Let me give one example of what I mean when I say that religions are sexist. I will have to discuss an example from the Bible, not because I think that the Bible is more sexist than any other holy book, but because the Bible is the holy book that I know by far the best.
Let us talk about Joseph Fritzl, the Austrian man who held his daughter captive in his cellar for twenty-four years, raped her repeatedly and conceived seven children with her. (One of those children died, by the way, but it might have been saved if Fritzl had allowed his daughter to give birth in a hospital.) Did Fritzl sin when he treated his daughter and the children he conceived by her like this? That is not certain, not if you judge by what the Bible says.
In Leviticus 18, the Bible defines what incest is. In Leviticus 18:6, it says:
'No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the LORD.
Well, that certainly sounds as if what Joseph Fritzl did to his daughter was a sin. But let's not jump to conclusions. The Bible then details exactly what sexual relations are forbidden:
'Do not dishonor your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; do not have relations with her.
All right. A son is not allowed to have sex with his mother. Well, Joseph Fritzl didn't do that.
'Do not have sexual relations with your father's wife; that would dishonor your father.
And not with his stepmother, either. Joseph Fritzl didn't do that.
'Do not have sexual relations with your sister, either your father's daughter or your mother's daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere.
And a brother can't have sex with his sister. Joseph Fritzl didn't do it.
'Do not have sexual relations with your son's daughter or your daughter's daughter; that would dishonor you.
And a grandfather can't have sex with his granddaughter. Jospeh Fritzl probably didn't do it, although we can't be sure.
11 " 'Do not have sexual relations with the daughter of your father's wife, born to your father; she is your sister.
A man may not have sex with his stepsister. Joseph Fritzl didn't do it.
12 " 'Do not have sexual relations with your father's sister; she is your father's close relative.
And he may not have sex with his aunts on his father's side. Jospeh Fritzl didn't do it.
13 " 'Do not have sexual relations with your mother's sister, because she is your mother's close relative.
And not with his aunts on his mother's side. Jospeh Fritzl didn't do it.
14 " 'Do not dishonor your father's brother by approaching his wife to have sexual relations; she is your aunt.
And he may not have sex with his uncle's wife. Jospeh Fritzl didn't do it.
15 " 'Do not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your son's wife; do not have relations with her.
And not with his daughter-in-law. Joseph Fritzl didn't do it.
16 " 'Do not have sexual relations with your brother's wife; that would dishonor your brother.
And not with his sister-in-law. Jospeh Fritzl didn't do it.
17 " 'Do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. Do not have sexual relations with either her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter; they are her close relatives. That is wickedness.
All right! Finally we come across something. A man is not allowed to be in a sexual relationship with a woman and her daughter at the same time. All that really means, however, is that Joseph Fritzl committed a sin if he was sleeping with his wife Rose-Marie during the same period as he was sleeping with Rose-Marie's daughter Elizabeth. If he no longer had sex with Rose-Marie while he was sleeping with Elizabeth, he probably didn't commit a sin.
Here's the thing: The Bible does
not specifically forbid a man to have sex with his daughter. All other close relatives are forbidden as sex partners, but nothing specific is said to forbid a man to have sex with his daughter. And therefore, according to the Bible, it is in fact possible that Joseph Fritzl didn't commit incest when he had sex with his daughter Elizabeth.
Why would the Bible not specifically forbid a man to have sex with his daughter? Well, the Bible makes it clear that a daughter is her father's property, and he can treat her pretty much as he pleases. For example, the Bible shows us that Lot negotiates with rapists by promising to hand over his daughters to them, so that the rapists can rape his daughters, if only they will leave his male guests in peace. Another man, Jephthah, kills his own daughter and gives her to God as a burnt offering to thank God for his victory in war. Fathers are also allowed to sell their daughters as slaves, but the rules are different for male and female slaves:
2 "If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything.
...
7 "If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as menservants do.
To me this means that if a father sells his daughter as a slave, he sells her into eternal captivity. So what about the fact that Jospeh Fritzl kept his daughter in captivity for twenty-four years? Nowhere in the Bible does it say that a father is not allowed to keep his daughter in captivity. So, according to the Bible, did Jospeh Fritzl really do anything wrong? Would he have been judged by the men of the Old Testament? Quite possibly not. If those men judged Jospeh Fritzl for anything, it would probably be for being in a sexual relationship with his wife at the same time as he was sleeping with his wife's daughter, and for keeping three of his sons in captivity for more than six years.
Anyway, is there a particular reason for why the Bible does not specifically forbid men to have sex with their daughters? In my opinion, this is a crystal clear case of sexism. Men who lived at the time when the Old Testament was written may have thought it was a good idea to be allowed to have sex with their own daughters if they wanted to. By not forbidding other men to sleep with their daughters, these men gave themselves the right to rape their own daughters, too.
And that is one piece of evidence that the Bible is often very sexist.
Ann
P.S. I've said it before, but it bears repeating. Even though the overall message of the Bible is sexist, not everything in the Bible is sexist. Jesus is quite remarkably non-sexist. It's too bad that Christianity has chosen to listen more to Paul, who was a realiable sexist, than to Jesus, who treated men and women amazingly equally.
