Sexual Orientation and the Bible

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer looks at a quote from the Bible, ensuring life to all people regardless of race, sexual orientation or gender. The writer then express her doubt about wheter it it is really as simple as interjecting a unisex pronoun into the Bible in order to diminish the misogynistic undertones. The writer discusses whether women are really seen as equal with the same status and opportunity as men and whether this new age of ideals of Simone de Beauvoir and Virginia Woolf promoting equality for women, stand up to the teachings of the Bible that seemingly contradict them. The writer notes that feminist theorists such as de Beauvoir and Woolf address this problem of men having power over women and the consented ownership that seems to stem from the interpretation of the Bible. The writer maintains that the feminist theory, devoted to breaking the literary cannon, illuminating the problems of being imprisoned within themselves, seem not to stand a chance against the word of God and the morals it imposes.

From the Paper:

"Reading the Bible from a feminist point of view does impose many biases towards the ideas in the Bible. Is it fair to say that because man was made in the image of God he is more worthy, or even that Bible suggests this? Solely based on a difference of interpretation, this can lead to problems and accepted oppression of women. Not only are these ideas found in the Bible, but in all religious texts and beliefs. The belief that men are more like God then women helps to assert the power they have and a divine right to have a God-like rule over women. Sadly, this is what media can do to people and shows how important these texts are and the power they have to poison the mindset of a modern day society. It is difficult to think that we have not moved that much further from the time of Simone de Beauvoir and Virginia Woolf, but the effects that religion has had leave many women not only accepting, but willing to take on the role of subservient, obedient wife. The imposition of these roles that forced many women into silence and seem to date back to the Bible, only strengthen the gap between the sexes because now, men do not want to take the role, but they have to in order to fulfill what the Bible has told them they have to be. How seriously we take the media in our lives, especially as something as controversial as religion, shape how we see each other and the parts we play and any deviation from them results in a need for punishment."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Byfield, Ted and Virginia Byfield. "But What if the Bible's Masculine Imagery Really Does Represent a Heavenly Reality?"Alberta Report23.37 (1996):36.
• Groothuis, Douglas. "What About Those Who Say Christianity Promotes Male Domination over Women?" http://www.ivpress.com/groothuis/doug/archives/00134.php. Copyright 2005. Accessed 28 April, 2008.
• Rice, Philip and Patricia Waugh, eds. Modern Literary Theory. Fourth edition. New York: Oxford University Press Inc., 1989.
• Woolf, Virginia. A Room of One's Own. 1929.
• Gift and Award Bible. New Living: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1988.

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