WOMEN: A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE

There is a general tendency in the 'middle east' and the धार्मिक (dharmic i.e. Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism) civilizations to assume that the freedom that women in the west enjoy is due to Christianity. 

Nothing could be farther from truth. The freedom that women enjoy in the west, is despite Christianity and not due to Christian dogmas. The wave of 'free thinking' that swept through the west in the last 2-3 centuries provided the atmosphere to break through the oppressive regime of the church. It resulted in advancement in all aspects of humanity viz. status of women, sciences and art.

One has to just look at the books of Christianity to find out the truth. Although the new testament is a little mellowed down in its treatment of 'others' when compared to old testament, still, as far as status of women is concerned, the contempt for the half of humanity is visible. Take a look.

NEW TESTAMENT ON WOMEN

1 Corinthians 11/3 (link)

Now I want you to realize that the Messiah is the head of every man, and man is the head of the woman, and God is the head of the Messiah. 

तुम ये जान लो कि मसीह का स्वामी गौड है, मसीह हर पुरुष का स्वामी है और हर महिला का स्वामी उसका पति है |

1 Corinthians 14 (link)

34. Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. 

३४. चर्च में महिलाओं को चुप रहना चाहिए. इसाई विधान के अनुसार उन्हें बोलने की आज्ञा नहीं है बल्कि अधीन बने रहना चाहिए |

35. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.

३५. यदि वो कुछ पूछना चाहती हैं तो अपने पति से, घर जा कर पूछें ; क्योंकि कोई महिला चर्च में बोले तो ये चर्च का अपमान है |

1 Timothy 2 (link)

11. A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness.

११. नारियों को चाहिए कि वो चुपचाप, पूर्ण अधीनता से केवल सुने |

12. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. 

१२. मेरी आज्ञा नहीं है कि वो पढ़ाये अथवा पुरुषों पर प्रभाव रखे, उसे तो केवल चुप रहना है |

13. For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. 

१३. क्योंकि आदम का निर्माण इव से पहले हुआ था|

14. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. 

१४. और आदम ने धोखा नहीं खाया था, ये तो नारी ने ही धोखा खाया था इसलिए सीमा का उल्लंघन कर के गिर गयी |

15. But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.

१५. किन्तु इस पर भी महिलायें, बच्चे पैदा करने के लिए बची रहेंगी यदि वो श्रद्धा, प्रेम, पवित्रता एवं आत्म नियंत्रण रखेंगी |

OLD TESTAMENT ON WOMEN

The old testament also holds women in the same contempt. Here are a few glimpses.

Deuteronomy 24 (link)

1. If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house,

१. यदि कोई पुरुष किसी महिला से विवाह करने के उपरान्त उसमें कुछ अनुचित पाता है और इससे वो खिन्न हो जाता है, तो वो उसे एक सम्बन्ध विच्छेद पत्र (तलाकनामा एक अरबी शब्द है : हिंदी अथवा संस्कृत में ऐसा कोई शब्द नहीं है) लिख कर उसे थमा दे और उसे घर से निकाल दे,

2. And if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man,

२. और उसके घर से जाने के उपरान्त यदि वो किसी और की बीवी बन जाती है,

3. And her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, or if he dies,

३. और यदि उसका दूसरा पति भी उसे नापसंद करके उसे एक तलाकनामा लिख कर निकाल देता है, अथवा मर जाता है,

4. Then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the LORD. Do not bring sin upon the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

४. तो उसके पहले पति को, जिसने उसे तलाक़ दिया था, उससे पुनः विवाह नहीं करना है क्योंकि वो अशुद्ध हो चुकी है. ये तुम्हारे लॉर्ड की नज़र में एक घिनौना कार्य होगा| उस जगह में पाप मत फैलायो जो तुम्हें तुम्हारे लॉर्ड गौड ने दी है |

Genesis - 3/16 (link)

To the woman he (God) said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”

और महिला से गौड ने कहा, "मैंने निश्चय कर लिया है कि मैं प्रसव के समय तुम्हें होने वाली पीड़ा को कई गुणा बढ़ा दूंगा, तुम पीड़ा सहन करके ही संतान उत्पन्न कर सकोगी | तुम अपने पति की इच्छा करोगी, वो तुम्हारे ऊपर शासन करेगा |

Exodus - 21 (link)

7. “If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do.

७. यदि कोई आदमी अपनी बेटी को नौकर के रूप में बेच देता है तो उसे पुरुष नौकर की भांति मुक्त नहीं किया जा सकता |

8. If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself, he must let her be redeemed.

८. यदि वो अपने स्वामी को, जिसने उसे चुना है, आनंद नहीं दे सकती, तो स्वामी उसे बेच कर अपना धन ले सकता है |

Leviticus - 12 (link)

1. The LORD said to Moses,

१. लॉर्ड ने मूसा से कहा,

2 “Say to the Israelites: ‘A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be ceremonially unclean for seven days, 

२. इसराइलियों से कह दो: 'जब कोई महिला एक लड़के को जनती है तो वो सात दिनों के लिए गन्दी हो जाती है,

4. Then the woman must wait thirty-three days to be purified,

४. इसके पश्चात उसे पवित्र होने में ३३ दिन लगते हैं  

5. If she gives birth to a daughter, for two weeks the woman will be unclean ...Then she must wait sixty-six days to be purified from her bleeding.

५. यदि वो कन्या को जनती है तो वो दो सप्ताह के लिए गन्दी हो जाती है....उसे पवित्र होने में ६६ दिन लगते हैं.

Leviticus - 19/20 (link)

And whosoever lieth carnally with a woman, that [is] a bondmaid, betrothed to an husband, and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her; she shall be scourged; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free.

यदि कोई पुरुष किसी ऐसी महिला के साथ सम्भोग (बलात्कार) करता है जो की गुलाम है और किसी से सगाई कर चुकी है और उसे (उसकी कीमत ले कर) मुक्त नहीं किया गया है तो उसे कठोर दंड दिया जाएगा | उनकी हत्या नहीं की जायेगी क्योंकि वो मुक्त नहीं थी |

(यहाँ उल्लेखनीय है कि दंड बलात्कारी को नहीं दिया जाएगा बल्कि महिला को दिया जाएगा)

HATRED FOR HINDU SYMBOLS BECOMES OFFICIAL

The following circular has been circulated by Shiney Thomas of Muthoot. It dictates the dress code for the employees of the firm. It is not only fundamentalist but also against our constitution.

The reason given for hatred for Bindi and Tilak is that the

dress should be formal, neat clean and generally acceptable.

Acceptable to whom?
The pope!
Maybe.

Is it surprising that the symbols of a old civilization are viewed with venomous hatred by imperialistic creeds?
Now that most of the urban and semi urban population has been secularized by the Christian controlled media and education of our nation, the next logical step is to gradually phase out Hindu symbols. Or at least make them feel guilty of them.
The final blow of Christianization will come a little later.

'Muthoot finance ' is a company owned by Catholic Christians, who are considered to be the most fundamentalist. All its directors are Catholic Christians.

One of its directors M.G.George Muthoot is a

member of the Managing Committee of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church for over 31 years and is presently the lay trustee of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and a member of the working committee of the Indian Orthodox Church. Recently, he was conferred the HH Baselios Mathew I Award by Catholicate of the Syrian Orthodox Church Mathews the First Foundation for the year 2008 for his services to the Church.

as claimed by the website of the company.

No wonder that he has contributed 22,00,000/- rupees to the church on the Catholicate day.

IDOLATORY - SWAMI VIVEKANAND AND BIBLE

Listen to these words of Swami Vivekanand.

It has become a trite saying that idolatry is wrong and every man swallows it without questioning. I once thought so, and to pay the penalty of that I had to learn my lesson sitting at the feet of a man who realised everything through idols. I allude to Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. If such Ramakrishna Paramahamsas are produced by idol-worship, what will you have - the reformer’s creed or any number of idols? I want an answer. 

Take a thousand idols more if you can produce Ramakrishna Paramahamsas through idol-worship, and may God speed you! Produce such noble natures by any means you can. 

Yet idolatry is condemned! Why? Nobody knows. 

Because some hundreds of years ago some man of Jewish blood happened to condemn it? That is, he happened to condemn everybody else’s idols except his own. If God is represented in any beautiful form or any symbolic form, said the Jew, it is awfully bad; it is sin. But if He is represented in the form of a chest, with two angels sitting on each side, and a cloud hanging over it, it is the holy of holies. If God comes in the form of a dove, it is holy. But if He comes in the form of a cow, it is heathen superstition; condemn it!

Like most of the urban youth of today, Swami Vivekanand (earlier name - Narender Nath) was a product of missionary school. The fact reflects in the earlier part of his statement. But he was strong and aware enough to get out of the fraud.

In the intervening period of more then a century, missionaries have tightened their grip over the Hindu psyche to such an extent that they take pride in being what the missionary schools and our education system wants them to be. Secular. 

The effect is so profound that something so base as Bible has started gaining acceptance as a 'holy' book. 

The classic case of 'An oft repeated lie becomes truth'.

Let us see in what tone the Bible talks about Hindus. Five hundred years ago, the term idolaters would have included Mayans and Incas also but they have been wiped out by Christians, only Hindus are left.

The following extract is from the New International Version of Bible. It is chapter 10 of 1 Corinthians, which is a part of the new testament.

1. For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea.

2. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

3. They all ate the same spiritual food

4. and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.

5. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

(Are we talking about the God of mercy?)

6. Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.

(It is like a teacher slapping Vijay to teach a lesson to Ajay)

7. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.”

8. We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.

(The 'God' is taking pride in killing 23,000 of his own creation in a day)

9. We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes.

(Can anyone even test God?)

10. And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.

(God acting as a bully?)

11. These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.

12. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!

13. No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

14. Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.

(Why is this God so jealous of idolatry?)

15. I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.

16. Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?

(Can drinking blood and eating flesh be considered civilized?)

17. Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.

18. Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar?

19. Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything?

20. No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons.

(Who created these demons? Were they created by God?)

21. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons.

22. Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

23. “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive.

24. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.

25. Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience,

26. for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”

27. If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience.

28. But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, both for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience.

29. I am referring to the other person’s conscience, not yours. For why is my freedom being judged by another’s conscience?

30. If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?

31. So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

32. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God—

33. even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.

One can derive the conclusion that these are rumblings of some barbaric man claiming to be God, or can think otherwise!