War on women has serious implications for the death of god.

That there is a war on women occurring in the US has been disputed by some of my more conservative friends.  During the discussion involving such mundane activities as providing evidence, I also tried to introduce some critical thinking by suggesting to them that the war on women has explicit implications for the death of god.

Once I had their attention,  I suggested that this serious implication raises a conundrum.  In certain traditions, god had already been killed!  When did that occur?  How and why would humans want to kill IT again?

The first killing supposedly occurred about 2,000 yrs ago on a cross in Calvary.   According to the concept of the triune Godhead, the father, the son and the holy spirit represent three aspects of the godhead.  The son – also considered to be the messiah and god – was considered to be a political threat to Roman rule and was ordered to be killed by a Roman court.  In carrying out the order, the Roman soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross where he eventually died.  For now, I will reserve any theological discussion on how humans can kill an omniscient and omnipotent god for some future date – after I work out the details.

This supposed series of events were incorporated into a newly created, quasi-historical, political document by a group of human men who also declared the final product to be a new and holy theological scripture which now served  as a replacement for an already existing body of holy documents.  This holy book – now called The New Testament – became institutionalized into a religious belief system with a priestly hierarchy and became a major influence in the subsequent development of western civilization: this hierarchy, with its unsubstantiated, politically oriented, holy book and belief system as its foundation, in turn, had a great impact on the ensuing development of civilizations throughout the world.  The hierarchy also instituted periodic fatal edicts against groups of people who refused (still refuse) to accept its canonical creation as being replete with “infallible” truths, who refuse(d) to accept it as a replacement for existing religious scripture – now derogatorily labeled The Old Testament, and who also refuse(d) to live according to its dictates.  The continuous existence of such stiff-necked people constitute(d) a perpetual threat to the hierarchy and its imposed belief system.  Therefore, from its outset, the hierarchy instituted policies that would cause such obstinate and inflexible people to be subjugated, demonized, dehumanized, even destroyed (think papal statements and decrees as well as special prayers and inclusion in the sponsored educational systems, think institutionalized racism, religious disputations, think gated ghettos and lack of civil rights – inter alia, think wearing of distinctive identification badges, think limiting educational, occupational opportunities, land ownership and legal standing in disputes with the ruling class and true believers – think poisoning of wells, think false blood libel charges, think the Inquisition, think pogroms, think false documents such as The Protocols of the Learned elders of Zion, Think the Dreyfus trial, think the Shoa/Holocaust).

The belief system’s influence with its dire consequences is being felt in this 21st century since the supposed first death of the messiah-god.    The almost success in one situation of the triumvirate – demonization, dehumanization, and destruction – provides the required credence to support the triumvirates adoption and expansion by the larger society so as to be able to be used against any individual or group that dares to act contrary to what constitute the social, political and ethical positions of particular individuals or groups irrespective of their association with the hierarchy.

One of the many overt manifestations of this influence is the attempt of such individuals and groups at controlling virtually all aspects of the lives of women, especially their sexual and reproductive functions.  These warriors consider fertilized ova and ensuing fetuses to be equivalent to post-natal, existing humans.  Hence, the war on women (hereafter, people carrying out this war will be referred to as the Warriors). I am not referring to Thurber’s incomparable gentle humor of the battle between the sexes.  The bombing of abortion clinics and the murder of physicians tending to the specific needs of pregnant women along with the defunding of organizations that provide important health information and services to women is not funny; one could hardly find humor – unless it is of the most macabre type – in such antisocial and uncivilized behavior of Warriors sworn to defend the life of a fertilized ovum even if it endangers the lives of others including the life of the involved, already existing female.

There is at least one logical conclusion that derives from certain actions on the part of these Warriors that may have a humorous overtone.  First a little background.

By now, everyone is, or should be, pretty much aware of Georgia State Representative Bobby Franklin’s (R- Marietta) attempt at introducing legislation, which, according to Lindsay Beyerstein (http://bigthink.com/ideas/31348), “Seeks to Criminalize Unauthorized Vaginal Bleeding.”  Franklin introduced legislation “to investigate all unsupervised miscarriages as crime scenes.”  The relevant language from HB 1:

“When a spontaneous fetal death required to be reported by this Code section occurs without medical attendance at or immediately after the delivery or when inquiry is required by Article 2 of Chapter 16 of Title 45, the ‘Georgia Death Investigation Act,’ the proper investigating official shall investigate the cause of fetal death and shall prepare and file the report within 30 days[...]“

According to Jen Phillips (http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2011/02/miscarriage-death-penalty-georgia) miscarriages and abortions could be punishable by death.  And, it is with this potential death penalty for miscarriages that logic now takes over with perhaps its “dark humor” conclusion.  But first, I am not sure how this law will be implemented:  will women have to report each day of their menstrual flow to some agency to have their flow inspected to see whether or not there was evidence of a miscarriage?  How will it be determined if such a miscarriage involved some deliberate human action?  Yet, the Warriors belong to a class of people who are opposed to big government and are opposed to having government in their lives.  Yet, Franklin’s proposed law would not only greatly enlarge the role of government but also have government intrude into the lives of individuals and families.

But, then again, we are familiar with the cynical, political adage – which seems to fit the image of the Warriors, that government involvement (intrusion?) in the lives of people and their businesses are good, even necessary, for others but not for me.

According to the Warriors, a child is a gift of god.  According to science and medicine, approximately 50% of the conceptuses terminate in a spontaneous miscarriage (abortion).  All too often the female isn’t even aware that she is (was) “pregnant”.  Ergo, the miscarriage or spontaneous abortion becomes an act of  god.  According to Franklin’s proposed law, god would have to be put on trial and, if found guilty, put to death.  How many times will society permit god to murder fertilized ova and fetuses before invoking a death penalty? How many millions of conceptuses and fetus that spontaneously abort will society tolerate?

However, according to New Testament history, god was killed once, but had the audacity to rise from the dead.  Supposing, each time society kills god again, IT continues to rise from the dead and continues to slaughter innocent human fertilized ova and fetuses?  A logical conundrum.  Of course, this theological and practical problem would not exist if there was no god.

Jews are used to putting god on trial: Jews have done that for centuries.   The problem is that god never showed up at the time of the accusations.  But, for the believers of the New Testament, putting god on trial would be a new theological development.

Perhaps the Shadow’s saying:  ”Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?” should be amended as follows: “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of god?”

I suggest that during any discussion of Franklin’s Bill,  we should encourage a discussion of the logical consequences of its   passage.  Perhaps, during such a discussion we would witness the evolution (Oops. Sorry for the slip.  The Warriors are also opposed to evolution.) of a new theology.