Things We Said Today

I saw Fellow Seeker and Skeptic today. I sat and listened while the two of them debated whether or not it is a good idea to baptize a child. Fellow Seeker, having a similar experience to mine (Christian upbringing, current questioning period), feels that it is important not for its religious implications but for its sense of community. He looks at it as a celebration of the child's birth. Skeptic disagrees. He feels that it is putting a child into something it doesn't understand and consequently can't accept or object to. He thinks that it is important not to impose any of your beliefs on a child whatsoever. I can see both of their points. I would baptize my child, though, for the sake of tradition. Christianity is so ingrained in me, isn't it?

After S. left, F.S. and I had another discussion. He is reading Doubt, a History: The Great Doubters and Their Legacy of Innovation from Socrates and Jesus to Thomas Jefferson and Emily Dickinson. You can imagine how interesting it is to talk to him while he's reading it. He said to me, "I never realized how sexist the Bible is, but wow, it really is. Eve is not created for her own innate (funny word to use, don't you think?) worth, but only because Adam needed something." He raised an issue that is one of my major concerns about Christianity. The Bible is, without a doubt, clear on women's role in the world. What does one do if they don't agree with it? Disregard the Bible? If you were raised as a devout Christian, you know it is not as simple as that. Some key verses to consider:

"[W]omen should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church."
-1 Corinthians 14:34-35-

"Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything."
-Ephesians 5:22-24-

"Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety."
-1 Timothy 2:11-15-