Circumcision

today, then nothing will. A Somali Poem for survivors of Female Genital Mutilation written by a woman named Dahabo Ali Muse, who is also a survivor of FGM, contained the line "It is what my grandmother called the three feminine sorrows: the day of circumcision, the wedding night and the birth of a baby." And it is this line in the poem, that exhibits the horrors of FGM, that portrays the true agony the survivors feel, the torment that humanity faces when it is forced to abide by a tradition…

group in Jerusalem that was to receive this gift was the “elders.” The most famous elder in the church at Jerusalem was the half-brother of Jesus, James (21:18), who made the delivery of the decision of the leaders of the church concerning circumcision (15:23). In fact, for the first time, the leadership of the early church was now called the “the apostles and the elders” (15:2, 4, 6, 22-23). Paul and Barnabas, after being sent by the church in Antioch on their first missionary journey,…

In the book, Damned Women: Witches and Sinners in Puritan New England, Elizabeth Reis examines the relationship among women, evil, and Puritanism in the seventeenth century New England. Reis not only explains why women were more likely viewed as witches or followers of the Devil but she also explains how men would sin in Puritan New England. In her book, she discusses why even puritans themselves, came to think that they forged a pact with the devil. Elizabeth begins stating that she believed…

Since almost as long as civilization of man dates back women have been treated unfairly. Women were allowed to vote after men, were and still have been discriminated against, and even get lower pay than their counterparts. But in the last few decades women have been taking a stand and fighting back. Women are now fighting to even be able to embrace their sexuality like men can. But in other cultures history has yet to change and women are more unequal than ever in the 21st century. Some say…

In 1789, Olaudah Equiano published his autobiography entitled, The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African. The purpose of the book was to aid the abolitionists in their struggle to abolish slavery. From the beginning of the book, it is apparent that the intended audience of the book are Christians. A quote from the book of Isaiah, containing “Behold, God is my salvation ,” preluded Equiano’s narrative that detailed his life, beginning with his kidnapping as a…

Unlike men “women didn’t have circumcision to revel their ethnicity (experience and expressions 56)”. Jewish women were more likely to pass as non-Jewish women, and live in hiding. Although some women were able to stay out of concentration camps, women in hiding during the holocaust still…

Throughout feudal and medieval Europe, society was stricken with anti-semitic and misogynistic events. Both Jews and females suffered during this time, where scapegoating occurred regularly. Jews filled the role of scapegoats through being blamed for the killing of Christ, killing Christians and performing heretic-like acts. As a result, they have faced the brunt of European brutality, in events such as the First Crusade, Black Death, and Spanish Inquisition. As well, females were seen as…

similar in both countries. Biblical Israel and modern United States were both biblically based societies founded on God (Lipsman). Israel was God’s chosen people, and they were made up of “descendants of Jacob and those who joined Israel through circumcision and keeping the law” (Who Are God’s Chosen People?). He rescued them from the rule of an Egyptian…

In his “Morning Hymn,” Prudentius contrasts God’s blessing with human sin, extolling the redeeming quality of God’s light. He offers a particular characterization of sin, predicating it on perversion of thought, rather than action. As a solution for humanity’s inherent perversion, Prudentius offers the story of Jacob: to him, Jacob was purified through genital injury caused by a harsh God, allowing him to birth the kingdom of Israel. As such, Prudentius’s image of God is grounded in the wrathful…

The book reviewed below is The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible, the author is Scot McKnight, and Zondervan in Grand Rapids, Michigan, published this book in 2008. This book’s organization exists in four parts that discuss three questions and one statement, and each item stands as a subtitle in The Blue Parakeet. The first subtitle stands as Story: What is the Bible?, the second subsists as Listening: What do I do with the Bible?, the third exists as Discerning: How do I Benefit…