Male Problem or Millennial Problem?

Regarding the male prerogative: to base this on scriptures of any sort is irrelevant and begs the question: MEN, in positions of power over the millennia, clearly encoded their desire to MAINTAIN their power. As so many societies have noted, life is easier if one has a laboring class of some sort, slaves or otherwise. Making the members of that class inferior in some way----not sanctified by a god, or permitted to act for the god or some such----is an easy way to justify maintaining the franchise.

The original line from Exodus was "thou shalt not suffer a POISONER to live." Because, for a nomadic people who lived on the edge of a desert, wells and oases were very important and vulnerable. One could kill off an entire village by poisoning their well. So, it made sense that if someone poisoned the well, you should punish them appropriately.

When King James I ordered his translation of the Bible into English, they translated "poisoner" as "witch", because of the witchcraft hysteria of the time. And, supposedly, his own paranoia about witches and sorcery.

Please note Dr. Silverman's reference to "We know through common sense..." Yes, so much of what we consider as moral behavior can, upon reflection, be based on common sense. If we are to live together in a society, then being moral simply offers the greatest social benefit to all. We need not define or construct our morality on the basis of authority, the Bible, or God. Heck, being moral is just good old fashioned common sense.

The poetry and savagery of the ancients religious texts are a reflexion of human nature, not the cause of it. Nevertheless, dispensing with these ancient stories of creation, tribalism and magic would do much to simplify human life and give us less to quarrel and fight about. They should be relegated to the realm of Norse and Greek mythology -- poetic and entertaining, but not morally instructive.

Nice piece. Silverman is right - holy books do not treat women as equals. Religious leaders who seek equality for women must ignore large part of their own holy books. "Proper interpretation" has nothing to do with it - only by IGNORING scripture can one reach a conclusion that respects human rights.

The problem with religion-based male domination goes further than just males. Countless women are brain-washed into believing that they are inferior, and that God has ordained men to dominate for the good of women.

Religion is just one of many tools that men have used throughout the ages to try to control women. Biology is at the root of man's desire to keep women down. Women know that their offspring carry their genes. Men are not so sure. As the saying goes "Momma's baby, Daddy's maybe." To ensure that they invest in offspring that carry their genes, men have long sought to control women's reproduction. The agenda of the religious right is one obvious case of this.

TWSOUNDSOFF:

"Clearly Mr. Silverman is not a saved Christian. "The only proper interpretation of passages like Exodus 22:12, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live," is to ignore them"?

My goodness this is ridiculous. Ignoring the Word of God is the most sure way to live eternally in Hell. Instead, it should be read exactly as it is and understood to mean just that. Not to mention you have taken this passage terribly out of context in your ignoring of it without looking at what this passage is saying in light of the Scripture around it.
Repent and believe...then you can interpret Scripture. Till then, you have no ability to do so accurately.
"

Good Heavens, man, if you read the passage "exactly as it is and understood to mean just that", how the hell could it be taken out of context? This passage tells Christians to KILL me! Are you good with that?

Two, please, if the only people who can interpret scripture are those who believe in its literal meaning, then no one can interpret it. If it is what it is, then that's what it is. And maybe that's all it is.

None of the Judeo-Christian scripts were written in English, or even modern English. They passed through various translations and modifications to reflect modern language.
Furthermore, language is a very inaccurate summary of reality and its processes. The word tree does not reflect the full process of life and death, unique time and space, of a specific chestnut in your yard. he bird nests that the grandparents of the birds flying around it are missing, as well as the worms and insects inside its trunk. Just like the map of the town you live is not really the town you live.
Words are human inventions, used by humans to communicate with other humans. They change from time to time and place to place to accommodate communication. Cars and airplanes are man-made words to describe a summary of an object. The witch is too! One can argue all women are witches. I like witches, they are sexy. I doubt they fly with a broomstick though! But how do we define a broomstick?

As usual, Herb Silverman is right on target. The comment of twsoundoff is so absurd I am sure someone is trying to be funny. But just in case, I am going to go see if I can find some of those witches I am supposed to kill RIGHT NOW.

TW -
Go ahead and try to suffer THIS witch not to live. I dare you.

Clearly Mr. Silverman is not a saved Christian. "The only proper interpretation of passages like Exodus 22:12, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live," is to ignore them"?

My goodness this is ridiculous. Ignoring the Word of God is the most sure way to live eternally in Hell. Instead, it should be read exactly as it is and understood to mean just that. Not to mention you have taken this passage terribly out of context in your ignoring of it without looking at what this passage is saying in light of the Scripture around it.

Repent and believe...then you can interpret Scripture. Till then, you have no ability to do so accurately.