Michael Abrahams | Putrid pastoral patriarchy

“You so-called Christian-looking whores. Jumping in some church, flapping your ankle chains around. All on the choir, breasts hanging out, lips all red. Nails painted red, purple, blue, green. Long like bird claws. All this fake hair, breast implants, toenails painted with little fake diamonds in it. Your toes ain’t richer. You’re nothing but a prostitute. 

“Go to church now, go to church. You’re nothing but a singing ho, a shouting ho, an organ-playing ho, a choir director ho. Hey, hey, preacher, preacher, preacher. If what I just said describes your wife, you’re married to a ho.”

Above are the words of Pastor Gino Jennings, an American televangelist, as he preached in a televised church service, lambasting women who dared to adorn themselves with nail polish, makeup and other accessories to enhance their appearance. Jennings is just one of several clergy who have recently made statements regarding women that reek of disrespect, insensitivity and sheer stupidity.

The Reverend Aaron Dumas, whose column Tell Me Pastor appears in The STAR newspaper, recently advised a young woman who was raped by her sister’s boyfriend when she was a minor to attend the wedding of her sister and her rapist and to not say anything to her sibling about the heinous crime for now.

Peter Espeut, a Roman Catholic deacon, recently said that women who are raped should carry the pregnancies of their rapists.

In my opinion, these men are chauvinistic ignoramuses. However, I am not surprised by their asinine statements, because if they are influenced by the Holy Bible, believe that it is the Word of God, and that God is perfect and is to be obeyed, one can see how this mindset can develop and be nurtured.

The painful truth is that religion provides an environment, a safe space, in which patriarchy (women being excluded from positions of power, authority, or decision-making) and misogyny (dislike of, contempt for, or prejudice against women) can thrive. If you take the time to read the entire Bible, from beginning to end, you will find that, in the tome, women are viewed as possessions, and that their feelings and opinions are of little relevance.

From the first book of the Bible, Genesis, it is apparent that woman was an afterthought.

After God created man (Adam), he created a menagerie of animals. It then occurred to God, who is supposed to know everything, that Adam needed companionship. So, woman was created - from one of Adam's ribs - suggesting that women owe men for their very existence on the planet. 

Women and their bodies were not valued or respected back then. For example, when a mob wanted to rape two angels at Lot’s house, he offered up his virgin daughters instead. Later, in 2 Peter, Lot was described as "just" and "righteous".

Moses said that if in war, you capture a beautiful woman and want her, you should take her home and "go in unto her", but that "if you have no delight in her", you should "let her go".

He also said that if a man rapes a virgin and they are discovered, he should pay her father and marry her, and that if a man marries a woman and realises that she is not a virgin, she is to be stoned to death for “playing the whore in her father's house". No consequences were prescribed for men who were not virgins at the time of marriage. 

The bias against women continues in the New Testament. There is a story about a woman caught in adultery who was about to be stoned, when Jesus intervened and defended her. It takes at least two people to commit adultery. However, no mention was made of the man she transgressed with. Paul also declared that women should remain silent in church and that they should not be given authority to teach men anything. 

The men who wrote the books in the Bible were not knowledgeable about the anatomy, physiology and psychology of women, and did not appear to be interested in learning much about them either. It was all about rules made by men and ascribed to God. 

So, if this collection of archaic books is used as a guide to morality and how women should be treated, the sexist attitudes of some clergy today ought not to be alarming. Bible-based faith has done little to advance the well-being of women. When the abortion debate arises, the Church intervenes to dictate to women what to do with their bodies. When marital rape is discussed, one of the loudest voices rubbishing the concept emanates from the Church.

Some church-based institutions are prejudicial against women who conceive out of wedlock, while unmarried men who impregnate women are given a pass. Over the past two years, I looked after two women employed to an institution affiliated with a church who were sent on leave from work, when it was discovered that they were pregnant, because they were unmarried. 

Earlier this year, a man employed to the same institution called and asked me to see his girlfriend, who was in an advanced stage of pregnancy. Like the two women who were sent on leave, he, too, had sex outside of marriage and will be an unwed parent, but he has no belly to show, so his job is safe.    

When I see women dressed in their Sunday best, going to church, clutching their Bibles, I wonder how many of them actually read it independently and objectively. Maybe if more of them did they would not revere it as much as they do. 

- Michael Abrahams is a gynaecologist and obstetrician, comedian and poet. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and michabe_1999@hotmail.com, or tweet @mikeyabrahams