Men, Women, and Gods; and Other Lectures

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Gardener Helen Hamilton. Men, Women, and Gods; and Other Lectures

INTRODUCTION

MEN, WOMEN, AND GODS

ACCIDENT INSURANCE

CHIEFLY WOMEN

WHY WOMEN SUPPORT IT

WHAT IT TEACHES

THE FRUIT OF THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE

KNOWLEDGE NOT A CRIME

AS MUCH INSPIRED AS ANY OF IT

VICARIOUS ATONEMENT

FEAR

BEGINNING TO THINK

CREEDS

SELF-CONTROL WHAT WE NEED

VICARIOUS ATONEMENT NOT A CHRISTIAN INVENTION

TWIN MONSTERS INHERITED FROM INTELLECTUAL PIGMIES

GEOGRAPHICAL RELIGION

REVELATION

EVIDENCE OF FAITH

DID HE TALK?

WHAT YOU MAY THINK

INTELLECTUAL GAG-LAW

THE VICARIOUS THEORY THE CAUSE OF CRIME

REVISION

THE CHURCH'S MONEY-BOX

SHALL PROGRESS STOP?

HISTORICAL FACTS AND THEOLOGICAL FICTIONS

CHURCH FICTIONS

HISTORICAL FACTS

CIVILIZATION

COMPARATIVE STATUS

WOMEN AS PERSONS

EDUCATION

AS WIVES

NOT WOMAN'S FRIEND

MORALS.60

APPENDIX

Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix C

Appendix D

Appendix E

Appendix F

Appendix G

Appendix H

Appendix I

Appendix J

Appendix K

Appendix L

Appendix M

Appendix N

Appendix O

Appendix P

Appendix Q

Appendix R

Appendix S

Appendix U

Appendix V

ADDRESS TO THE CLERGY AND OTHERS

LETTER TO THE CLEVELAND CONGRESS OF FREETHINKERS, OCTOBER, 1885

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IT is thought strange and particularly shocking by some persons for a woman to question the absolute correctness of the Bible. She is supposed to be able to go through this world with her eyes shut, and her mouth open wide enough to swallow Jonah and the Garden of Eden without making a wry face. It is usually recounted as one of her most beautiful traits of character that she has faith sufficient to float the Ark without inspecting the animals.

So it is thought strange that a woman should object to any of the teachings of the Patriarchs. I claim, however, that if she honestly thinks there is anything wrong about them, she has a right to say so. I claim that I have a right to offer my objections to the Bible from the standpoint of a woman. I think that it is fair, at least, to put the case before you as it looks to me, using the Bible itself as my chief witness. That Book I think degrades and belittles women, and I claim the right to say why I think so. The opposite opinion has been stated by hundreds of people, hundreds of times, for hundreds of years, so that it is only fair that I be allowed to bring in a minority report.

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And do you know there is a law in the Bible* which "the Lord spake unto Moses" that says if a man is jealous of his wife, "whether he have cause or not," he is to take her to a priest, and take a little barley meal (if you ever want to try it, remember it must be barley meal; I don't suppose the priest could tell whether she was guilty or not if you were to take corn meal or hominy grits) and put it in the wife's hands. And the priest is to take some "holy" water and scrape up the dirt off the floor of the Tabernacle, and put the dirt in the water and make the wife drink it. Now just imagine an infinite God getting up a scheme like that! Then the priest curses her and says if she is guilty she shall rot… "and she shall say Amen." That is her defence! Then the priest takes the stuff she has in her hands – this barley-meal "jealousy offering" – and "waves it before the Lord." (I suppose you all know what that part is done for. If you don't, ask some theological student with a number six hat-band; he'll tell you.) And then he burns a pinch of it (that is probably for luck), and at this point it is time to make the woman drink some more of the filthy water (which he does with great alacrity), and "if she be guilty the water will turn bitter within her,"… "and she shall be accursed among her people." (You doubtless perceive that her defence has been most elaborate throughout.) Do you think that water would be bitter to the priest?8

But if she does not complain that the water is bitter, and if her "Amen" is perfectly satisfactory all round, and she be pronounced innocent, what then? Is the husband in any way reproved for his brutality? Did the Lord "reveal" to Moses that he should drink the rest of that holy water and dirt? No! That wasn't in Moses' line. Neither he nor the husband drink the rest of that water – priest doesn't either; they don't even take a pinch of the barley. But after she is subjected to this, and the show is over, "if she be innocent, then shall she go free!" Oh, ye gods! what magnificent generosity! I should have thought they would have hanged her then for being innocent.

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