter Dibon! For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you; he has destroyed your strongholds. Stand by the road and watch, you inhabitant of Aroer! Ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping; say, 'What has happened?'"
48:41 - "The hearts of the warriors of Moab, on that day, shall be like the heart of a woman in labor."

49:3-4 - "Wail, O Heshborn, for Ai is laid waste! Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah! Put on sackcloth, lament, and slash yourselves with whips! For Milcom shall go into exile, with his priests and his attendants. Why do you boast in your strength? Your strength is ebbing, O faithless daughters. You trusted in your treasures, saying, 'Who will attack me?'"
49:11 - "Leave your orphans , I will keep them alive; and let your windows trust in me."
49:13-14 - "For by myself I have sworn, says the Lord, that Bozrah shall become an object of horror and ridicule, a waste, and an object of cursing; and all her towns shall be perpetual wastes. I have heard tidings from the Lord, and a messenger has been sent among the nations: ;Gather yourselves together and come against her, and rise up for battle!'"
49:24-26 - "Damascus has become feeble, she turned to flee, and panic seized her; anguish and sorrows have taken hold her, as of a woman in labor. How the famous city is forsaken, the joyful town! Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares, and all her soldiers shall be destroyed in that day, says the Lord of hosts."

My Comments

Edit: Sorry this post didn't come with any comments. We had a vacation in Dallas for A-Kon (anime convention) and I got sidetracked by packing and costumes and craziness. We just got into town so I will see what I can write up tomorrow when I get some down time. :) Although if anyone wants to add their own analysis before then they are more than free to. :P

Monday: The last of Jeremiah

Jeremiah 30-32

The Facts (Chapter number: Verse)

30:6 - "As now, and see, can a man bear a child? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his loins like a woman in labor? Why has every face turned pale?"
30:17 - "For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, says the Lord, because they have called you an outcast: 'It is Zion, no one cares for her!'"

31:4 - "Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again you shall take your tambourines, and go forth in the dance of merrymakers."
31:8 - "See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north, and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, those with child and those in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here."
31:13 - "Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow."
31:15-17 - "Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more. Thus says the Lord: Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for there is a reward for your work. Says the Lord: They shall come back from the land of the enemy; there is hope for your future, says the Lord: your children shall come back to their own country."
31:21-22 - "Return, O virgin Israel, return to your cities. How long will you waiver, O faithless daughter? For the Lord has created a new thing on the earth: a woman encompasses a man."

Jeremiah 32 - No mention of any women.

My Comments

Sorry for the short (and late) post. This weekend was crazy busy between spending a day at a comic convention, helping my aunt move the stuff from her storage unit, and my body subsequently getting angry with me Monday for daring to do so much activity. Not to mention the craziness of my Friday where I had to rush the dogs to the vet before they closed so I could get them treated for kennel cough.

So I guess I'm a bit thankful right now that Jeremiah is still a vast nothingness on the woman front. There is STILL nothing interesting going on (woman related or otherwise), other than pointing out moment and verses where God is an exceptional dick. I cannot believe how long this book is. 30 chapters and NOTHING is going on, or at least nothing that couldn't be covered in 5 chapters or less.

We seem to now be leaving the wrathful and angry phase of God's abusive husband routine and seem to be moving into the apologies and flowers phase. Now God's forgiving Israel for being so wretched and horrible and calling her back to the land he promised. He promises he won't do it again as long as Israel continues to fear and worship him (something which I will probably address in my next post when I have a bit more time to write, since the concept of God-fearing has always confused me).

Hell, Jeremiah 32 is basically just a chapter where Jeremiah talks about buying a field. Really? Is that what we really need in our holy book? A brief intermission so we can listening to the RIVETING details of Jeremiah buying a plot of land? I really despise this book sometimes...

As a side note, this: "For the Lord has created a new thing on the earth: a woman encompasses a man." This is weird. The hell does this mean? Here's a site that claims to have an answer for this, but it's just... really, really weird.

Wednesday: More Jeremiah

Jeremiah 27-29 and An Opinion Piece

The Facts (Chapter number: Verse)

Jeremiah 27 - No mention of any women.

Jeremiah 28 - No mention of any women.

29:2 - "This was after King Jeconiah, and the queen mother, the court officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the artisans, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem."
29:6 - "Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage; that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease."
29:23 - "[The people who leave the king of Babylon shall be cursed] because they have perpetuated outrage in Israel and have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and have spoken in my name lying words that I did not command them; I am the one who knows and bears witness, says the Lord."

My Comments

Nothing new here. So instead, I bring you something that is completely priceless. From the Christian Science Monitor: "For girls who hate their bodies: a spiritual crisis."

It's so good, I feel like breaking it down piece by piece, just so there's no real need to actually go and read the laugh/barf fest yourself. :D

Worried talk about the next generation of high-achieving, health-neglecting "perfect girls" is everywhere.

Girls Inc. just published the results of its depressing, nationwide survey called "The Supergirl Dilemma," which reveals that girls' obsession with thinness has gotten significantly worse in the past six years. Despite the efforts of the Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty – well-intentioned, though undeniably market-driven – and Love Your Body Day events sweeping every school from San Francisco to Syracuse, 90 percent of teenage girls think they are overweight today, compared with 24 percent in 1995, according to a recent ELLEgirl survey.

So what gives? Is it our celebrity-obsessed, extreme makeover culture? Is it the newest version of the age-old story of dysfunctional family relationships? Is it peer pressure – mean girls critiquing one another's every lunchtime indiscretion? Is it the $30 billion a year diet industry?

Okay, so far it's okay. We've acknowledged the fact that society as a whole is constantly telling girls that they are not pretty enough and we need an ever increasing amount of damage control (plastic surgery, makeups, creams, Spanks) in order to make ourselves look human and to not make others want to vomit every time they look at us. Nevermind there's no real mention of MEN (or patriarchy) in this section, seeing as it's usually MEN women are doing this for. MEN whom we want to date, MEN whom we want to hire us, MEN whom basically hold the power in the world and if we want to survive or thrive in it we need to tow the line to please them. The extreme make up culture, diet industry, and female peer pressure when it comes to eating is all a symptom of the patriarchy which makes us women constantly feel like less than, like we HAVE to conform and spend our income on items to get us ahead in the world.

But, like I said, it's an OKAY look at what makes girls hate their bodies from a Christian (and very non feminist) website. But, of course, the author is about to tell us what the REAL problem is with girls' body image. Let's listen and learn, shall we?

It is, in truth, all of the above. But there is also another profoundly important – yet little noticed – dynamic at work in the anxious, achievement-oriented lives of America's perfect girls: They have a sometimes deadly, often destructive, lack of faith.

Oh, Dog! My entire frame for viewing the world has just been shattered! It all makes sense now! My constant critiquing of my not so slim stomach, the slight guilt I feel anytime I grab a second helping of cake (sometimes even with the first helping), the fear I sometimes feel that if I don't start wearing makeup right now my boyfriend of 6 years will suddenly leave me, the shame I feel because I haven't gone to the gym or done any "exercise" (we all know just walking doesn't count as real exercise) in 2 months. It's all because I just don't believe in an invisible sky daddy! It's not because of the patriarchy, which only values me based on my willingness to conform to impossible beauty standards (even if it's to a deadly degree) and my ability to tow the line and remember my lower status as female, at all! It's all about church and God and faith you guys!

Shoot, does it mean that when I felt like a weirdo and outcast for being a tomboy when I was young and believed and went to church every Sunday I was doing it wrong? Was I really not being faithful enough? And does this mean that you won't find a Christian anorexic or a Christian girl/woman who slathers themselves with makeup every morning? Are Christian women immune from the patriarchy? Or do such disorders and beauty regimens prove that they are not the believers that they think they are? Such wondrous secrets! We must read on so we can learn how to cast off our body shame shackles!

So many perfect girls were raised entirely without organized religion, and the majority of the rest of us – I reluctantly admit to my own membership in the perfect girl club – experienced "spirituality" only in the form of mandatory holiday services with a big-haired grandmother or unconscionably elaborate and expensive bat mitvah parties, where everything but the Torah is emphasized.

Overlay our dearth of spiritual exploration with our excess of training in ambition – never mind SAT prep courses; today, even community service is linked to college application brownie points – and you have a generation of godless girls. We were raised largely without a fundamental sense of divinity. In fact, our worth in the world has always been tied to our looks, grades, and gifts – not the amazing miracle of mere existence.

In this climate, we feel perpetually called to perfect our own "body projects" – the term used by historian Joan Jacob Brumberg. Thinness and achievement stand in for the qualities of kindness and humility. We think that our perfect bodies – not God's grace or good works – will get us into heaven. We have no deeply held sense of our own divinity, so we chase after some unattainable ideal. Perfect girls, as a result, feel they are never enough. Never disciplined enough. Never accomplished enough. Never thin enough.

Notice how the blame and emphasis is put on the girls themselves? THEY are the ones who care more about their looks than about God. THEY are the ones who half-ass faith and only go to service on major holidays. THEY are the ones who care more about SAT scores and community service (seriously, this author just said community service was not a GOOD or ALTRUISTIC activity, wtf?). THEY are the ones who let thinness and achievement stand in for kindness and humility (nevermind that it is often others who associate thinness with positive traits, ie. kindness, healthy, active, and fatness with negative traits, ie. lazy, dirty, unhealthy).

"Perfect girls, as a result, feel they are never enough. Never disciplined enough. Never accomplished enough. Never thin enough." That sentence is the truest one I've read in this entire article. Girls never feel like that are good enough for anything because, in essence, they really are never good enough for anything. We're always too fat, too skinny, too big chested, too flat chested, too short, too tall, too ugly, too pretty, too learned, too stupid, too blonde, too brunette, too accomplished, too unsuccessful. In the eyes of society and the patriarchy we are NEVER exactly what it wants us to be. Being ourselves isn't enough, we have to constantly be something different. Constantly changing and willing (and happy) to do so.

And I'm sorry, so many perfect girls were raised without religion? In a world where the overall majority of the people in it are religious in one way or another how the fuck can you say that with a straight face? Apparently she doesn't count people who only go to service "sometimes" as REAL believers, so that means now most of the world isn't actually religious? A no true Scotsman fallacy being used as a major foundation of the article? Really? So, I guess, the reason so many "perfect" girls are so messed up is because they may THINK they have faith and believe in God but really they are just fooling themselves. Look at them doing their community service. We ALL know they only do it for the college brownie points, am I right? This woman is basically right there saying that no girl can ever be altruistic because, presumably, she is ALWAYS doing it for her image! Holy woman-hating, Batgirl! Notice how this article now basically becomes one long piece about how girls just aren't doing good enough and need to change in order to be better people.

Wait, isn't that the exact kind of thinking that the article is supposedly speaking against, that girls need to stop thinking about how they need to change and be better and should instead just be thinking about loving themselves? Have I stumbled into opposite land? No? Wait, does that no mean yes? Wait, does that yes mean no? Oh, my poor brain!

The worst of this can be seen in the frightening websites that purport to be support groups for girls with anorexia and bulimia. Such sites claim that these two disorders are a religion, not a disease, and pray to false gods named after them: Ana and Mia. Though highly deluded and dangerously ill, girls who frequent these sites have taken the black hole at their centers and filled it with an obsessive faith in the power and purity of thinness. In essence, they are crying out to our godless culture, showing us just how damaged a child can be who is thrown to the wolves of advertising and amoral media without any spiritual armor.

I want to nominate this has possibly the worst paragraph to ever exist, ever.

First, I just want to do a general scoff at the author's claims that we live in a godless culture. Typical religious persecution complex there. We are not even CLOSE to being a godless culture. Should I go outside and count the churches I can see just from my front door? Well, I can try, though I may need to take an abacus with me for fear of losing count. Our media and advertising may be godless, I may concede to that, but there really is nothing godless about our culture (Note I speak for the US, I don't know enough about other countries to try and make claims about them).

Also, the whole paragraph confuses me. She begins by talking about support websites for girls and women suffering from anorexia and bulimia but then mentions how they turn these diseases into a religion and give the "goddess" diseases names like Mia and Ana? Is she actually talking about Pro-Ana and Pro-Mia sites? Because those are NOT support websites for these girls. Those are inspiration sites used to continue the desire to starve yourself, the inspiration usually gained through pictures of thin women and girls. I have never once heard of an actual support group for these women refer to their conditions as anything other than a disease, and definitely NOT as a religion. Did this woman even do any research here?

So let's assume that she is actually talking about these Pro-Ana and Pro-Mia sites (Google these if you want to see them, I don't want to link to any of them since I do think they are very unhealthy and they are really very easy to find through a simple Google search), since that seems to be what her tone implies, even if her actual words don't. Where does she get the idea that what these girls need is religion to cure them? Is there some sort of research she found that states this? Does she know any girls battling with an eating disorder that she talked to? Did she watch any shows about eating disorders or even just a documentary? I'm gonna assume no, because even with the limited amount of documentaries and shows and articles I've read about eating disorders I can see that this is just pure unmitigated bullshit. Plus, in her entire opinion piece she sites ZERO articles. An opinion piece, indeed.

Yes, some eating disorders develop because a girl/woman wants to look like the pictures in the magazine and so she takes on an extreme diet in order to try and become that ideal. But eating disorders can be the result of a girl or woman trying to gain some control over her life, or a response to trauma or abuse in her life (note: sexual and physical abuse of girls and women happens often in religious homes, so I fail to see how religion is supposed to HELP here). Eating disorders can even be a result of or a part of an anxiety disorder (or in small part to genetics). I don't know if they run the show anymore, but A&E had a show called Obsessed which looked into the lives of people with OCD and other anxiety disorders. I noticed during these shows that some of the women had anxiety disorders that would impact their relationship with food and how much they ate or exercised (Also note I love this show, it's very moving and such a personal look into someone's life and hardships. Just letting people know that I highly recommend it if you're looking for some interesting documentaries to watch). Hell, even MTV did a True Life episode on eating disorders which can tell you more about the disease than this article can, which I'm starting to think is more and more based on the author's stereotypical view of women/girls with eating disorders as vain and completely self involved people.

You know what's great about that? That took me less than 15 minutes to find all those links and information on eating disorders. In that 15 minutes I learned that eating disorders can be caused by body shame, past sexual or physical abuse, anxiety disorders, lack of control, or even simply genetics may have a small influence on the possibility of you developing the disorder (like alcoholism). I've learned that people who actually HAVE eating disorders describe their eating disorder in terms of control of their bodies or body shame, but the one thing they NEVER say is that it's 100% their choice and that they LOVE to be afraid/anxious about food or love to vomit after every time they eat. And once they do realize they have a problem they can't just stop having an eating disorder, it takes time and therapy and a lot of work to overcome it. Of course even one who suffers from it is different and has different reasons and life stories, but there are patterns and studies that can be used to at least inform people who know nothing about the illness so they have at least some understanding of what is going on. None of this information seems to even remotely inform this paragraph or any of this article. Anorexia and bulimia is a serious disease that can often result in death and treating it as if it's just the whim and choice some self obsessed teenage girls is wrong and does way more harm than good.

Amazingly enough religion isn't what cures their eating disorder nor is religion a reason for someone to NOT have an eating disorder or body shame. At least, it isn't mentioned in most of the articles or documentaries or personal stories I've ever come across. It may play a factor for some people, but it is definitely not the penultimate cure all for anorexia and bulimia. It's actually insulting to not only treat eating disorders as if they are a choice made flippantly by a girl/woman that one should be admonished for having (and that these diseases are WORSHIPED, no less), but to also insinuate that these people are this way because they have a lack of faith in God. I bet that just makes the girls and women who suffer from anorexia/bulimia and consider themselves religious and faithful feel really good about themselves.

Again, I ask, do religious people never suffer from anorexia or bulimia? Or, in her mind, if someone is anorexic or bulimic does that automatically mean that they were never faithful or religious to begin with (kind of like how religious people say those atheists who used to be religious just never had faith in the first place)?

Anyway, let's move past that. Onwards to the end!

I'm not calling for a return to conservative religion or restricting dogma. I'm envisioning an inspired movement toward community where girls are nourished with dinner-table conversations about the values of kindness and charity; where girls undergoing puberty are encouraged to embrace the miraculous, complex, and perfectly imperfect bodies they possess; and where girls can find inspiration – not condemnation – in religious texts.

Again, the fact that this woman so easily equates body shame with a lack of kindness or charity is astounding to me. Body shame is not a choice! Body shame is pounded into girls from the second we are born until the second we die! We are constantly told over and over and over again by EVERYONE that how we look affects how we are treated and what people think of us! How the fuck does reacting to that reality mean that women and girls who care about their looks can't be kind or charitable?! HOW?! Oh, I'm sorry, this is the woman who apparently believes that any girl/woman who gets a manicure and then goes out to the soup kitchen to feed the poor is a fucking ditz who is only feeding the hungry to make herself look good. My bad, I forgot logic does not exist here. Carry on.

For starters, the Bible has something to teach the perfect girl who calculates beauty in terms of pounds and dress sizes: "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment…. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight" (I Peter 3:3,4). (New International Version)

And Buddha, the man often portrayed as blissful with his belly, has a paradigm-shifting message for the average American woman accustomed to self-hate: "You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection."

In the age of the skeletal celebrity-filled US Weekly and shrill sound bite commentators such as Ann Coulter, these are the kinds of deep reflections and recommendations we perfect girls need most.

The Bible also says that women and girls should physically hide themselves from everyone when they have their monthly period, that girls are worth MUCH less than boys, that first born girls do not count as first borns and are not valued by God, that pregnancy and birth is an unclean act that also requires being sequestered from society at large, and that girl children DOUBLE the unclean period (as compared to boy children). The Bible also says that women and girls are free to be taken by men as spoils of war, to be raped and married by the same men who just came through and slaughtered their families and loved ones. The Bible also says the only value a girl has is in her virginity and she is, quite literally, not worth as much if she has had sex with a man (and also that sex with a man that isn't her husband will pretty much result in her violent and gruesome death). For reference please see the blog sections on uncleanliness, spoils of battle, rape, men rule, and property. I'm sure these sections will really uplift your spirits and see just how valued you are as a woman to God.

Yes, I can TOTALLY absolutely see how the Bible would definitely work to increase self esteem and decrease body shame in girls and women. -_- Not that the verse she picked isn't just as insulting. God is basically saying girls and women are stupid and focusing on the unimportant because they dare to let societies pressures alter their behaviors; that women and girls dare to tow the line when it comes to the beauty standard because doing otherwise is very likely to leave them jobless and penniless; that women and girls may focus more on the outside than what is on the inside because, for the most part, the world could care less who we are on the inside since we will be mostly be judges based on the outward and no on the inward. Would she advocate going to a job interview (or to a current job) wearing no makeup, in an ill-fitting button down shirt and hair haphazardly put up in a pony tail? Because, you know, if I really didn't have to care about how I looked and could just be myself (focus on the inward more than the outward, as God would want me to) I would pretty much be lectured to shape up (or sent home or fired) and be guaranteed to never get another job or keep my current one unless I went back to the nice hair, makeup and pencil skirts with tailored shirts. What exactly is the message here, because I think it's safe to assume that she wears makeup and heels and nice business attire to the office. If so, is she even qualified to give this kind of advice? Does she actually understand that the outward IS important in society, but she wants to make black and white statements without regard for the complexity of the real world so it's just easier to ignore stuff like we have to care about our appearances in order to function in the world as it is right now? It's all so complicated and complex and yet the author waves it off as if it's just a given that one should stop caring about the outward, as if this would have no real life consequences so of course everyone should do it if they want to be a selfless person.

I do agree with Buddha, we do have to learn to love ourselves. Loving yourself is pretty much the base for happiness in your life. But, there is a difference between learning to love who I am and dressing myself up to go outside into the world. Women and girls will not be able to fully cast off the need to constantly police our dress and eating behaviors until we disassemble the patriarchy and society as a whole learns to love women for whom they are. I can love myself every which way, but until the patriarchy is gone and the constant reinforced message that I am never good enough is silenced, there will always be that body shame there and there will always be a need to tow the line to some extent in order to survive.

A supermom of an elite college hopeful told New York Times reporter Sara Rimer, "You just hope your child doesn't have anorexia of the soul." While she is spot on in her fears, she seems woefully shortsighted about her responsibilities. It is we, all of us, who have the power to resurrect a society that values spirit above skinniness. We have to start doing it – one prayer, one family hike, one heart-to-heart discussion about what really matters – at a time.

Oh good, we didn't leave out the mom blaming either. This article just has everything, doesn't it?

So, story time. The other day my mom was regaling my little brother and I with stories of our childhood. As background, we lived in a home where my mom was the bread winner and my dad stayed at home and cooked and cleaned and took care of my brother and I. You would think, living in such an environment, that my brother and I as children would be very egalitarian in our view of the sexes, if not have it completely backwards from the societal norms. If people like the author are to be believed, all you need is the correct home environment and voila, perfect children who have learned all the right things and will never be influenced by the ugly sexism or racism or classism of the world outside the home. And yet, almost as a perfect example of how this is completely not true, we have one evening at our house long ago and far away. We were all watching TV and I (maybe 10 at the time, making my brother around 6) went to the kitchen to get something. When I came back, my brother ordered me to grab him a drink. When I refused he exclaimed, "But your place is in the kitchen." much to my parents displeasure and my rage. My mom and dad corrected my brother and chastised him for saying that. I love this story because it is pretty obvious proof that no matter what the home environment is like, we cannot escape the forced of our culture and society. We will be taught how a woman is a woman and how a man is a man no matter what, the best we can hope is that we are at least taught to question it so we can hope to escape as much of it as we can. Hell, even I, as a small child, noticed that girls were supposed to be one way and boys were supposed to be another. I HATED what girls were expected to be so I did my best to shun anything girly (going so far as to always insist my favorite color was blue, even though it was yellow). My home life never taught me that I couldn't be sporty and active, but I heard loud and clear what the rest of the world wanted me to be, even though most people would assume I was too young to really understand it. My brother and I have since grown up and learned to question the sexist thinking we learned as children, but we were still influenced by it all the same. No one person is an island. By all means, try to make home environments more egalitarian and warm and loving. Have parents teach and show kids how the world SHOULD be. But never for a second think that that is all it takes or that the culture will never undo the wonderful things taught at home.

But, to point out, religion would make that a fairly useless endeavor since religion almost always teaches separate roles of submission and dominance for a wife and husband (respectively) and that is very non conducive to a well balanced and woman-loving home. Can't build up a girl's self esteem and self image if she's learning from an early age that she is always less than men and always will be, no matter what she does. So again, I fail to see how religion will help in this situation as well. For an article that is meant to show me how religion is supposed to help girls' body image issues it REALLY doesn't ever state exactly HOW it's supposed to help. The article could have basically been one sentence, "Religion and faith is what girls need to get over their body image issues." and it would have been just as helpful. Telling me that it is true doesn't make it true. You need logic and reason and some evidence or facts to back up your assertions. Just saying.

So there you have it. A wonderful piece about hoe all girls need to get over themselves is one hour of church every Sunday and a few family meals a week. No, really, that's it! Take two of those and tomorrow body shame will be gone for good!

Or maybe I'll just present this article with the *facepalm* award, presented by Patrick Stewart:



Presented for having an entire article about body shame and eating disorders without ONCE mentioning the patriarchy or men. Also for having an entire article about body shame wherein girls are constantly shamed for even caring about how they look (or perform on the SATs?) and told that because they dress up or put on makeup that they are selfish, selfish people who really need to learn how to be kind and charitable to other around them. Yes, even those girls who do community service should really learn to stop being so selfish and just think about someone other than themselves for once. Also for managing to have this entire article where opinions are stated as fact with not one single outside source linked or quoted to back any of the author's bullshit up.

So there you have it, the Christian Science Monitor is clearly the leader in feminist discord. All you feminists just need to turn your minds to God and surely all of our sexism problems will be solved! The article is never really very clear on exactly HOW faith is supposed to help but I'm sure this person obviously learned in the realm of body shame and feminism could NEVER be wrong! The article is also not very specific on exactly how you are supposed to be a REAL believer and not one of those fake ones or weak ones that she talks about at the beginning of her piece. Do I have to go to church every Sunday to get best results? Every other day? Is this going to require constant prayer or can I just get my praying done and church and then have the rest of the week off... and do I need to pick a specific religion and god or will pretty much any do? Oh! Except for Ana and Mia, I totally can't worship those, right. Almost forgot about that. Should I just shoot off an email asking to make sure I do this right because I would hate for my body shame to spiral out of control simply because I'm not practicing faith and religion EXACTLY how I need to to battle off the evils of advertising and media... hello? No? Not gonna get anything specific here? Is it possible you just pulled all this out of your ass?

Hm, maybe I'll pass on the whole religion and faith thing. I think I'll just stay where I am and use actual data and actual reality to inform my discussions and continue working my ass off to break down the patriarchy as best I can because, as any good feminist knows, the patriarchy is the root cause of sexism and woman-hate in the world, not a lack of faith in a god. I'm fairly certain I'll be doing more for those girls you claim to care so much about than you ever will. But thanks for the laugh! XD

(H/T to my friend on Facebook who posted this article and I'm sure was expecting a different kind of response to it)

Friday: More Jeremiah

Jeremiah 19-22

The Facts (Chapter number: Verse)

19:9 - "And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and all shall eat the flesh of their neighbors in the siege, and in the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their life afflict them."

20:14 - "Cursed be the day on which I was born! The day when my mother bore me, let it not be blessed!"
20:17 - "[Let my dad hear my cry] because he did not kill me in the womb; so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb forever great."

Jeremiah 21 - No mention of any women.

22:3 - "Thus says the Lord; Act with justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor anyone who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place."
22:18 - "Therefore thus says the Lord concerning King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah: They shall not lament for him, saying, 'Alas, brother!' or 'Alas, sister!' They shall not lament for him, saying, 'Alas, lord!' or 'Alas, his majesty!'
22;23 - "O inhabitant of Lebanon, nested among the cedars, how you will groan when pangs come upon you, pain as of a woman in labor!"
22:26 - "I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die."

My Comments

19:5 - "And gone on building the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it enter my mind."

I'll just leave that there for future reference to the hypocrisy that is the Biblical God.

Also, be sure to add cannibalism to the list of things God is totally okay with using as a punishment. Because, you know, making people eat each other (along with raping and slaughtering) is "just" and "righteous." But again, this really isn't anything new.

Seriously, this book is almost as horrible to read as Job was. If it's not waxing poetic about the torture and massacre of God's chosen people it's Jeremiah whining incessantly about how he is just so burdened with having to live among these horrid people and how he just wishes he was never born. Sounds like Jeremiah and a few other emotionally tortured dudes in the Bible should get together and start an emo band or something. I must say, though, I second his sentiments about wishing he wasn't born. If he wasn't born I wouldn't have to sit here and read this crap. -_-

Monday: More Jeremiah

Jeremiah 10-15

The Facts (Chapter number: Verse)

Jeremiah 10 - No mention of any women.

11:15 - "What right has my beloved in my house, when she has done vile deeds? Can vows and sacrificial flesh avert your doom? Can you then exult?"
11:22 - "...therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: I am going to punish them; the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine."

12:8-9 - "My heritage has become to me like a lion in the forest; she has lifted up her voice against me - therefore I hate her. Is the hyena greedy for my heritage at my command? Are the birds of prey all around her? Go, assemble all the wild animals; bring them to devour her."

13:18 - "Say to the king and the queen mother: 'Take a lowly seat, for your beautiful crown has come down from your head.'"
13:21-22 - "What will you say when they set as head over you those whom you have trained to be your allies? Will not pangs take hold of you, like those of a woman in labor? And if you say in your heart, 'Why have these things come upon me?' it is for the greatness of your iniquity that your skirts are lifted up, and you are violated."
13:26-27 - "I myself will lift up your skirts over your face, and your shame will be seen. I have seen your abominations, your adulteries and neighings, your shameless prostitutions on the hills of the countryside. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! How long will it be before you are made clean?"

14:2-3 - "Judah mourns and her gates languish; they lie in gloom on the ground, and the cry of Jerusalem goes up. Her nobles send their servants for water; they come to the cisterns, they find no water, they return with their vessels empty."
14:5 - "Even the doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn because there is no grass."
14:16-17 - "And the people to whom they prophesy shall be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword. There shall be no one to bury them - themselves, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. For I will pour out their wickedness upon them. You shall say to them this word; Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease, for the virgin daughter - my people - is struck down with a crushing blow, with a very grievous wound."

15:8-9 - "Their widows became more numerous then the sand of the seas; I have brought against the mothers of youths a destroyer at noonday; I have made anguish and terror fall upon her suddenly. She who bore seven has languished; she has swooned away; her sun went down while it was yet day; she has been shamed and disgraced. And the rest of them I will give to the sword before their enemies, says the Lord."
15:10 - Jeremiah Complains Again and is Reassured

"Woe is me, my mother, that you ever bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me."

My Comments

Well, we're moved in and settled and it's back to blogging. And what a mess I have started back with!

It's been a while since I've even bothered reading the Bible (go figure I don't pick it up for light reading) and I forgot how much abuse female Jerusalem (or the feminized realization of God's people) gets. She is a vile woman cast out of her master's house. She is a loud and proud lion, whose voice her master HATES to hear, and she is a greedy hyena who is best set upon by wild animals which will consume her (not the first woman punished in this way). She is raped as punishment for her indiscretions, her skits lifted up so that she may be violated by her enemies and her shame shown to all. Jersualem is sullied by her adulteries, her prostitutions, her abominations and her master wonders if she shall ever be clean again. She is dried up and laid open for all those who wish to enter (more rape imagery?) She is compared to a fawn that is left by her mother because there is little grass to eat (if you take it the way I did, Jerusalem/Israel is basically God's abortion, which I admit may be stretching it but that's the basic concept there).

And yet the author has the nerve in 14:17 to say, "Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease, for the virgin daughter - my people - is struck down with a crushing blow, with a very grievous wound."

Oh, Israel, look what you have made God do. You were his virgin daughter and it so pains God for him to punish you with rape and wholesale slaughter. But, you know, you made him do it. A man cannot tolerate a vile woman in his house or a woman who would raise her voice to proclaim her own individual thoughts/complaints or a woman who has been so dirtied by her sexual indiscretions. Nevermind that God hasn't been the most attentive husband/father to you which may have led you to seek other support in your times of need. Nevermind God has constantly repaid your devotion and loyalty with 40 year long exiles into the desert or pestilence or mass executions enacted by waring tribes. No, it's the virginal daughter's fault and God will cry himself to sleep at night after condemning her to rape after rape and slaughter after slaughter.

It's really what any loving husband/father would do.

AND YET!

Jeremiah complains again and is reassured?

So I guess a man can complain over and over and over again and he will get reassurance and not condemnation and punishment? Heaven forbid a woman be a lion and lift up her voice against her master. But if one of God's chosen MEN happens to sit around most of the day gritching and whining he'll get a nice pat on the back and some reassurance that evil lady Israel, who is of such concern to Jeremiah, will get her comeuppance.

Wednesday: More Jeremiah

Jeremiah 4-6

The Facts (Chapter number: Verse)

4:16-17 - "Tell the nations, 'Here they are!' Proclaim against Jerusalem, 'Besiegers come from a distant land; they shout against the cities of Judah. They have closed in around her like watchers of a field, because she has rebelled against me, says the Lord.'"
4:31 - "For I hear a cry as of a woman in labor, anguish as of one bringing forth her first child, the cry of daughter Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands, 'Woe is me! I am fainting before killers!'"

5:7-8 - "When I fed them to the full, they committed adultery and trooped to the houses of prostitutes. They were well-fed lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor's wife."

6:2-8 - "I have liked daughter Zion to the loveliest pasture. Shepherds with their flocks shall come against her. They shall pitch their tents in her; they shall pasture, all in their places. 'Prepare war against her; up, and let us attack at noon!' 'Woe to us, for the day declines, the shadows of evening lengthen!' 'Up, and let us attack by night, and destroy her palaces!' For thus says the Lord of hosts: Cut down her trees; cast up a siege ramp against Jerusalem. This is the city that must be punished; there is nothing but oppression within her. As a well keeps its water fresh, so she keeps fresh her wickedness; violence and destruction are heard within her; sickness and wounds are ever before me. Take warning, O Jerusalem, or I shall turn from you in disgust, and make you a desolation, an uninhabited land."
6:11-12 - "But I am full of wrath of the Lord; I am weary of holding it in. Pour it out on the children in the street, and on the gatherings of young men as well; both husband and wife shall be taken, the old folk and the very aged. Their houses shall be turned over to others, their fields and wives together; for I will stretch out my hand against the inhabitants of the land, says the Lord."
6:23-24 - "The grasp the bow and the javelin, they are cruel and have no mercy, their sound is like the roaring sea; they ride on horses equipped like a warrior for battle, against you, O daughter Zion! 'We have heard news of them, our hands fall helpless; anguish has taken hold of us, pain as a woman in labor.'"

My Comments

Is it just me or does it feel like we're basically reading about the rape of Jerusalem/Zion here? A very, very detailed account of the rape Jerusalem/Zion can expect if they do not comply with God's wishes. But we know that God isn't beyond advocating rape as punishment for unruly women. It just goes on and on, poetically even, about the punishment God's daughter city shall have to endure. It's disturbing and disgusting and sometimes it's almost like something you'd read in some serial rapists fantasy notebook. How long does the Bible really need to linger on this? How long before others become uncomfortable as well with the overly sexually abusive language?

Doesn't take long before I'm uncomfortable and quite angry with it. Perhaps they leave this part out during church services, so that others never have to deal with it.

Funny, though, that the daughter cities are the ones paying such a high price when it's their male inhabitants that have a great deal to do with God's displeasure.

"When I fed them to the full, they committed adultery and trooped to the houses of prostitutes. They were well-fed lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor's wife."

Why must the female cities be ravaged and raped on account of male mistakes and sins? Is it because women are always the root of male sin? Women are the reason man fell from paradise, women are the reason that men stray from God and are led down a path of lust, women are the reason that men are born unclean, women are the reason men are tricked and deceived and left weak (like Samson). It seems men's shortcomings can always be blamed on a woman, and generally it's on a woman who is not "pure" and "virtuous".

Jerusalem and Zion were whores to other lands. They couldn't keep their people under control therefore it is their fault that the men in these cities were led astray. Jerusalem and Zion are the ones t fault, not the men who actually engaged in the sinful behavior, therefore it is Jerusalem and Zion who shall pay the price. Honestly, if it was Jerusalem and Zion it would be some other group of women. It would be the prostitutes and adulteresses in the streets or the beautiful daughters of Zion.

Nope, woman just cannot catch a break. So let's sit back and enjoy the word of God as he further delves into the horrid rapes and abuses that he shall allow Jerusalem and Zion to endure until they beg for his forgiveness.

Bonus videos!

There was an episode of 20/20 about IFB (Independent Fundamentalist Baptist) churches and the sexism and sexual abuse that happens in those churches. It's kind of hard to watch, the stories can be so horrible. I don't know if anyone recalls a story that was going around about a girl at one of these churches, when she was 15, having to stand in front of her congregation and apologize for being pregnant after she was raped by a church member. Also a lot of child abuse going on in these churches as well. It's a very interesting episode and worth a watch if you get 40 minutes.

This video is a response that an IFB pastor gave regarding this episode of 20/20. I'm thinking of just permanently posting this at the top of the blog and taking a long vacation because he basically made the point of my entire blog in 3 minutes. Thanks for saving me all that time, asshole.



(h/t Stuff Fundies Like)

And to prove that isn't an isolated incident. This sermon is also referenced in the 20/20 episode.



(h/t Christian Nightmares)

Friday: More Jeremiah