Now it is easy to see why the bible - -as with most other ancient writings - - would treat women as property rather than as people. Might was truly Right in those days.  The strongest man ruled-- he could save you from the enemy, bring home the ox and take whatever he wanted. Women were prime prizes for the victors in battle.   But such an attitude should hardly prevail today, should it? After all, we have learned a lot since then. But it obviously still has strong effect - - consider that even today most cities in Canada have to maintain safe houses for battered women whose partners have become outraged by their acts of ‘disloyalty.’ Women in the sex trade are killed before our eyes without more than a murmur of displeasure.  I think the reason why we cannot seem to get this monkey off our back can be traced to two things.  First, books like the Bible are still taught as if they were contemporary - - to children as well as adults; are still taught as a guide to life. 

·        But it is not so much the bible itself, as its interpretation that has perpetuated this disparaging image of woman.    And no wonder. Consider some of the statements made by some of the most respected Christians as they helped mould  the developing European culture: men who not only immersed  themselves in the bible, but were, at the same time, trying  their damnedest to practice unnatural celibacy. It should be  no surprise to us, therefore, that they would come to see  woman as sore temptress - a particular danger to their  status should they succumb to natural feelings.

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·         As Barbara  W. Tuchman points out , in "A Distant Mirror" (1978): "Woman  (in the 14th century) was the Church’s rival, the temptress,  the distraction, the obstacle to holiness, the Devil’s  decoy."   But long before that we have people like Saint Jerome (Roman theologian, Sermon 354 ) saying: "Holy  virginity is a better thing than conjugal chastity. A mother will hold a lesser place in the Kingdom of heaven, because she has been married, than the daughter, seeing that she is a virgin, but if thy mother has been humble and not proud,  she will have some sort of place..."   ( He also advised women " Virginity can be lost  even by a thought.")  

·        [Saint Jerome; 340-420] 

·         And another wise man proclaimed: "Adam was deceived by Eve, not Eve by Adam.....it is right that he whom that woman induced to sin should assume the role of guide lest he fall again through feminine instability."    

·       (St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, letter 63, 396) (340-397)     

·             And should we think this attitude was unique to the  Catholic religion, consider this wise pronouncement: " God  created Adam master and lord of living creatures, but Eve  spoilt it all, when she persuaded him to set himself above  God’s will. '’Tis you women, with your tricks and artifices,  that lead men into error.'   

·       ( Martin Luther, The bondage of the Will,  DCCXXVII)(1483-1546)         

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·        The point is that it is not so much the bible, but  the interpretation of that bible by these celibates that has  ensured the continued survival of this primitive attitude  towards women into this present day.  Remember, throughout most of these last millenniums, these men were the few who could read and write, and as a result, they have had a profound effect on western literature. Much of that literature hammers home the message that the only trustworthy woman is a humble woman, that women lure innocent man into sin; that women are deceitful by nature.  Every girl grows up with this stereotype drilled into her subconscious .   

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·       And if one thinks this is only true of older  literature, consider the popular movie "Forrest Gump" .in  which the protagonist plays the part of someone who is  obviously favoured by his culture's Deity. Here we see our hero as an obedient, clean minded naiveté. Just what a  god likes in his subjects, and God takes good care of him.             

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·        The author's first significant suggestion that divine intervention is involved is when all the U.S. and  Vietnam firepower combined can't reach our lad. Everyone gets it but our boy, despite heroically exposing himself every which way, as he rushes in to save the wounded and the  dead, over and over again.          But the final proof for his agnostic, legless crewman comes when our inexperienced seaman, with his help, survives a terrible storm despite the fact that all of the other ships were ripped apart by this angry god's fury, even though they were ran by experienced, seasoned seaman .  Leaving our boy alive and super rich. His legless agnostic gets the message here. Who wouldn't?   The moral of this story is that blind obedience pays off. Gods like that. This boy is obedient, follows orders blindly; never questions why; good pious lad and he can obviously have anything his heart desires.    

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·        Well, not quite everything-- for the girl must die.  She has got to go. Why? Because she lured our innocent hero into the sinful act. Just like Eve. Just like Delilah. Boy was born out of wedlock. Can't have her raising the pure son, can we?              So even today, this theme keeps getting hammered into our heads, in one fashion or the other. The story is told to every adolescent girl out there: here is woman and look at the harm she does when she steps out of her stereotyped role as obedient breeder..

·                Unfortunately, most people don't even notice how our literature over the ages has silently implanted this pejorative concept of a woman into our heads, and yes, that  includes too women too. This subliminal message is imbedded in our poetry, in most of the literature that is taught in our schools, in our plays, our shows.    

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·         So what can we Humanists do to help free our children from the effects of all this subtle programming?  The task seems insurmountable.   Even many active feminists  still cling to the bible as their guide, hoping - -futilely,  I think - -that they can revise the more offensive passages  What, if anything, can we do and how do we go about it?  That is the question I'm asking of us today.   And now let me conclude with another quote:

·        "It will  yet be the proud boast of women that they never contributed one line to the Bible."   George W. Foote   and:

·         " As long as woman regards the Bible as the charter of  her rights, she will be the slave of man. The bible was not written by a woman. Within its leaves there is nothing but humiliation and shame for her."  Robert Ingersoll (1833 -1899)