Minorities

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A Short History of Myth, part 3

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This darkly pessimistic view on goddesses is most exemplified in Armstrong’s version of the myths of Inanna. I’ve had the pleasure of reading some rather good translations of these myths, translations which scholars themselves laud. Inanna, the Queen of Heaven and Earth, Love and War, is clearly a goddess of life, death, and rebirth, moving…

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A Short History of Myth, part 2

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Blatant and inaccurate double standards As I’ve previously noted, I was not happy with how the second chapter was progressing. To my increasing dismay, things only got worse: we are introduced to the so-called original “High God” or “Sky God” of the “ancient Mesopotamians, Vedic Indians, Greeks and Canaanites,” which is a “primitive monotheism” Armstrong…

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A Short History of Myth, part 1

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The first book by Karen Armstrong which I read was A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It was absolutely amazing to me — chock-full of new ideas, fascinating religious philosophy, and beautiful writing. Since then I have read a few others as well by Armstrong, and I was delighted…

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Is my reality actually real, or is it privileged?

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I just finished listening to an utterly fascinating interview on a blogradio with a man named Allan Johnson. I’m very interested in hearing what others think of it as well. Rarely have I heard a man with such patience and empathy so clear in his very voice, let alone his words; he actually had me…

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Les Guérillères (pt. 3)

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In effect, those two verses were where the author wrote Truth as she knew it, and that’s why those verses shone. Unfortunately, since we’ve not yet seen the end of this conflict, and she had to describe that ‘victory’ metaphorically, she couldn’t write a truth for that — it hasn’t happened yet. Here’s the second…

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Les Guérillères (pt. 2)

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Oppression & technology The previously mentioned example is not the only instance of the co-existence of both a lack of, and a distinct awareness of, knowledge regarding a particular object or subject. For example, there’s also how technology is treated in these prose tales. Initially there’s the occasional reference to commonplace technology, although sometimes the…

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Les Guérillères (pt. 1)

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(“The Warrior Women”) by Monique Wittig translated by David Le Vay (first reviewed April 2005) Wittig’s book, quite frankly, puzzles me — or perhaps it’s simply the hype which I find misplaced. I picked it up because I read it was, in 1969, one of the first appropriations of the Amazonian utopia legend by the…

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Follow-up thoughts, pt. 2

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So in quick synopsis, as far as I can tell, people stick with harmful doctrines (such as religions which label you guilty simply on the basis of something completely out of your control, such as gender) because they truly believe the doctrine is correct, because they’re refusing to be pushed into something they’re not ready…

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Follow-up thoughts, pt. 1

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I have been asked why I put so much time and thought into my critique of WomanChrist. As one friend put it, at least the book suggests a more feminist christianity, so why do I not like it more? As I noted to the friend (in a very enjoyable and thoughtful discussion over lunch), I…

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WomanChrist (5 of 8)

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I found myself wondering, in fact, just how much abuse women were supposed to put up with. When was the pain supposed to stop? When the Church changed? I don’t see that happening any time soon, especially considering the Church’s current appalling clerical record. From ignoring and abetting pedophilia by priests, to treating the ordination…