[mukto-mona] Religion... the roots of violence?

Jahed,

I don't remember if you got this article or not.

Ignore it if you did receive it before.

<smiles>

Audrey

Death at Vancouver Airport ... Audrey Manning

 

(Originally published November 26 in the Beacon, a Transcontinental newspaper)

 

             The death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski, at the hands of the RCMP in Vancouver Airport on October 14, 2007, brings the Canadian public face to face with violence. How could such a thing happen in Canada?

The reality is such things happen in Canada on a regular basis. One day it's civilians killing police officers and the next day it's police officers killing civilians.

            How can there be an end to violence when it is virtually impossible to see the big picture? The reality is: we live in a world constructed out of the purest fantasy. This fantasy prevents our obtaining a clear view of the roots of violence.

            

It's not for the lack of trying that violence seems to increase rather than decrease. In my lifetime, countless government dollars have been poured into attempts to address violence. Sadly, the perpetrators of the violence are never factored into the equation. Victims and potential victims get together and raise the roof. Perpetrators are unaware of violence prevention initiatives!

We preach to the converted… the victims. All this does is set up a confrontation paradigm. Educated victims rebel. When victims rebel, perpetrators don't understand why they are being targeted.

            One would think that 2000 years after the death of Christ we could summon up the courage to tell men that they, too, are victims. We should be able to tell them, without incurring wrath or ridicule, that there would be no [drugs, illicit sex or rock and roll] if it weren't for public acceptance of male supremacy.

It's a tough job for men to keep up the master façade! Even if a little voice tells you that what you are doing is wrong, you will defer to your buddies! It's worth noting that if men feel that they aren't "doing it right", this very feeling can push them to overdo it, to show that indeed they are up to what the tradition demands. They believe that when they "get it right" everything will become better. Instead the "right of male authority" breeds unhappiness for all!

             Consider this: are you a person who believes that violent, sexually explicit TV and movies are harmful for children? Do you believe we are lost and should return to the family values of the bible? Would you be horrified if you found your son reading a pornographic magazine but proud and happy if you saw him reading the bible?

            

Let's look at what your son could be reading in the Old Testament:

Genesis 19:7-8: Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing (which was rape his male guests). Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof."

Numbers 31:17-18: Kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.

             Deuteronomy 22:28-29: If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, he shall pay the girl's father fifty shekels of silver.

            

These are but three small examples of the way women are treated in the bible. If your son is told that the bible represents the values that you expect from him, will you be surprised if he treats women less than respectful? People who use the bible (out of context) as the final arbiter see no harm in the actions of men.

             

Genesis 3:16: "Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you". That verse puts the fear of God into women and it's why abused women think that they must have done something wrong to incur their husband's wrath.

The good news is those who believe in Jesus can take comfort from the idea that Jesus tried to save us from the Old Testament. Jesus was a role model. He hung out with prostitutes and women and told everyone not to judge each other. Love everyone was his answer to the woes of the world.

             Leaders afraid to lose their power could never accept Jesus' lifestyle. Generations of leaders have indoctrinated males and females into continuing the Old Testament tradition.

             

Sadly, along with indoctrination comes a pervasive, nagging feeling that something is not right. We are encouraged to dismiss our own feelings, so it's not surprising that the dismissal extends to others. Dismissal and denial of the other's feelings leads to bullying and often the rape and death of women. And sometimes the dismissal of others ends with the inadvertent death of a man in an airport or a young police officer whose mission is to help.

 

The only way to quash momentarily the uneasiness, experienced by all, is with brain candy in the form of sex, alcohol, drugs, power and control. Violence will end when everyone, male and female alike, is free of the prison of male domination.

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