OPPRESSION OF WOMEN IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE BIBLE
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"The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children."
Exodus 12:37, Bible (NIV)
Women and children aren't counted as persons in the census, just like livestock.
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"If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do."
Exodus 21:7, Bible (NIV)
Selling your daughter into slavery is fine. As a female, she must never gain freedom.
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"Three times a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord."
Exodus 23:17, Bible (NIV)
God doesn't want to ever see women. Only men.
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"These are the regulations for the guilt offering, which is most holy: ... Any male in a priest's family may eat it"
Leviticus 7:1-6, Bible (NIV)
Females in a priest's family aren't allowed to participate because... females.
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"A woman who... gives birth to a son will be ceremonially unclean for seven days... Then the woman must wait thirty-three days to be purified from her bleeding... 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."
Leviticus 12:2-5, Bible (NIV)
According to God, giving birth to a girl is twice as "unclean" as giving birth to a boy.
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"When a woman has her regular flow of blood, the impurity of her monthly period will last seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean till evening."
Leviticus 15:19, Bible (NIV)
How supportive of God, especially given that this is how women were created by him.
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"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. And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the Lord."
Leviticus 19:20-21, Bible (KJV)
If a man had sex with a female slave engaged to someone else, she must be scourged, but he gets away with just making an offering. What if there was no consent on her side? Who cares...
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"He [priest] must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people, so that he will not defile his offspring"
Leviticus 21:14-15, Bible (NIV)
God treats women as sex toys. He thinks "used" women are no good for priests and will produce faulty offspring. What about "used" men?
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"If anyone makes a special vow to dedicate a person to the Lord by giving the equivalent value, set the value of a male between the ages of twenty and sixty at fifty shekels of silver... for a female, set her value at thirty shekels; for a person between the ages of five and twenty, set the value of a male at twenty shekels and of a female at ten shekels; for a person between one month and five years, set the value of a male at five shekels of silver and that of a female at three shekels of silver; for a person sixty years old or more, set the value of a male at fifteen shekels and of a female at ten shekels."
Leviticus 27:2-7, Bible (NIV)
For those who say men and women have the same value in eyes of the biblical God, here he provides specific numbers: females are worth about half the value of males.
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"The Lord said to Moses... 'if feelings of jealousy come over her husband and he suspects his wife and she is impure — or if he is jealous and suspects her even though she is not impure — then he is to take his wife to the priest... he [priest] shall take some holy water in a clay jar and put some dust from the tabernacle floor into the water... the priest is to put the woman under this curse "[blah-blah]"... The priest is to write these curses on a scroll and then wash them off into the bitter water. He shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse... If she has made herself impure and been unfaithful to her husband, this will be the result:... her abdomen will swell and her womb will miscarry, and she will become a curse.'"
Numbers 5:11-27, Bible (NIV)
God says that if a husband feels jealous and suspects something, he should put his wife under a curse, then make her eat dirt with ink to see if she gets sick or not. Based on that test a conclusion should be made about her faithfulness. There is no need for such tests for males though. This might have been one of the inspirations for witch "trials by water" later on: tie a woman up and throw her into the water. If she floated it meant she was a witch and must be burned at the stake. Also, it's quite an irony that God instructs how to put someone under a curse while commanding to slay wizards.
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"Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife... The anger of the Lord burned against them... When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam's skin was leprous — it became as white as snow."
Numbers 12:1-10, Bible (NIV)
Miriam (a woman) and Aaron (a man) both talked against Moses, but "impartial" God punished only the woman.
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"The daughters of Zelophehad... came forward... and said, 'Our father died in the wilderness... Why should our father's name disappear from his clan because he had no son? Give us property among our father's relatives.' So Moses brought their case before the Lord, and the Lord said to him, 'What Zelophehad's daughters are saying is right... Say to the Israelites, "If a man dies and leaves no son, give his inheritance to his daughter."'"
Numbers 27:1-8, Bible (NIV)
God was adjusting his "perfect" law on the go, as cases were coming up. Unfortunately, his patches still need more patches. In this case, daughters still stayed in a position of second-class children, getting something only if no brothers are alive.
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"If a woman living with her husband makes a vow... Her husband may confirm or nullify any vow she makes"
Numbers 30:10-13, Bible (NIV)
In the biblical world, women can't even make their own promises. Only those approved by men are valid.
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"If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her... he shall pay her father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the young woman"
Deuteronomy 22:28-29, Bible (NIV)
God: "Psst, dude, if you want to marry that cute girl but she's not interested in you, just rape her, pay her dad 50 shekels for 'damaging his property' and she is legally yours now."
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"If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him... and he writes her a certificate of divorce... and sends her from his house, and if... she becomes the wife of another man, and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce ... and sends her from his house... then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled."
Deuteronomy 24:1-4, Bible (NIV)
Biblical fairness: only men can initiate a divorce, and only women are considered "defiled".
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"If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband's brother shall take her and marry her... if a man does not want to marry his brother's wife... his brother's widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his sandals, spit in his face... That man's line shall be known in Israel as The Family of the Unsandaled."
Deuteronomy 25:5, Bible (NIV)
Personal preferences in marriage don't matter to God. The brother of the deceased has an option to decline the marriage though, but the widow is not given a choice.
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"If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts, you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity."
Deuteronomy 25:11-12, Bible (NIV)
The sanctity of male private parts is of the utmost importance. A woman's hand? Pfft... worthless.
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"Some of the wicked men of the city [Gibeah] surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, 'Bring out the man [a Levite] who came to your house so we can have sex with him.' The owner of the house went outside and said to them, 'No, my friends, don't be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don't do this outrageous thing. Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But as for this man, don't do such an outrageous thing.' But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night... When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine... He said to her, 'Get up; let's go.'"
Judges 19:22-28, Bible (NIV)
Two great biblical examples here.
1) The man who offered his daughter to the mob — like "righteous" Lot — because as per biblical standards raping a man is outrageous, but bringing out your daughter and another woman to get gang-raped instead is not outrageous at all; it's fine.
2) The Levite's attitude towards his concubine. The Levite is a positive character in this story. He sent her outside to be raped and abused all night and all he says when he sees her in the morning is "Get up, let's go".
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"'You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife'... the Lord says... 'I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight... before all Israel.'"
2 Samuel 12:9-12, Bible (NIV)
In this episode, God plans to punish the murderer by having his wives raped in a rape show. What can be more unfair than this? Now, there is a part of your brain — the amygdala — and one of its many functions is to protect core beliefs by triggering the creation of excuses, no matter how illogical they are. All people have it, but some take more control over it than others. Do you have enough control over it to admit this biblical unfairness?
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"Sheshan had no sons — only daughters. He had an Egyptian servant named Jarha. Sheshan gave his daughter in marriage to his servant Jarha, and she bore him [the son] Attai."
1 Chronicles 2:34-35, Bible (NIV)
In his neglect of women, biblical god doesn't even mention the name of the daughter through whom sonless Sheshan's lineage was kept in the genealogy list. The name of the servant the inseminator is important enough to be recorded, but the woman who was made an incubator to get a boy in the family is not worth mentioning.
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"Folly is an unruly woman; she is simple and knows nothing."
Proverbs 9:13, Bible (NIV)
The Bible empowers women... to remain enslaved.
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"I found one upright man among a thousand, but not one upright woman among them all."
Ecclesiastes 7:28, Bible (NIV)
Women are inferior to men? No, no, the Bible never says that. Except here and many other places.
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"Youths oppress my people, women rule over them."
Isaiah 3:12, Bible (NIV)
God includes female managers on a list of disasters. Such divine impartiality and empowerment.
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"Their houses will be turned over to others, together with their fields and their wives, when I [God] stretch out my hand against those who live in the land"
Jeremiah 6:12, Bible (NIV)
"They have rejected the word of the Lord... Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners."
Jeremiah 8:9-10, Bible (NIV)
In the Bible, wives are just another type of property, like houses and fields.
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"Jerusalem hath grievously sinned... The Lord hath commanded concerning Jacob, that his adversaries should be round about him: Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman among them."
Lamentations 1:8-17, Bible (KJV)
God despises menstruating women.
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"If a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right, and hath not [blah-blah]... neither hath come near to a menstruous woman"
Ezekiel 18:5-6, Bible (KJV)
In order to be just in God's eyes, you need to avoid approaching menstruous women. So, every day you come to work, make sure to ask all female co-workers if they're menstruous so that you could keep away from those who are and maintain your righteousness.
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"The angel who was speaking to me came forward and said to me, 'Look up and see what is appearing.' I asked, 'What is it?' He replied, 'It is a basket.' And he added, 'This is the iniquity of the people throughout the land.' Then the cover of lead was raised, and there in the basket sat a woman! He said, 'This is wickedness,' and he pushed her back into the basket and pushed its lead cover down on it."
Zechariah 5:5-8, Bible (NIV)
To God, the best representation of wickedness is... a woman.
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"They were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive"
Luke 1:7, Bible (NIV)
Have you noticed that in the Bible only women have fertility problems? God is a bit behind in knowledge of human physiology but far ahead in sexism.
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"When the [40] days of her [Mary's] purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him [Jesus] to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; (As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord)"
Luke 2:22-23, Bible (KJV)
Women become religiously "unclean" for 40 days (e.g. Leviticus 12:2-4) even when giving birth to God. But they don't matter to him anyway since only males are "called holy to the Lord".
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"The head of the woman is man... He is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man... A woman ought to have authority over her own head"
1 Corinthians 11:3-10, Bible (NIV)
The Bible is a textbook on the objectification of women.
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"Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak... 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."
1 Corinthians 14:34-35, Bible (NIV)
Show this passage next time someone tells you that the Bible teaches respect for women. Categorizing women as second-class sub-humans disgraceful to speak is very respectful.
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"Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church... As the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything."
Ephesians 5:22-24, Bible (NIV); similar: Colossians 3:18
"This is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord."
1 Peter 3:5-6, Bible (NIV)
In the biblical world women never belong to themselves. Before marriage, they belong to their fathers and must submit to them in everything. After marriage, they belong to their husbands and must submit to them in everything. This is ugly oppression, no matter how you sugarcoat it.
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"As for younger widows... when their sensual desires overcome their dedication to Christ, they want to marry. Thus they bring judgment on themselves, because they have broken their first pledge. Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also busybodies who talk nonsense, saying things they ought not to... Some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan."
1 Timothy 5:11-15, Bible (NIV)
Young widowers (males) are not given such a generalized characteristic. Why? Because the Bible is a sexist book written by misogynistic people.
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"Ordain elders in every city... If any be blameless, the husband of one wife..."
Titus 1:5-6, Bible (KJV)
God doesn't want to even give a chance to women to qualify for public roles. Only men (husbands).
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"Wives... submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives"
1 Peter 3:1, Bible (NIV)
"Teach the young women to be... obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed."
Titus 2:4-5, Bible (KJV)
God Yahweh: "Since I'm impotent to generate any solid reason to believe in me, I need one category of people to be dominated by another category of people; it'll help to make them believe my delusion"
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"I looked, and there before me was the Lamb [Jesus]... and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads... And they sang a new song... No one could learn the song except the 144,000... These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins."
Revelation 14:1-4, Bible (NIV)
God gave people the tendency to have sex and commanded to multiply, but turns out this was a bad idea because he doesn't like when they do. Being with a woman "defiles" the man. Oh, those goddamn women.
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THERE ARE MORE VERSES IN A SIMILAR VEIN BUT THE ONES ABOVE ARE ENOUGH TO MAKE THE POINT