Before and after
their entry into the land of Canaan, the Law was spoken to the people
of Israel. Laws of proper worship, dietary restrictions, proper
conduct and the social mandate to not oppress the alien, poor,
orphans and widows. The Law as a whole was targeted to make Israel a
holy nation chosen by YHWH making them very different from that of
the nations around them. Their example was to show the world another
way to live. What is interesting is that the laws work together in
ways that are not as clear cut when looking at them individually. The
example that will be focused on is the way the laws of proper sexual
conduct and worship should have worked in tandem with the social
mandate to nullify the highly sexualised Baal worship. The
ramifications of this unifying mission call for a gathering of the
disparate and splintered offensives that even today focus on single
aspects of the Kingdom of God.
In Glasser's
Announcing the Kingdom he documents the spiralling descent of the
people of Israel as they “reacted against the ethical and
egalitarian demands of the worship of YHWH.” (Glasser,2003:115,).
They were supposed to be the chosen holy nation of God, a royal
priesthood, an example to the nations of what a people can do when
they follow God completely. Among their failing was the unheeded call
of Deuteronomy 15:11 to be generous to those in need. That because of
his/her devotion to YHWH he/she will have a social conscious and look
after those in need, the weak, the poor, the widows, orphans and
strangers in the land ( Glasser, 2003:117-118). In contrast to this
utopia was the rule of domination and oppression upheld by the rule
and worship of Baals. Against the command to do justice and love
mercy was the Baal support of authority and dominion of a select few
over all others. Injustice, oppression, monarchical rule, centralised
power, wealth and land ownership these were the hallmarks of those
who like the Israelite Kings followed the Baal's (Jeyaraj,147:2008).
Christopher Wright in Old Testament Ethics for the People of God
states that if these hallmarks of Baal worship are in your society,
if your country shows lack of compassion, greed, sexual and physical
violence, then, whoever you think you are worshiping it is not the
Lord. To simplify it if you chose the wrong God you got the wrong
society (Wright, 2004: 59). It is by their existence in the land
through God's egalitarian society that God would reveal
himself.(Wright, 2004: 61) Israel's exclusivity to YHWH alone should
have affected their entire society at every level of their existence.
Any taint any syncretism or apostasy would resulted in failure and
the fruit of failure were the hallmarks of Baal.
One of the
attractors to Baal worship was the link between the farming practice
and the worship of gods of fertility. Israel were not traditionally
farmers they were herders of cattle they learned the practices from
those in the land how to farm. This also involved the religious
practices as well which were highly sexualised (Jeyaraj, 2008: 141).
Compared to other gods YHWH has no distinct sexual nature (Glasser,
2003: 116), unlike the Baal's there is no female god to match with
YHWH. Worship of these other gods often involved orgiastic rites and
or temple prostitutes. Of course, many Israelites joined in while at
the same time still offering sacrifices to YHWH such syncretism was
pointed out by the prophets like Hosea (Hosea 4:11-14). The result of
this syncretism was a gradual deterioration of society where Amos
calls for the people to hate evil, love good and maintain justice in
the courts (Amos 5:15).
The obvious
difference between worship of YHWH and that of the Baals should have
been seen and reacted against. However, as is well known this day sex
sells. What sex creates though is children as the women who are part
of the temple worship give birth to fatherless unsupported children.
These children either become part of the temple practice or are
surplus (possibly sold into slavery). Worship of YHWH does not bring
about fatherless children and adherence to the laws of sexual purity
avoid this too. Such laws were to halt the demand for this style of
worship, but the laws of YHWH also deal with protecting the poor,
weak and oppressed. Even the stranger was to be respected and offered
the same protection as one of Israel (Glasser, 2003: 120). The
disenfranchised of society embodied by the widow were people who were
to be looked after and given the “reasonable livelihood”(Glasser,
2003: 88) that they had been deprived of by oppression and slavery.
Who is more disenfranchised than the prostitutes and slaves coming
from the temple to serve whomever comes to worship Baal? Their
children are just grist for the mill poured back into the same
service as their mothers. If, as is stated by the Genesis creation
story that all people are from the same source and there is no higher
or lower person, then, these people are worth releasing from this
oppression. We have clear indication that such women were on two
occasions incorporated into Israel in Rahab and Ruth and they are in
the line of David. As is Tamar, who herself had to trick Judah into
giving her a child by acting as a prostitute (Acosta, 2010: 65). Add
to this list of heralded women Esther and Judith who were been used
by YHWH to free his people from slaughter. These women were operating
outside of the established purity laws of YHWH himself. How are these
women any different to the temple prostitutes? Should not the laws of
liberation be offered to them as well as the fatherless children of
Israel produced by the false worship of Baal? Just imagine the
temples of Baal emptied of those who wish to escape to the liberation
offered by the people of YHWH. As they are enabled and given
reasonable livelihood and protected within the tribal utopia word
gets out about this promised people and their egalitarian and ethical
society. Is this not the light for all the world to see?
Liberation and
Purity - overcoming the objectification and oppression
There is an over
emphasis on sexualisation by the media industry this is highlighted
by Melinda Tankard-Riest as she asks “Ever feel like you’re
living in a giant porn theme park?” (Tankard-Riest,2012: np). Sex
is every where you look and like the Israelites and the Canaanite
farming lifestyle there seems no way to separate it from our daily
lives. Those who call for purity, abstinence and self-control are
much like the Pharisees who were on a defensive footing protecting
the exclusive nature of the people of God. In opposition Jesus was
inclusive offering forgiveness of sin for all not just those who were
pure (Herzog II, 2000:177). Purity by itself creates exclusion where
those who are impure are outcasts compared to those who are not.
Jesus crossed borders and boundaries to proclaim access to God for
all, no matter who you were. The people he comes into contact with
the lepers, prostitute's and gentiles are given access to forgiveness
and salvation. It is them and not the Pharisees who are examples of
faith (Acosta, 2010: 68). Purity without liberation is a
straightjacket where a person is watching their own actions and or
judging the actions of others. Such judgement keeps people as objects
or as stigmatised and outcasts.
To focus on one
aspect of the sexual culture are the modern priestesses of Baal the
Porn Stars and their devotees. Those who call for valiant men
describe this fight as a battle of purity within the life of the
devotee to turn away, yet this does nothing for the person who is
still in the sex industry. Both the person watching and the person
performing are under oppression both need to be liberated. From the
age of eighteen Jennie Ketcham performed under the name Penny Flame,
she left the industry when for a documentary she entered therapy for
sex addiction. Her realisation was...
“I've spent my
entire adult life developing the identity of a woman I am not. A
woman that exists for the sole purpose of others' enjoyment. I
realised I have no identity as Jennie Ketcham and that I am incapable
of developing sincere and intimate relationships.” (Ketcham cited
in Violet Blue, 2009: np).
Wetterneck et al.
suggest that those watching internet pornography are also having
similar problems. The ease of access of internet pornography may
result in them avoiding sexual experiences with real people
(Wetterneck et al., 2012:11-12). What should have happened in Canaan
is still not happening today as people at either end of the supply
and demand of the sex industry are stigmatised and shamed. Jennie
Ketcham relates that the person leaving the porn industry is seen in
three ways shamed, a goody christian convert or trying to gain
publicity (Ketcham cited in Violet Blue, 2009: np). The person at the
other end is also either seen or is believed that he/she is shamed
and stigmatised in their oppression as their dalliance is often
described as self-abuse. Both require liberation from oppression as
both are being objectified by a systematic cycle of demand and
supply.
How this liberty is
brought about is different in practice but the theory is very much
the same it involves changing objectification and humanising the
people involved. For the devotee of pornography it involves the
understanding that these people are people with real names with real
fathers and mothers maybe even husbands, wives and children. For the
performers and other sex workers they need to see themselves as more
than just existing for the enjoyment of others. Those who want
liberation need to be able to enter into a community that will not
label them and shame them for what they have done but stand beside
them and show them how they have made themselves and others less than
the true image of God that they were made in.
Bibliography
Acosta, M. (2010).
Ethnicity and the People of God. Evangelical Review of Theology.
(34)1: 58-70.
Glasser, A.F.
(2003). Announcing the Kingdom: The Story of God's Mission in the
Bible. Baker Academic. Grand Rapids: MI.
Herzog II, W.R.
(2000). Jesus, Justice, and the Reign of God: A Ministry of
Liberation. Westminster John Knox Press. Louisville: KN.
Wright, C.J.H.
(2004). Old Testament Ethics for the People of God.
Inter-Varsity Press. Leicester: England.
Jeyaraj, J.B.
(2008). Religion and Politics in Ancient Israel and Modern India -
Issues and Inter-Actions. Evangelical Review of Theology.
(32)2: 136-155.
(http://melindatankardreist.com/tag/objectification-of-women/)(19th
April 2012)
Violet Blue. (2009). Leaving Porn On
Her Terms Violet Blue: Former adult star Jennie Ketcham's exit from
porn defies stereotypes.Available
Internet
(http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2009/11/19/violetblue1119.DTL&ao=all)(19th
April 2012)
Wetterneck, Chad
T. & Burgess, Angela J. & Short, Mary B. & Smith, Angela
H. & Cervantes, Maritza E. (2012) The Role Of Sexual
Compulsivity, Impulsivity, And Experiential Avoidance In Internet
Pornography Use. Psychological Record. (62)1: 3-17.
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