PAGANISM AND CHRISTIANITY As Saul proselytized to spread the word of God, he saw to it that only circumcised males were eligible to become Christians. During that period, women were treated as commodity. They were sold to the highest bidder in public markets in Rome. This was thousands of years before Gloria Steinem or Eleanor Roosevelt made waves in New York, campaigning for womens rights, particularly the right to vote. In those days women were too naive to have developed the tradition now known as FGM, or female genital mutilation, which is equivalent to male genital circumcision. Until now, this inhuman practice is the bane of present day women, from London to Lagos. Mothers even assist in the mutilation of sensitive parts of female genitalia in utmost secrecy, without the aid of painkillers and antibiotics. Historical accounts fail to disclose if Saul was able to proselytize women. Obviously, their gender did not fall within the group qualified to be converted into Christianity under Jewish tradition. Neither would they qualify under the category of female circumcision, as FGM is not part of Jewish tradition. No written records are available showing that women of antiquity were converted into Christianity like their male counterparts. Written accounts of the works of Saul would show that Christian converts were all males, which was definitely the early sign of male chauvinism. The minimum qualification for conversion set by Saul could be historical parallax, as it presupposed that females were not qualified to become Christians. And this becomes one gray area in the dogma of the Catholic Church. Besides, it is most unseemly that religion should be founded on the rites of male circumcision alone, considering that female circumcision or FGM was already a fully developed practice at the time, and even until now, in African countries like Ethiopia and Nigeria, and even in Europe such as England. All indications would show that genital mutilation, male or female, is of pagan origin, mistaken by the followers of Christ to be a doctrinal qualification for one to be considered Christian, or follower of Christ. Indeed, bodily mutilation has nothing to do with the word of God, comparable only with ones having to undergo self-mutilation as precondition for acceptance into a fraternity. There is no record if body mutilation is a requirement for one to join Muslim Brotherhood. There is no record either showing that Saul received instructions from Jesus as to the specific criterion to be followed in becoming a follower of Christ. Inasmuch as conversion would apply to non-Christians, it appears that only pagans were non-Christians at the time. During those times, trial by ordeal was used as test for ones affiliation, if not innocence of a crime -- not any different from present day qualification for membership in school fraternities. On the local scene, paganistic practices seem to persist. Huge lanterns of varied shapes and sizes are paraded during religious festivities, such as Santacruzan. These artistic oddities simply lack religious significance in the Catholic Church. In the first place, they celebrate nothing, much less any event transpiring during the lifetime of Christ, such as baptism or the last supper. To completely purify religious belief in the country, why not reinvent Christianity, by abhorring all vestiges of paganism? If there is to be liberation, let this be liberation from ignorance. We could begin with this years Santacruzan.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 07:11:49 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015