Zac_A:
Sploom:
Robroy.You say religion is repressive and restrictive and some religions are…but ,given that your comment was aimed at me and we are a sola scripture church,which means we only go by the Bible only,can you tell me where in the Bible this oppression and restrictions are?
Rob might not have that kind of info to hand, but I’ve got some: Check these verses from your precious “good book”: You want to try this malarkey in the modern world? You’ll be strung up by your scrotum (and not in the fun way! 
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u A wife is a man’s property:[/u] You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. Exodus 20:17
u Daughters can be bought and sold:[/u] If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do. Exodus 21:7
u A raped daughter can be sold to her ■■■■■■:[/u] 28 If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, 29 he shall pay her father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the young woman, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives. Deuteronomy 22:28-29
u Collecting wives and ■■■ slaves is a sign of status:[/u] He [Solomon] had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. 1 Kings 11:3
u Used brides deserve death:[/u] If, however the charge is true and no proof of the girl’s virginity can be found, she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. Deuteronomy 22:20-21.
u Women, but only virgins, are to be taken as spoils of war: Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man,[/u] 18 but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man. Numbers 31:17-18
u Menstruating women are spiritually unclean:[/u] 19 “‘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. 20 “‘Anything she lies on during her period will be unclean, and anything she sits on will be unclean. 21 Anyone who touches her bed will be unclean; they must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening. 22 Anyone who touches anything she sits on will be unclean; they must wash their clothes and bathe with water, . . . 30 The priest is to sacrifice one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. In this way he will make atonement for her before the LORD for the uncleanness of her discharge. 31 “‘You must keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean, so they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling my dwelling place,[a] which is among them.’” Leviticus 15: 19-31
u A woman is twice as unclean after giving birth to girl as to a boy:[/u] A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be ceremonially unclean for seven days, just as she is unclean during her monthly period. ‘ 3 On the eighth day the boy is to be circumcised. 4 Then the woman must wait thirty-three days to be purified from her bleeding. She must not touch anything sacred or go to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are over. 5 If she gives birth to a daughter, for two weeks the woman will be unclean, as during her period. Then she must wait sixty-six days to be purified from her bleeding. 6 ” ‘When the days of her purification for a son or daughter are over, she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering. Leviticus 12: 1-8
u A woman’s promise is binding only if her father or husband agrees:[/u] 2 When a man makes a vow to the LORD or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said. 3 “When a young woman still living in her father’s household makes a vow to the LORD or obligates herself by a pledge 4 and her father hears about her vow or pledge but says nothing to her, then all her vows and every pledge by which she obligated herself will stand. 5 But if her father forbids her when he hears about it, none of her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand; the LORD will release her because her father has forbidden her. . . . . A woman’s vow is meaningless unless approved by her husband or father. But if her husband nullifies them when he hears about them, then none of the vows or pledges that came from her lips will stand. Her husband has nullified them, and the LORD will release her. 13 Her husband may confirm or nullify any vow she makes or any sworn pledge to deny herself. Numbers 30:1-16
u Women should be seen not heard:[/u] Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. 1 Corinthians 14:34
u Wives should submit to their husband’s instructions and desires:[/u] Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Colossians 3:18
u In case you missed that submission thing first time around:[/u] Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Ephesians 5:22-24.
A nicely curated selection of verses demonstrating that religion, in this case Christianity, but it applies to Islam as well, is based on and obsessed with women’s ■■■■■■■■■. The role models for Christian women are the Virgin Mary and Eve - talk about being doomed from the start. If anyone is interested in viewing a dramatization of Christian fundamentalism I can recommend The Handmaid’s Tale (Chanel 4 On Demand). Series 1 is very closely based on the novel of the same name which imagines the results of a second American civil war after which America becomes a totalitarian republic run along the lines of the above verses. It’s a tough watch and the scary thing is that Margaret Atwood, the writer, didn’t put anything in the novel that hasn’t already happened somewhere in the world (a lot of it in Iran).
I also come from a Christian background. My dad is a retired CofE vicar. I dabbled in it when younger but didn’t like the guilt, fear and control, nor how very un-Christian so many Christians seemed to be. I’m not a bad person and found the constant cycle of sin and forgiveness discomforting. As for death, what is really so bad about not existing anymore and just going in the earth? We didn’t exist before we were born did we, why is not existing after life any different? (Rhetorical question). I’d rather take responsibility for myself than hand my fate over to God. Too many use God as an excuse for their behaviour. With regard to the comments about submission, it’s all far too open to the individual man’s interpretation. Speaking generally, I don’t doubt that because of the belief that women should submit and obey, there is also the belief that ■■■■ can’t occur within a marriage. You can’t say that you are uncomfortable with your wife being your slave and at the same time expect her to submit to you as they are one and the same thing.
